Long road to World Heritage status
Print Edition
CHINA has been on a long journey to have the Grand Canal, the Silk Road and an extension of South China Karst inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. But the journey has been worth it with all three finally making the list this week.
This honor has boosted China’s national pride. But amid cheers, there has been sober reminders from scholars and officials that the country can not rest on past glories in a time of profound changes.
Liu Qingzhu, director of the Academic Committee of the Archeology Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, sees both historical and realistic significance in the preservation of the sites.
By submitting a joint application for adding part of the Silk Road route to the UNESCO World Heritage List with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, China has had a chance to review its shared history with its neighbors, he says.
Citing the period under the reign of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) as an example, the director says the trade route’s prosperity always coincided with periods of political stability. The emperor’s idea of seeking political contact with these countries sparked economic and cultural exchanges between East and West.
“In Chinese culture, tolerance and harmony are always valued. The Silk Road epitomizes this, therefore, reviving it is of immediate significance,” says Liu.
Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi earlier this month has reiterated that China will carry forward the spirit of the ancient Silk Road and work to build the 21st century Maritime Silk Road.
Put forward by President Xi Jinping during his visit to central and Southeast Asian countries last fall, the new Silk Road initiatives reveal China’s sincerity to achieve common development for countries along the routes, Yang says.
He adds the Silk Road has been a symbol of peace, cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual benefit.
Chen Tongbin, chief of the Institute of Historical Research of the China Architecture Design and Research Group, says cooperating with both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on the application has helped China broaden its horizons and understand the integrated value of an initiative.
The extension of South China Karst includes the Jinfoshan cluster in Chongqing Municipality, the Shibing cluster in Guizhou Province, and the Guilin and Zhujiang clusters in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Karst topography is a distinctive landscape formed from the dissolution of layers of soluble bedrock such as limestone, dolomite and gypsum.
It is characterized by underground systems with sinkholes, dolines and caves. It may also result in a variety of large or small limestone pavements, poljes, karst valleys, clints, flutes and vertical shafts on the exposed surface.
With three successful inscriptions, China has the second most World Heritage sites with 47 — Italy has 50.
Li Rusheng, deputy head of the Chinese delegation to the convention, lauded the new inscriptions. He says the approvals will help the world deepen its understanding of China’s unique natural resources and strengthen awareness about protecting places of historic interest.
Dong Bing, chief of the Grand Canal World Heritage Application Office, says putting the world’s oldest and longest artificial waterway onto the World Heritage list has been a test of stamina, strength and patience.
“Eight years have passed,” he says. “Our success hasn’t come easily.”
Built in 486 BC, the 1,011-kilometer Grand Canal is considered the world’s largest civil engineering project before the Industrial Revolution, revealing the exceptional technology and operating capability of ancient China, according to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee’s evaluation.
As the waterway runs through six provincial regions, the application office has had to coordinate a variety of stakeholders to sort out water conservation, transportation and cultural relic protection issues.
In ancient China, the orderly management of canal transportation provided the prerequisite to economic prosperity as it was essential to transporting grain to different areas of the country.
Nowadays, the waterway can handle four times as much cargo as the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, according to Tong Mingkang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
The secret of sound management nowadays, according to Zheng Hanxian, general manager of the Hangzhou Canal Group, is to “give back the waterway to the people.”
“Our principles are protection and ecology first,” Zheng says.
Dong says World Heritage status gives authorities more power to protect the Grand Canal. For example, he says the economic planning department in Yangzhou, a city along the Grand Canal, will have to seek approval from the cultural heritage protection department before commencing any project. The cultural heritage protection department can veto any project it suspects will endanger the Grand Canal.
Recalling the application work, many officials and scholars agree an open mind and reverence to history are essential.
Wang Jianxin, an archeologist with Northwest University in Xi’an of Shaanxi Province, says relics are a mirror so society can reflect on where it’s been and where it’s going.
He cites Weiyang Imperial City Relic, built during the Han Dynast, in Xi’an. It used to be the residence of royals and nobles along the Silk Road. During the Tang Dynasty (618-907) it became a reserved garden for aristocrats. But by the Song Dynasty (960-1276) commoners were allowed in the garden. It had become a shantytown in the past few decades until more than 10,000 residents were relocated and the area was restored. Now the reserve is popular among Xi’an residents.
“No one can stop the wheel of history. The essence of relic protection is to uphold a culture,” says archeologist Wang.
“In the Han Dynasty, Weiyang Imperial City was the central platform for Sino-foreign exchanges and a important town. We can not get back to those days, but we can learn from history and improve cross-cultural dialogue.”
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