(Chinese Focus Face to Face) What is the dignity of cultural heritage?
China News Agency, Beijing, May 23, report title: What is the dignity of cultural heritage?
——Interview with Shan Jixiang, President of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics
Author Ying Ni Li Jingze
Why did he wear cloth shoes from walking around the Forbidden City to walking in China?
Why does he say that he is a promoter of world cultural heritage?
Why does he say that cultural heritage is dignified?
Shan Jixiang, President of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics, the sixth president of the Palace Museum, and a special researcher of the Central Museum of Literature and History, recently accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "Focus on China", and shared his thoughts, feelings and insights while walking. .
Excerpts from the interview are as follows:
China News Agency reporter: You are now very concerned about China's world cultural heritage. From the gatekeeper of the Forbidden City to the promoter of world cultural heritage, what does this quiet change mean to you? Why is there such a change?
Shan Jixiang:
I have been the dean of the Forbidden City for more than seven years, and I have never been quiet.
In the Forbidden City, I am busy, walking, and observing every day, and I have to solve some problems every day.
After retiring, I have a lot of time, so I write some books, make some reports, and participate in cultural heritage communication programs that people love to see.
In general, I want to let cultural heritage into people's lives, so that people can feel the significance of cultural heritage to real life in their lives.
This is one thing I have been doing.
In terms of cultural dissemination, many colleagues from professional institutions behind closed doors came to discuss.
But what are you discussing?
What are you promoting?
What is being achieved?
The public generally don't know.
I found that making a program, such as "I repaired cultural relics in the Forbidden City", "National Treasures", and "The New Forbidden City" was launched with tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of viewers. Through the programs, they can easily understand the cultural heritage behind. s story.
I want to have the opportunity to participate in such a program, to have a more popular language and a wider public to communicate.
Now through the program "Walk a Thousand Miles of Walking Alone", I have the opportunity to communicate with the local grassroots and even the ordinary people who care for the heritage for generations, and the people who have deep feelings for the cultural heritage.
In this process, I was very touched by the most basic cultural relics workers that I came into contact with, their feelings and dedication, and their efforts to protect cultural heritage. This kind of exchange is my most unforgettable exchange.
For example, the three generations of cultural relic workers in Wudang Mountain, from the grandfather who was transferred to the Wudang Mountain Cultural Administration in 1961, to his father, to his generation, the three generations of cultural relic workers have never left this place, and have been guarding the ancient buildings of Wudang Mountain. Wudang Mountain World Heritage.
China News Agency reporter: At present, the total number of "world heritage" in China has reached 55, making it one of the countries with the most world heritage. This shows the contribution and recognition of Chinese civilization to all mankind. How do you view and evaluate such a recognition?
Shan Jixiang:
China is the country with the most world cultural heritage (one of) in the world, and it ranks first with Italy with 55 items.
We do not value the largest number, the key is to rescue and protect a large number of precious cultural heritage resources in this process.
For example, the Great Wall of China was not a national key cultural relics protection unit in the past. In 1961, Shanhaiguan, Juyongguan, Jiayuguan, and Badaling were announced as national key cultural relics protection units, and then some points were announced successively, but it was not regarded as a complete linear cultural heritage. .
When applying for the World Cultural Heritage, the Chinese government declared the Great Wall as the entire project. A Great Wall spanning more than a dozen provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in various (historical) periods has become a world heritage site, which is very shocking.
This shows that our understanding of heritage protection is strengthening.
For example, in the past, Mount Tai, we protected the cliff rock carvings. Today we say that Mount Tai and the mountain behind it are inseparable. The content of the cliff rock carvings and the entire Taishan culture are inseparable.
The Chinese government has declared the entire Mount Tai as a complete project—a project created in harmony between man and nature. There is no such project in World Heritage (previously).
At that time, there were only two types of cultural heritage and natural heritage. Taishan succeeded as a dual heritage, and the world heritage began to have a third type. Later, China's Taishan, Lushan, Qingchengshan, Emei, Wutai, Wuyi, Song, and Huangshan have entered the world. heritage.
This completely changed our past protection pattern, and also changed the traditional understanding of cultural relics protection in the past.
Data map: Daiding of Mount Tai, a bird's-eye view of Bixia Temple.
An Ge photo source: CTPphoto
China News Agency reporter: You often say that there is dignity for non-literature or cultural heritage. What do you mean by "dignity"?
Shan Jixiang:
These world heritages have a long history, and some are even Paleolithic heritage. Liangzhu heritage is 5,300 years old.
I have always believed that they have a life course, not only have a glorious history in the past, but they should also move into the future healthily today.
There is a life course, we call it dignity.
I believe that our work is to make cultural heritage dignified. Only dignified cultural heritage can become a positive force for economic and social development in today's real life, and can benefit more people.
People know the significance of these cultural heritage protections, and only then can they participate in the actions of cultural heritage protection with all their heart.
Everyone protects cultural heritage, cultural heritage has more dignity, this is a virtuous circle.
Otherwise, people don’t know what these cultural heritage means to real life, so they don’t pay much attention to it, and even if they don’t pay attention to protecting it in urban construction, it becomes the burden of urban construction. This is the bad cycle we want to avoid.
In Lao Sicheng, I told the children that this is more precious than gold and silver treasures, a golden name card of cultural heritage that you can enjoy for generations.
People came to Laosi City from all over the country and all over the world and saw the original ecology, including the real life of the Tujia nationality after the application for heritage, and also its intangible cultural heritage, Baishou Dance and Maogusi. People were envious. Judging from the perspective and respect of national culture, we will work harder to protect cultural heritage and traditional villages.
China News Agency reporter: From the "Meng Meng Da" Imperial Cat in the Forbidden City and Qianlong wearing sunglasses to now, major museums have launched unique cultural and creative products. Recently, various blind boxes of cultural relics have even been bought out of stock by netizens. As the president of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics, how do you see the role of cultural and creative development in revitalizing cultural relics?
Shan Jixiang:
After several years of hard work in the Forbidden City, we have also gone through several stages.
In the beginning, it was like the National Palace Museum in Taipei. They also made a lot of cultural and creative products, some of which were "cute".
Can the faces of the Forbidden City in Beijing be more lively and able to communicate with young people in society? We have also developed some, and the effect is very good.
All sectors of society continue to support the development of cultural and creative products of the Palace Museum. By 2018, the total number of cultural and creative products developed by the Palace Museum has reached 11,900.
We realized that we should step up, the Forbidden City put forward a slogan, from quantity to quality improvement.
In this process, our cultural and creative products and digital products are gradually upgraded, which in fact has a driving effect on the national cultural relic system and museums.
Up to now, we are very pleased to see that many cultural heritage sites and many museums have begun to develop their own unique cultural and creative products and have achieved very good results.
I feel that a universal experience that everyone can accept is: it must not be imitating, copying, or plagiarizing a certain category or a certain museum product; it must be combining your own products to dig deeper into your own cultural relics warehouse, even less known by people Some historical details; we must observe people’s real lives in detail, and connect and combine cultural resources with people’s real needs, so that cultural products that people love and are willing to take home can be produced.
Shan Jixiang, president of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics, the sixth president of the Palace Museum, and a special researcher of the Central Museum of Literature and History, accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "Focus on China".
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tian Yuhao
China News Agency reporter: In recent years, visiting museums has become a fashion. What do you think of this hot museum phenomenon?
Shan Jixiang:
Today's young people are starting to pay more and more attention to our excellent traditional Chinese culture and the role these cultures can play in their real lives.
Therefore, the enthusiasm for visiting museums, especially for young people, is gradually escalating.
In this regard, there are also the efforts of the museum people themselves, that is, we have begun to display more cultural relics in the museum after repairs.
More spaces that were not open in the past have been opened up through environmental remediation and restoration of ancient buildings.
Museums also spread culture through various forms, including digital technology and Internet technology.
There are also some of the programs we just mentioned, "I repaired cultural relics in the Forbidden City" and "National Treasures", which also led many young people to pay attention to the atmosphere of the museum and the collection of cultural relics in the museum.
They walked into the museum, not the usual "get here" visits in the past, they were to enjoy the museum culture, they came specifically to visit the exhibition, to visit our digital products, or to buy our cultural creativity The product comes.
China News Agency reporter: During the epidemic, many museums made various online live broadcasts. Do you think this "cloud" approach will become a trend, perhaps it will be the standard configuration of major museums?
Shan Jixiang:
I think it might.
Now that people’s means and habits of receiving information have begun to shift to mobile phones, we need to adapt to this development.
In the multimedia age, how can museums use new technologies to spread the cultural relics hidden in the warehouse, the cultural relics in the exhibition hall, and the environment of the museum through the way and language that people love to hear?
Now many museums have started to have their own websites, and the amount of website reading and visits is increasing, and they are spread through AR technology, VR technology, and a variety of multimedia technologies. I think this is a direction in the future.
Of course, it cannot replace people's visits to museums, but it will guide people to be willing to visit the museum in person when they are leisure.
Data map: The audience appreciates the original "Silk Road Landscape Map".
Photo by China News Agency reporter Zhang Wei
China News Agency reporter: There are still many cultural relics scattered overseas in China. Many overseas Chinese are committed to promoting the return of cultural relics lost overseas to their home countries. For example, "The Silk Road Landscape Map" was purchased by overseas Chinese businessman Xu Rongmao and donated to the Palace Museum free of charge. May I ask, how do you evaluate the overseas Chinese who have helped the lost cultural relics return home?
Shan Jixiang:
For cultural relics that have been lost overseas, we must first identify and screen them. When and how did they go out? Whether they were stolen and excavated.
We do not approve of using national funds to buy stolen and stolen (cultural relics), but should be recourse through a series of relevant international regulations. In recent years, there have been many successful cases, including the recourse of the Buddha's head in the Longmen Grottoes.
But on the other hand, if it is not the cultural relics involved, we will also strive to (promote them) to return to the motherland through multiple channels.
Those who have made outstanding contributions here are the overseas Chinese and Chinese businessmen living abroad.
They see the cultural relics of the motherland appearing in foreign auction markets or in cultural relics marketing agencies. They can rescue them with their own power and donate them to our country's museums and cultural institutions. This is a very moving thing.
Just now you mentioned Mr. Xu Rongmao. At that time, the Palace Museum learned about a very precious Silk Road landscape map. This map is 31 meters long. It depicts some topography and landforms along the Silk Road in 10 countries today, especially 221 place names. .
Through the identification of these place names, it is a map of the Jiajing period in the Ming Dynasty.
As early as that period, the Chinese had a lot of knowledge about the countries along the Silk Road, so this green and green map of the Silk Road landscape is very precious, and we hope to keep it in the Palace Museum.
But we need 20 million US dollars, and we can’t spend the money.
After Mr. Xu Rongmao learned about it, he generously bought it back and donated it to the Palace Museum to make our collection more complete.
China News Agency reporter: The return of overseas cultural relics is mainly through three methods: repurchase, repayment and donation. Government repurchase and negotiation are still subject to many conditions in implementation and operation, and donations have become a relatively common form. In your opinion, is there any room for the policy to support donations from overseas Chinese?
Shan Jixiang:
In terms of (overseas cultural relics) information, our cultural relics department should inform overseas Chinese (Chinese) of its accurate information in time, so that they can know if this thing is authentic or whether it is a real cultural relic.
Our country should give strong support in terms of taxation policies and channels of entry to enable them to return to the country smoothly, and should commend and promote such behaviors, so that more and more overseas Chinese and Chinese businessmen participate in the protection of China's cultural heritage.
Shan Jixiang, president of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics, the sixth president of the Palace Museum, and a special researcher of the Central Museum of Literature and History, accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "Focus on China".
Photo by China News Agency reporter Tian Yuhao
China News Service: In recent years, there have been many developments in cultural relics exchanges and cooperation between China and foreign countries. China and France have jointly carried out protection, restoration and research cooperation with the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of the Qin Dynasty at Notre Dame Cathedral. What do you think is the space for Sino-foreign cultural relic exchanges and cooperation in the future?
Shan Jixiang:
With the continuous development of our country's cultural heritage protection technology, China can win more opportunities in this respect.
At the same time, we should also bear this responsibility, because cultural heritage is not unique to a country or a nation, but a common heritage of mankind.
For example, in recent years, whether in Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, in Mongolia’s Bogda Khan Palace, in Uzbekistan to conduct joint archaeological work, such joint protection actions, on the one hand, we have achieved the efforts and contributions that we can make as a heritage country. On the other hand, we also strengthened communication with foreign counterparts in this process, and inspired each other in terms of protection technology.
For example, the Palace Museum has established the Palace Museum of Cultural Relics. The protection of stone carvings and cultural relics is in cooperation with Greece, the protection of metal cultural relics is in cooperation with the German cultural relics department, and the protection of murals is in cooperation with Italian counterparts. These cooperation can enable us to improve the level of cultural relic protection. It also conveyed that the protection of cultural relics should be the common responsibility of all mankind. (Finish)