How to deal with the relationship between cultural heritage and economic development

Xu: Economic construction should give way to heritage protection.

Reading newspapers: Now, the concept of protecting world heritage and human heritage has been deeply rooted in people's hearts and has become a social consciousness. However, with the acceleration of urbanization today, the population is expanding and resources are decreasing. Some people think that heritage protection means "the living make room for the dead" to a certain extent. The upcoming "Beijing Forum" will also set up a sub-forum to discuss the relationship between heritage protection and social development. Then, when heritage protection conflicts with people's interests in real society and with the goal of economic construction, which is more important and which is less important?

X: China is rich in cultural heritage resources, which is our foundation. Our government has started the work of heritage protection, and has formulated the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics since the 1960s. At that time, the government and some experts made a good start, but after the economic development, some contradictions appeared. For example, in large-scale construction, the number of accidental injuries of cultural relics in our country is simply amazing, and there was no way at that time, because it was not intentionally destroyed. However, the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics came out soon, and through the three-level protection of our country, province, city and county, a large number of cultural relics were saved. Construction should make concessions for cultural heritage. There are many examples in history of saving sites to make way for economic construction, such as Yanshi Mall in Luoyang.

Consider long-term interests. If you don't let it go, these heritages will be gone, and if they are gone, they will not be renewable. Don't we advocate sustainable development now? To put it bluntly, it is for the long-term consideration of our children and grandchildren. Since we are an ancient civilization, we have such rich resources, which are really valuable things. No matter how difficult it is, we will leave our legacy to future generations. The climax of economic construction passed, and after our country became rich and strong, cultural construction came, but the heritage was gone and could not be bought back.

Take protecting Beijing as an example. In 1950s, Liang Sicheng said that he would protect the whole old city and build a new Beijing on the other side of Sanli River, but it was not adopted. We are now applying for a famous historical and cultural city, but none of these ancient capitals have applied. Finally, comment on Pingyao and Lijiang, which are the only historical and cultural cities left in our country. It's too pitiful. At that time, it was a conceptual mistake, but after the 1980 s, real estate development was profit-driven after businessmen came, and no one could stop it. Moreover, no matter how much the inheritance is destroyed, no individual responsibility is investigated and there is no accountability system. Recently, the law on the protection of cultural relics was amended before sentencing, but there is no "crime of destroying cultural relics" in the criminal law. If the criminal law is not changed, the court can't sentence it. If our laws are not perfect, it will be difficult to protect our heritage.

Reading newspapers: The Heritage Convention emphasizes the universal value of heritage, but its concept is actually very vague. As an ancient civilization with a history of 5,000 years, China has a rich cultural heritage. Can you give an example of whether all the heritages need to be protected? In other words, what should be protected and what may have lost its protection value?

Xu: Material and cultural heritage has three requirements, one is historical value, the other is scientific value, and the third is artistic value. Any of these three items can be regarded as cultural heritage. The remains or relics left over from history or excavated by us have very specific historical value. Historical value is not only "ancient", but also does not mean that, and it must be carefully divided. For example, after our archaeological excavation, the site is very shabby. This site is not typical, and there is nothing left in it. If you take pictures, you will take away all the valuable things in it, and this place can go to Gai Lou, not to say that you can keep one if you see one. However, if the level is sufficient, such as in the national key cultural relics protection units, the protection will be strengthened. If this site has a large area and you want to build a road next to it, sometimes we put it there, so sometimes the construction department and the cultural relics department can still negotiate.

Read the newspaper: So, according to your observation, what are the problems in the protection of cultural heritage at present?

X: The biggest problem is that some officials' concept of heritage protection is too poor and vague, which is the main reason for the destruction of heritage.

Reading newspapers: Now many places of interest have been developed into tourist attractions, and most of them are short-sighted. Tourism makes many cultural heritage and natural heritage resources taste, deform and be destroyed. What should I do in this situation?

X: This situation should be resolutely stopped. There is no second way, this one can't listen to the tourism department. Cultural heritage cannot be an asset, but can only be protected. Only by putting money into it can we not always think about making money from it. Of course, some famous cultural relics such as the Forbidden City and the West Lake are also very profitable. Everyone is willing to go and there is nothing they can do, but to control the number of tourists, we can't just pursue ticket income.

Reading newspapers: At present, our country implements a hierarchical management system for cultural relics management, like some local governments. ...

X: The local government has allocated many scenic spots to the tourism department, which is wrong, absolutely wrong.

Reading newspapers: The tourism department wants to regard the heritage as a tourist attraction in order to obtain funds and maintain this attraction.

X: You should operate this tour according to law. If you kill the goose that lays golden eggs, it will be completely destroyed. Even when I became a director, I still made some money. After a few years, this place will be gone and people will not come to see it. If you tinker with your own construction for the sake of traveling, it will be over, and this point is likely to be cancelled, so this is definitely not desirable and will never be soft.

Read the newspaper: What kind of protection do you think is the best protection for the heritage? Is it intact or normal?

X: It is in good condition within the scope of protection. The Venice Charter and the Nara Document are clearly written. Don't let it crash or crash. If it is broken, repair it as soon as possible. Repair it as it is. Everything will be repaired in accordance with the rules and regulations of cultural relics protection. You cannot add any facilities to it. The relevant departments should always monitor these cultural relics, and if something happens, they really have to deal with it. In the future, the cultural relics protection law should be linked with the criminal law.

Reading newspapers: In the field of intangible cultural heritage, according to the traditional historical concept, a certain cultural form is the basic product of the corresponding social material, so with the change of the social material life foundation, the cultural form based on it will inevitably change accordingly. For example, can the products of a traditional neighbor society be well preserved in contemporary urban society and contemporary life? Very difficult. For another example, some remote areas have some customs, but after this place has more contact with the Central Plains, he is willing to accept the modern lifestyle, and he wants to change it, or he sells this custom as a tourist commodity. Our society is changing, our way of life is changing, and our cultural form is also changing. So, how can we keep the intangible cultural heritage intact? Did you put it in the museum?

Xu: You can't force the local people to live the way they did many years ago. It's unreasonable. You have all made progress. If you don't let me make progress, you will treat me like a toy. That won't do. Some intangible cultural heritages are special, for example, some ceremonies, such as Nuo Opera, contain religious things, and that set of procedures is very complicated. You should make videos and records for him. Now some people in their seventies and eighties can still sing and perform, and a set of procedures can come down. That's just like offering sacrifices to Confucius temple, which is recorded in the book. Now you can put on your clothes and sacrifice. The rest can only be put there, where people should go, and there is no restriction. In the early days of liberation, we conducted a large-scale folk survey nationwide, and some habits of many ethnic minorities were habits hundreds of years ago. At that time, some people were sent to interview and take notes. What cultural relics he has, what clothes he has, and what things he has at home are all collected and bought by him, and now they are well preserved in the National Palace.

Reading newspapers: There are too many chinese heritage, and the state can't protect them all, so at present, it implements hierarchical management. However, the level of economic development in different regions is uneven. In the case of limited financial, material and human resources, only the most important heritage can be given priority, which leads to some low-value heritage that can not be effectively protected and has gradually disappeared. Then how do you think this contradiction can be solved?

X: This contradiction has to be solved slowly, because you have no money. But now the money allocated by the state is also increasing year by year. We are working hard, and now we can call on people in the society, such as some entrepreneurs, to save China's traditional culture. However, I have a suggestion that the government should set up a foundation, and enterprises that do good deeds in a down-to-earth manner should give him tax reduction and exemption policies. Every country has such a policy.

Reading the newspaper: There is another question. Who will protect the heritage? China is rich in historical and cultural heritage, with few professional protectors. Taking material and cultural heritage as an example, there are less than 500 professionals engaged in heritage protection and restoration in China; Moreover, heritage protection is a relatively backward industry with low pay, and talents are reluctant to enter. Under such circumstances, how to solve people's problems?

Xu: This may not be solved by heritage protection itself.

Read the newspaper: So, you see, how to better develop and utilize the heritage under the premise of properly protecting it?

In any case, protection comes first.