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A history under threat from restoration work
By Gu Ye and Fu Shuangqi |
March 30, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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AT the southwestern corner of Nanjing's old walled city, a dozen construction workers are busy working on a four-floor pavilion in the ancient Chinese style on the 600-year-old wall.
Planned as a government effort to restore the traditional flavor of the city, one of China's oldest imperial capitals, the project aroused strong opposition from historians and citizens as it might harm the foundations of the ancient city walls, built about between 1366 and 1386 by the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The new building will be 24 meters high and allow visitors a better view of the old city, according to the blueprint. But it is on the remains of a water gate of the ancient walls, over the Qinhuai River that runs through the city.
Professor Zhou Xueying, from the Department of History at Nanjing University, said: "Although there are few ancient structures left on the ground, the construction of new buildings will inevitably harm the ancient structures underground." About 30 meters east of the water gate, a three-floor mansion will soon be built on the remains of a defense enclosure of the old walls, as another part of the project.
It remains unclear about the purpose of this building which is said to copy the design of a famous ancient restaurant that used to stand nearby. An team of archeologists from Nanjing Museum are excavating the remains. A section of stone groundwork 20-meters long by 4-meters high has been unearthed.
"We are working here because the new building will be built on top of this relic," said an archeologist working on the site, who refused to reveal his name. "It is hard to say whether the underground structure will be damaged by building the modern building or not." Dozens of 1-meter stone blocks, which resembled the ancient groundwork material, were piled near the excavation site.
A March 19 report by a local newspaper said these stone blocks were unearthed from the water gate remains during the construction of the pavilion and silently moved here to "escape public criticism."
According to Chinese laws, any construction work where heritage sites are located are under state protection, and must be approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
An anonymous official with the provincial heritage bureau told Xinhua that the department had not received any application from the city bureau and promised to look into it.
An official with the city's urban planning department confirmed that they had received a blueprint about the project but the department was still reviewing the plan and had not approved it.
The construction bureau of Qinhuai district government, in charge of carrying out the project, refused to respond to Xinhua's question about why they began construction without legal approval.
"The two modern buildings might add traditional flavor to the city if they are built in other places. It is wrong to sacrifice true heritage for imitations," Professor Zhou said.
Many local authorities in China seem obsessed in imitating heritage buildings instead of saving real historic sites.
Professor Ruan Yishan of Shanghai-based Tongji University told Xinhua that China's decision makers failed to properly understand how to sustain traditions. "On the one hand, we are pulling down more and more old buildings in cities, but on the other hand we are spending lots of money building imitations. Such practices, driven by profit-seeking motives, are shortsighted," he said.
(The authors are Xinhua writers.)
Planned as a government effort to restore the traditional flavor of the city, one of China's oldest imperial capitals, the project aroused strong opposition from historians and citizens as it might harm the foundations of the ancient city walls, built about between 1366 and 1386 by the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The new building will be 24 meters high and allow visitors a better view of the old city, according to the blueprint. But it is on the remains of a water gate of the ancient walls, over the Qinhuai River that runs through the city.
Professor Zhou Xueying, from the Department of History at Nanjing University, said: "Although there are few ancient structures left on the ground, the construction of new buildings will inevitably harm the ancient structures underground." About 30 meters east of the water gate, a three-floor mansion will soon be built on the remains of a defense enclosure of the old walls, as another part of the project.
It remains unclear about the purpose of this building which is said to copy the design of a famous ancient restaurant that used to stand nearby. An team of archeologists from Nanjing Museum are excavating the remains. A section of stone groundwork 20-meters long by 4-meters high has been unearthed.
"We are working here because the new building will be built on top of this relic," said an archeologist working on the site, who refused to reveal his name. "It is hard to say whether the underground structure will be damaged by building the modern building or not." Dozens of 1-meter stone blocks, which resembled the ancient groundwork material, were piled near the excavation site.
A March 19 report by a local newspaper said these stone blocks were unearthed from the water gate remains during the construction of the pavilion and silently moved here to "escape public criticism."
According to Chinese laws, any construction work where heritage sites are located are under state protection, and must be approved by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
An anonymous official with the provincial heritage bureau told Xinhua that the department had not received any application from the city bureau and promised to look into it.
An official with the city's urban planning department confirmed that they had received a blueprint about the project but the department was still reviewing the plan and had not approved it.
The construction bureau of Qinhuai district government, in charge of carrying out the project, refused to respond to Xinhua's question about why they began construction without legal approval.
"The two modern buildings might add traditional flavor to the city if they are built in other places. It is wrong to sacrifice true heritage for imitations," Professor Zhou said.
Many local authorities in China seem obsessed in imitating heritage buildings instead of saving real historic sites.
Professor Ruan Yishan of Shanghai-based Tongji University told Xinhua that China's decision makers failed to properly understand how to sustain traditions. "On the one hand, we are pulling down more and more old buildings in cities, but on the other hand we are spending lots of money building imitations. Such practices, driven by profit-seeking motives, are shortsighted," he said.
(The authors are Xinhua writers.)
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