China News Agency, Nanjing, April 27th: He Yunao: How does the Grand Canal connecting the north and south of China communicate "East and West"?
China News Agency reporter Yang Yanci
The canal is a remarkable creation of human beings in the process of coexisting with nature, and a great witness of human civilization.
There are many cities in the world that originated from and prospered in canals. Canals have become the blood of these cities, and various fireworks have been left on the canals.
These material and intangible heritages together constitute "another window" for cultural exchanges between the East and the West.
Night view of the Jiangsu section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Bo
The Grand Canal of China is the world's oldest artificial canal with the longest span, longest mileage and longest use. It can be called a "living cultural heritage corridor".
He Yunao, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Department of History of Nanjing University, and director of the Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage of Nanjing University, has been studying the Grand Canal in China for more than ten years.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "Dongxiwen", he said that the Grand Canal played a lasting role in the process of connecting ancient China with the world, creating a large number of stories of Chinese and foreign figures and cultural and economic exchanges.
At present, it is even more necessary to tell the story of the beauty of the East and the West through the beauty of the living China Grand Canal and from the perspective of "seeking common ground while reserving differences" and "harmony without differences".
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Agency reporter: In your opinion, how should China's Grand Canal be better "revitalized" at the moment?
How to tell the story of China's canal to the outside world?
He Yunao: The Grand Canal of China was originally a transportation channel with functions such as irrigation and water supply. Since it was successfully declared as a World Cultural Heritage in June 2014, it has become a "River of Culture" and "River of Stories".
Since 2017, the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt and the Grand Canal National Cultural Park has been launched successively. The culture accumulated by the Grand Canal that has flowed for thousands of years has been better excavated and presented, and the ancient and vivid stories of the Grand Canal have entered thousands of households.
The story of the canal is closely related to the people who lived on both sides of the canal in all dynasties. It is necessary to discover stories from the excavators, planners, managers, maintainers, protectors and users of the canal in all dynasties.
The story of the canal should also be told in different ways through the construction of different cultural carriers such as the Canal Archaeological Site Park and the Canal Museum.
Of course, today is the information age, and we must make full use of the Internet to let the story of the canal spread on the "cloud".
The China Grand Canal Museum is full of brilliance.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Bo
At present, there are more than 500 canals in more than 50 countries around the world, and there are nearly 4,000 canal cities alone.
The canals of various countries have a common feature: they are all water transportation systems that were dug and built by the people of all countries with wisdom and perseverance in different historical periods, showing the common pursuit and achievements of mankind.
It can also be considered that the "canal" is a global cultural symbol. We should connect the cultural symbols of the canal of different countries and nationalities into a cultural bond for international peaceful exchanges, so as to tell the story of the Chinese canal well and share the stories of other countries. The story of the canal, so that each has its own beauty, and the beauty is shared.
China News Agency reporter: There are many famous canals in the world, which have become the distinctive historical and cultural symbols of various countries and go global.
What are the differences between Chinese and Western canal culture, inheritance and development, and how to learn from each other?
He Yunao: Canals are a product of history. Because they are located in different countries and regions, different geographical forms, functional requirements, engineering technologies, and cultural backgrounds have resulted in the diversity of canals and canal cultures in the world.
The scale, age of excavation, historical function, and cultural accumulation of the Grand Canal in China are second to none in the world.
Of course, there are many canals in the world that are also very famous, and the canals included in the "World Heritage List" are also different.
For example, the Rideau Canal in Canada has now lost its main transportation channel function, but as a cultural heritage, it is more integrated with the tourism and sports life of the local people, known as "the longest ice skating rink in the world"; France's Midi The canal connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. There are more than 300 tunnels, locks, bridges and towns along the canal. People living on both sides of the canal use the canal scenery and facilities to carry out different cultural inheritance, cultural tourism, cultural consumption and other activities.
Although the cultural forms and connotations of the canal in China and the West are different, the profound connection between the canal and the production and life of the country, city and people is the same.
People rafting on the Grand Canal in Versailles, France.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Li Yang
As a cultural form, canals are cultural corridors with profound connotations, and there are various stories from canal excavation to canal use. Under the background of modernization, the protection, inheritance and utilization of canal culture will also encounter various similar challenges. .
In my opinion, different countries should focus on sharing their own creative experiences and problem-solving methods, so as to jointly realize the sustainable development of canals and canal culture.
China News Agency reporter: While the east and west canals have their own beauty, how to find the "entrance" for the United States and the United States?
He Yunao: In the 2,500-year history of China's Grand Canal, there are too many stories that can be passed down and praised.
It connects the five major river basins of Qiantang River, Yangtze River, Huaihe River, Yellow River and Haihe River into one, forming a canal network that runs from north to south and connects east to west. The Silk Road is organically connected and has played an unimaginable role in the sustainable development of Chinese civilization.
The Grand Canal is not only for China, but also for the world.
At least since the Three Kingdoms and Two Jin Periods, many foreign envoys have walked on China's Grand Canal.
Since the Tang Dynasty, foreign envoys, eminent monks, missionaries, etc. not only sailed on the Grand Canal of China, but also left many written records and works of art.
For example, the Japanese monk Yuanren's "Journey to the Tang Dynasty to Seek Law", the Song Dynasty Japanese monk Cheng Xun's "Tangtiantai Wutai Mountain", the Italian Marco Polo's "Marco Polo Travels" in the Yuan Dynasty, During the Ming Dynasty, the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci's "Notes on Matteo Ricci's China", the Korean Cui Pu's "The Journey to the Sea", the Japanese monk Ceyan Zhouliang's "Into the Ming Dynasty", the Dutch John Niho during the Shunzhi period of the Qing Dynasty Her husband's "The First Visit to China by the Dutch Envoy", "The Documentary of the British Envoy's Visit to Qianlong" by Macartney, the British envoy during the Qianlong period, etc.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were even some foreign envoys who died of illness on the way from the Grand Canal to Beijing. To this day, the tomb of King Sulu in Dezhou, Shandong, and the tomb of Zheng Wenying, the general secretary of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Huai'an, Jiangsu, remain.
Although the Grand Canal of China is in China, it is also a passage for Chinese culture to go to the world.
In recent years, more than 60,000 pieces of Changsha kiln porcelain from the Tang Dynasty in China have emerged from the sunken ship Heishi found in Indonesian waters. When these Changsha kiln porcelain arrived in Yangzhou, an international port city at that time, it had to pass through the Yiyang Canal, which is now Yizheng to Yangzhou. The Xin'an shipwreck discovered in South Korea, and a large number of Yuan Dynasty ceramics that came out of the water came from Longquan kiln, Yixing kiln, etc. At that time, when these ceramics were transported to Ningbo Port or Taicang Port, they were inseparable from the role of the Grand Canal.
There are many such cases, which fully demonstrate that the ancient Grand Canal has always linked China with the world.
These are the stories and resonance points of the canal that China and the rest of the world are concerned about.
China News Service reporter: At present, what way do you think the Chinese Grand Canal should use to connect Eastern and Western cultures?
He Yunao: Today, China's Grand Canal is also undergoing revival. The restoration of the Grand Canal, the protection of cultural heritage, the integration of culture and tourism, the improvement of the environment, and the construction of the Grand Canal Cultural Belt and the Grand Canal National Cultural Park are being actively promoted.
In recent years, the "World Canal Historical and Cultural Cities Cooperation Organization (WCCO)" was established in Yangzhou, the origin city of the Grand Canal.
As an international canal organization in China, WCCO has carried out a series of fruitful work in promoting the interconnection of canal culture between the East and the West.
Aerial photography of Yangzhou Canal Sanwan Scenic Area, Jiangsu.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Yang Bo
I believe that China should take the initiative to carry out canal cultural exchanges, seek opportunities for cooperation and innovate ways of cooperation through cooperation between UNESCO, the World Heritage Organization, WCCO and nearly 4,000 canal cities around the world.
In this process, we must not only focus on exchanges and cooperation at the international and national levels, but also on exchanges and cooperation between canal cities, towns and people, and create conditions for viewing, traveling, tasting, and enjoying the canal based on common topics. , talk about friendship and seek common development.
The story of the canal is the story of the people and the story of the world.
To connect "things", it is necessary to use a language that the whole world can understand, in a direction that everyone is interested in and in a way that is convenient to use, to tell the story of the canal fireworks, write articles about the happiness of the canal, and create a bright future for the canal.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
He Yunao, professor and doctoral supervisor of the Department of History of Nanjing University, director of the Institute of Cultural and Natural Heritage of Nanjing University, a member of the National Cultural Park Construction Expert Advisory Committee, the chief expert of the Jiangsu Decision-making Consultation Base and the Jiangsu History and Culture Research Base, and the Archaeological Society of China Deputy director of the professional committees of archaeology, urban archaeology, cultural heritage from the Three Kingdoms to Sui and Tang Dynasties, deputy director of the Public Archaeology Expert Steering Committee of the Chinese Archaeological Society, etc.
He Yunao has presided over more than 300 projects and a number of field archaeological projects, including the application of the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum to the World Heritage List, Fujian Mindu Culture Research, the Grand Canal Cultural Heritage Investigation and Research, the Jiangsu Maritime Silk Road, the Yangtze River Culture, and the Yellow River Ancient Road Culture Investigation and Research.
Published millions of words of papers and monographs on archaeology, cultural heritage, history, etc.