June 3, Monday. According to the convention, this is the closing day of Foguang Temple. However, there are still some uninformed tourists who will come to visit one after another, look at the locked gate and linger for a long time, reluctantly take a few photos, and return bitterly. Some of them came from Xinzhou urban area, others just visited Wutai Mountain, and came here just to have a look at this ancient temple that has been preserved for thousands of years.
The Foguang Temple, where tourists are not allowed to visit, is quiet and quiet. Even if the breeze rubs the treetops, it is like a dragonfly skimming the water, and there is no sound. A golden feather lay in the shade, lazily closing its eyes, occasionally looking around, and then calmly buried its head in its arms. The two paths intersect vertically in the middle of the courtyard, and one of them extends eastward and rises along the mountain, crossing more than 50 steps, leading to the hidden East Hall.
Foguang Temple is located in Foguang Mountain in the northeast of Wutai County, Shanxi Province. For painting/Foguang Temple Protection and Utilization Department of Shanxi Provincial Institute of Ancient Architecture and Painted Sculpture Mural Protection
In front of the main hall, there are several people who are quietly moving. They are the only busy figures in the whole temple. They set up a tripod, and compared with the plan on a stack of A4 paper, placed the hall at different angles in the progressive frame, and then directed a woman wearing a plain cheongsam and holding a bell hat to stand in the right position. Wang Xiaolong, vice president of Shanxi Institute of Ancient Architecture and Painted Sculpture Mural Protection, told China News Weekly that a week later, there will be a grand event at Foguang Temple, and the short film being shot here will be broadcast at that time. The event was held to commemorate Lin Huiyin's 120th birthday.
87 years ago, it was this famous architect and colleagues of the Construction Society who discovered this abandoned temple buried in the mountain col, making its holy light shine again in the world. At the end of that survey, Lin Huiyin, a poet in his heart, also put forward a romantic proposal to pave a mat in the open space in front of the hall, where people bathed in the evening sun, picnicking while overlooking the vast and powerful land of Sanjin - where they have searched for many precious ancient buildings, More amazing treasures are still waiting for their descendants to continue to explore, repair and pass on from generation to generation.
Buddha light reappears
Before Lin Huiyin and others entered the Foguang Temple, this ancient land in China was thought to have no wooden buildings of the Tang Dynasty.
"The existence of wooden relics throughout China is disappointing." In an article in 1929, Japanese architectural historian Joan Guanno made a categorical assertion: if you want to study the architecture of the Tang Dynasty, you can only go to Nara. Two years after this article was published, Lin Huiyin and her husband Liang Sicheng joined the construction society and began to carry out a systematic survey of ancient buildings in a planned way. One of their beliefs is that "there must be Tang architecture in domestic palaces". From 1932 to 1937, they completed many investigations, covering hundreds of counties. Unfortunately, all efforts can only confirm the upper limit of the remaining ancient buildings in the Song and Liao Dynasties.
In June 1937, Liang, Lin and two other members of the society came to Shanxi for the fourth time. At first, they had planned to go to Dunhuang, but they were unable to do so because of the current situation. But this does not mean that the decision to turn to Shanxi is arbitrary. On the contrary, their line is extremely clear. In his later account, Liang Sicheng wrote: "After arriving at Wutai County, he did not enter Taihuai, turned north, and headed toward the periphery of Nantai. He took a pack mule into the mountain, followed by the steep road, and looked down at Tianchou along the craggy and dangerous cliff."
The "Taihuai" mentioned in the article is the location of today's Mount Wutai Scenic Area. Since the Eastern Han Dynasty, Buddhist temples began to be built here, and reached their peak in the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Tang Dynasty. Cave 61 of the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang was painted with a picture of Mount Wutai, which depicts the grand scene of the then numerous niches and temples and the cloud of monks. This mural was also photographed by French sinologist Berthie in 1908 and included in his Dunhuang Grottoes Catalogue. Liang Sicheng saw this picture album by chance and was attracted by one of the temples named "Grand Buddha Temple". The purpose of this trip to Shanxi is to find it.
The plaque of "Buddhist Temple of Buddha's Light". Photographer/reporter Xu Pengyuan
In the opinion of Wang Xiaolong, the vice president of the Shanxi Institute for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and Painted Sculptures and Murals, the Map of Wutai Mountain proves the importance of the Foguang Temple, However, it does not mean that it has always been the focus of the world in history: "After all, it is still far from the core area of Mount Wutai. With the development of the times, the scope of Buddhist influence was limited to the core area in the Qing Dynasty, and the Foguang Temple was no longer as prosperous as the Tang Dynasty." In fact, since the Song and Jin dynasties, it has become increasingly lonely, and when Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin finally saw the true face of the Foguang Temple, The appearance of depression is particularly sad: "Buddhist signs, such as the death of an eminent monk. The prosperity of the Tang Dynasty has become elusive, and it can not help but be depressed."
However, due to the decline of incense, the ancient temple was able to avoid the decoration of later generations and preserve its original appearance. As Liang Sicheng said, "Taihuai is the center of Wutai Mountain. There are many temples nearby, and incense is very popular. Temple towers and Buddha statues have been built frequently. Many of them are resplendent, and the temples used to show off pilgrims are rebuilt by modern dignitaries and rich families. For thousands of years, the so-called Manjusri Bodhisattva Dojo has few palaces before the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The situation outside the stage is very different from that inside. Because the land occupies the periphery, the temple is scattered far away, and the traffic is inconvenient, so people who pray for incense rarely leave the stage. Because incense sticks are neglected and monks are poor, it is difficult to repair them, which is more conducive to the preservation of ancient buildings. "
"The arch is big, and the eaves are wide." This is the first time Liang, Lin and others saw the East Hall of the Foguang Temple. It is simple, solemn, grand, and full of Tang Dynasty charm. In the next few days, they "climbed to work in the morning and evening, or climbed into the roof, and kept company with bats and bedbugs, or climbed onto the framework of the hall, and looked up carefully". They conducted thorough and detailed mapping, photography and recording of this temple, which was built in the Northern Wei Dynasty, destroyed in the Huichang legal disaster, and rebuilt in the eleventh year of Tang Dazhong. "We should not be careless in our exploration". The reason why they try so hard is that they are "deeply afraid of rare opportunities, and it is not easy to revisit". It is true that they never came back for the rest of their lives.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Lin Huiyin watched painted sculptures of the Tang Dynasty in the Foguang Temple on Mount Wutai. Fig./FOTOE
When Liang, Lin and others bid farewell to the Foguang Temple, the Anti Japanese War had broken out, and within half a year, all parts of Shanxi had been successively occupied. Seven years later, Liang Sicheng began to write the investigation report of "Records of the Buddhist Temple Buildings on Mount Wutai", and at the same time, "the fate of the wooden buildings in the Tang Dynasty" gave rise to a trace of "fear, fear, and anxiety" in his heart. Fortunately, he finally saw a good result: "The Foguang Temple not only still exists, but also... the Central Ministry of Culture has allocated funds to repair this rare cultural relic building, and has also made a beautiful model." In 1961, the State Council announced the first batch of key cultural relics under national protection, and the Foguang Temple was listed.
The Foguang Temple, which has become a national security unit, has been carefully maintained in recent decades. In addition to some reinforcement and repair of local locations, environmental improvement projects such as soil cliff reinforcement, drainage and dredging have also been vigorously implemented. Therefore, although it has never experienced major repair, this millennium old wooden building is still basically healthy.
"We do more daily maintenance, try to reduce interference with it, and try not to move as much as possible." Wang Xiaolong said that, as far as ancient buildings are concerned, observation and prevention are the most important. In addition to the necessary measures such as routine weeding, ridge clearing and rain leakage inspection every year, any construction operation of buildings must be careful. Pointing to a square pillar at the southeast corner of the East Hall, he told China News Weekly that a few years ago, through surveying and mapping, it was found that the bucket arch at the corner of the back eaves had a downward trend, but the repair was not carried out immediately. Instead, a relatively conservative protective measure was taken to prevent the trend from intensifying and causing more damage. At the same time, on the mountain opposite the berm, two sets of laser positioning devices also aim at the bucket arch in all weather and in all directions to monitor the development of its planting degree in real time.
The buildings in the Foguang Temple. For painting/Foguang Temple Protection and Utilization Department of Shanxi Provincial Institute of Ancient Architecture and Painted Sculpture Mural Protection
The application of similar scientific and technological means can be found everywhere in the protection work. By means of X-ray, ultrasonic, radar, thermal imaging, impedance meter, three-dimensional scanning, small integrated weather station and other equipment and technologies, the disease of building components, roof leakage, structural displacement deformation, even temperature and humidity are continuously and precisely monitored. It seems that a set of health monitoring system has been customized for the whole Foguang Temple, and any minor changes and potential threats can be alerted and grasped at the first time.
Temple relocation
As an ancient province, Shanxi has never lacked stories about the excavation and protection of ancient buildings such as the Foguang Temple. Some are even more legendary, such as Yongle Palace in Ruicheng County, Yuncheng City.
The original name of Yongle Palace is "Dachunyang Longevity Palace", which was built by the Quanzhen Sect of Taoism in memory of the founder Lv Dongbin. Since the second year of Dingzong (1247), it has been more than 110 years. It was completed in the 18th year of Zhizheng (1358), almost at the same time as the Yuan Dynasty. Today's Yongle Palace is still the largest Taoist temple in existence, although it has only left a central line, including five buildings, namely, the mountain gate, Wuji Gate, Sanqing Hall, Chunyang Hall, and Chongyang Hall. Except that the mountain gate was built in the Ming Dynasty, the rest followed the official style of the Yuan Dynasty. Archaeologist Su Bai once pointed out in the Survey Diary of Yongle Palace that "most ancient architects said that the Yuan construction of Yongle Palace was very consistent with the construction legal system, but different from other Yuan construction styles in Shanxi, this should be related to the source of construction engineers
Sanqing Hall of Yongle Palace (also called Wuji Hall). Photographer/reporter Xu Pengyuan
Yongle Palace is most famous for its murals in four Yuan Dynasty buildings. In particular, the Chaoyuan Painting, which depicts the group of immortals paying homage to Yuanshi Tianzun in Sanqing Hall, has 290 immortals with different faces and postures, without any sense of similarity, which can be called a peak of group portrait painting. His painting style inherits the "Wu Dai Dang Feng" that has prevailed since the Tang and Song Dynasties. With lines as the bone, the strokes are elegant, and then the heavy colors are used to fill in. The colors are rich and full.
However, if you look carefully, you can vaguely find some stitching marks on the integrated murals, some even slightly nail (that is, the paint layer cracks), showing "breakpoints" on the original lines. This is not the result of natural destruction over the years, let alone man-made destruction, but rather from a very groundbreaking protection.
The mural on the west wall of Sanqing Hall in Yongle Palace (part). For painting/Yongle Palace Mural Protection Research Institute
When Yongle Palace was first built, it was not in this place today, but in Yongle Town, 20 kilometers away from here. It is said that Lv Dongbin was born there. The original Yongle Palace is located on the north bank of the Yellow River, with the back of Emei Mountain. However, with a project resolution in 1955, this treasure land entered the countdown to its existence. On the date of completion and operation of Sanmenxia Water Control Project, it will disappear underwater. In order to prevent the Yongle Palace from sinking together, a bold decision was immediately put forward: overall relocation and relocation.
This is an unprecedented attempt and an independent exploration. "At first, we also thought about inviting experts from Czechoslovakia, but their requirements and costs were relatively high, and they were not fully sure of the murals, so Premier Zhou and Marshal Chen Yi finally decided to do it in our own way." Zhang Qing, director of the Publicity Department of the Yongle Palace Mural Protection Institute, told China News Weekly that it would be nearly 10 years later, The Abu Simbel Temple in Egypt has once again realized the relocation of ancient buildings because of the construction of the Aswan Dam. It was also completed by dozens of countries under the call of UNESCO.
Everything is unfolding in the process of exploration. In the first few years, art experts first colored and copied the murals in their original size. Architects, through careful measurement, drew detailed structures and plans, and accurately marked the names and numbers of each component; At the same time, the selection of new sites has also been fully investigated, compared and demonstrated from all levels. In June 1959, after many experiments, the mural unveiling officially began. First, the fallen, loose and cracked parts were reinforced, the surface of the mural was cleaned and painted with special glue alum water for protection, then the palace roof was demolished, the walls with murals were sawed off one by one with a self-made hand saw, and then the mud layer of the mural was separated in the same way. In this way, the murals with a total area of 960 square meters were divided into 341 pieces, numbered according to the order of uncovering, put into wooden boxes padded with cotton and copy paper, bound with wooden boards around, and pressed with wooden frames on the back. In September 1960, before the Sanmenxia Dam began to impound, all buildings and murals had been transferred. Six years later, Yongle Palace reappeared in front of the world with its original appearance on the flat ground 3 kilometers north of Ruicheng County.
This is the origin of those stitching traces today. Although the cutting due to relocation has inevitably caused some damage to the murals, this damage has been reduced to the minimum within the controllable range. According to Zhang Qing, the original cutting method was uneven, and all the slits avoided the face and other fine parts, so as to facilitate the restoration of ink lines. At the same time, "the thickness of the wall after reconstruction has been reduced, and a wooden dragon skeleton has been added to the inner wall to strengthen the support. The mural is fixed on the keel, and there is a vent on the side, which can also maintain ventilation and prevent the mural from being damp".
During the relocation of Yongle Palace, the Sanqing Hall was rebuilt (above), the Dougong was dismantled (middle), and the mural block numbering (below). For painting/Yongle Palace Mural Protection Research Institute
"The relocation of Yongle Palace has not only set a precedent in the history of cultural relics protection, but also accumulated rich experience, including some tomb murals and the relocation of cultural relics for the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. Many methods are based on the experience summarized in that year." Zhang Qing said that in addition to the replacement of the tile surface in 2014, After the relocation, the Yongle Palace has not undergone any major repair. "The experts at that time made all the plans. Although the construction period was tight, they were very careful and prudent. The whole relocation was actually very successful. Sixty years ago, the current state of the building body was very stable, and through our monitoring, the state of the murals was still stable."
Expanding cognitive boundaries
In parallel with protection, the research on ancient buildings is also constantly improving.
In 2018, the Yongle Palace Cultural Relics Conservancy was upgraded to the Yongle Palace Mural Painting Protection Research Institute, focusing more on the maintenance and research of cultural relics, and launched a series of projects such as mural disease management, stone cultural relics disease analysis and repair protection, and digital protection projects. Among them, it also includes a comprehensive sorting of files and components that have been shelved for a long time.
At the beginning, Yongle Palace left a large number of materials, cultural relics in its collection and more than 400 original ancillary buildings replaced by replicas. Due to limited energy, they have been locked in the storeroom and failed to get the attention they deserve, and only in recent years did they begin to be sorted out. A part of glazed pieces and clay sculptures have been or are being repaired, and more than 20000 relocated files have been digitally scanned in succession to gradually carry out related research. In this process, nearly 100 ancient books and documents related to the religious activities of Yongle Palace were found, among which five Taoist abstinence documents in the Yuan Dynasty and a volume of the Song and Jin printed version of Taishang Cave Xuanling Treasure, the immeasurable top grade exquisite sutra, were extremely valuable, which was of great value to the study of the development of Quanzhen Taoism and the reconstruction of Yongle Palace at that time.
The situation of Foguang Temple is similar. For a long time, the research on this ancient temple in the late Tang Dynasty has been based on the data of Liang and Lin. Since the 1980s, some surveying and mapping work has been carried out again. In particular, in 2005, Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage cooperated with Tsinghua Institute of Architecture and Cultural Heritage Protection to use 3D scanning and total station to improve the original centimeter level data accuracy to the millimeter level, and further to have a more clear judgment on such issues as the material grade of the hall, the building proportion relationship and so on.
In 2019, Shanxi Institute for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and Painted Sculptures and Murals, Xinzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and Zhejiang University jointly carried out a comprehensive digital survey. Through a large number of image and data algorithm processing, a three-dimensional color model with clear details was constructed, which became a full and accurate file of the Foguang Temple that can be preserved permanently and presented in a sustainable way. In the process of collection, an ink inscription was found for the first time on the horizontal brace inside the wooden frame of Maitreya statue in the south of the East Hall, which reads "Zhang Shigai, a craftsman of Yanmen in the Tang Dazhong period".
In addition, with the help of C-14 technology, some of Liang Sicheng's initial judgments were further verified. "For example, an arch eye mural under the ceiling of the East Hall, the white paint turns black after oxidation. Mr. Liang believes that it is similar to the style and state of Dunhuang murals, and that it was made in the Tang Dynasty. Through carbon 14 analysis, we found that the straw in the mud layer of the arch eye wall is indeed from the Tang Dynasty. As an annual herb, it shows a very high accuracy of time." Wang Xiaolong, vice president of Shanxi Provincial Academy of Ancient Architecture and Painted Sculpture Mural Protection, said.
At the same time, other judgments are also being corrected. Wang Xiaolong told China News Weekly that Liang Sicheng once thought that the statue of a mage in the south end of the trough outside the East Hall was the Monk Wancheng who was in charge of the construction of the Foguang Temple, but after carbon 14 testing, the straw in the clay body of the statue was actually from the Ming Dynasty. "According to the inscriptions, there was a monk in the Ming Dynasty who raised money and gave alms, repaired the decaying East Hall and Manjusri Hall, and added 296 statues of Arhat. Therefore, this statue of the mage should be built to commemorate this statue."
More than that. Not far from the Yongle Palace and the Foguang Temple, there is also an earlier Taoist temple and an older Tang frame wooden building. They were unknown when the former was famous in the world, but after their re appearance, they also renewed and expanded people's understanding of ancient architectural relics.
When Yongle Palace was ready to move, Guangren King Temple, less than two kilometers northwest of its new site, was noticed. This is a Taoist temple built in the fifth year of Dahe's reign (831) of the Tang Dynasty, but because of the misreading of the inscription's year, it was temporarily regarded as a building of the Jin Dynasty, so that during the overhaul in 1958, the outer end of the decayed eaves and rafters was directly sawed off, and the wall form was also changed, leaving little flavor of the Middle Tang Dynasty. Before being listed in the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units in 2001, Guangren King Temple was only a county-level and provincial cultural relic for a long time, and even until 1983, the main hall had been used as a village classroom.
Nanchan Temple, 50 kilometers away from Foguang Temple, is not as unlucky as Guangren King Temple. Although Liang, Lin and others failed to meet this Tang structured Buddhist Temple, which was completed 75 years before the East Hall of Foguang Temple, during their trip to Shanxi, it was still included in the first batch of key cultural relics under national protection in 1961. The Nanchan Temple has not suffered greater damage. Only half a century ago, a renovation has become a reflection topic for cultural relics protection.
Nanzen-ji Temple. For painting/Nanchan Temple Protection and Utilization Department of Shanxi Provincial Institute of Ancient Architecture and Painted Sculpture Mural Protection
The Nanchan Temple has experienced many repairs in its history, and has shown a distinctive Ming and Qing style in modern times. In 1974, the main hall underwent a comprehensive renovation. On the principle of "restoring the original state", the doors, windows and eaves were changed back to the Tang system. The owl kiss, hanging fish and bo feng board on the top of the hall were redone with reference to the Foguang Temple, Dunhuang, Bohai State and the Song Dynasty's "Zao Fa Shi". The hump, melon column, coggye bucket added between the ridge and the flat beam in the Song Dynasty, as well as the Qing Dynasty color paintings on the front eaves and arch wall were removed. At the same time, the two side halls of the Qing Dynasty were also demolished, and the original Taiming, platform and apron foundations were restored.
The repaired Nanchan Temple is full of Tang style, and the information of repair in past dynasties has disappeared. But looking back today, this move is somewhat similar to the classic question of the ship of Theseus: if all the planks on a ship are replaced, is this ship still the original one? In fact, Qi Yingtao, the original director of the renovation and an expert on ancient architecture, later said, "Although we spent a lot of time, the result was not ideal. This was a measure taken under the circumstances of necessity."
In Wang Xiaolong's opinion, the choice at that time had its limitations, but it was the decision made by experts and scholars of ancient architecture protection at that time after a lot of research and discussion. "The concept of conservation and restoration of cultural relics is constantly developing. We cannot deny the work of our predecessors just because the concept has changed."
Difficulties and way out
The protection and inheritance of ancient buildings is always a question to be solved. There is no standard answer, nor theorem once and for all. Moreover, as far as Shanxi is concerned, there are still many topics that have just or haven't written down the initial "solution".
According to the data of the third national cultural relics survey, there are 53875 immovable cultural relics and 28027 ancient buildings in Shanxi Province, including 495 wood structure relics before the Yuan Dynasty, accounting for 85% of the national total. The so-called "looking at Shanxi for cultural relics on the ground" is not an empty statement. Such a huge scale of ancient buildings also means huge pressure. Every year, Shanxi Province invests nearly 200 million yuan in cultural security, but it still faces financial and human resource constraints. Even some provincial and national security units sometimes appear to be powerless.
There is an ancient town in Fencheng, the southwest of Xiangfen County, Linfen City. It was built in the seventh year of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, and has preserved more than 40 architectural relics from the 23rd year of Jin Dading to the end of the Qing Dynasty. In 2006, it was included in the national security unit as a whole. However, unlike many ancient cities represented by Pingyao in the province, the ancient town of Fencheng has served as a cultural card to welcome tourists from all directions. The ancient town of Fencheng is still in an undeveloped state. Not only are many Ming and Qing houses idle or even abandoned, but even the oldest and most valuable Confucian temple has not been completely renovated, and traces of its use as a school can still be seen.
Left: An ancient flagstone road near Dongpo Baomen, an ancient town of Fencheng. Top right: Lingxing Gate of Confucian Temple in Fencheng Ancient Town. Bottom right: The test courtyard and pre-school tower in Fencheng Ancient Town. Our photographer/reporter Xu Pengyuan
Yin Maoguang, director of Xiangfen County Cultural Relics Protection Center, told China News Weekly that at present, there are only two official staff for the daily maintenance of Fencheng Ancient Town, and four veterans are responsible for 24-hour patrol inspection. "This is the case at the grass-roots level, which is short of people, money and equipment." Fortunately, thanks to the "Southern Project" launched by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage in 2008, the main buildings in the ancient city were fully maintained to maintain a healthy level. In 2021, the West Gate was repaired, and the environment from the West Gate to the north wall was also improved.
In the past two years, with the spread of the Internet, Fencheng Ancient Town is becoming more known to the outside world. Many people are attracted by its simple and original appearance and want to come here to experience the feeling of "time is still". However, this enthusiasm annoyed Yin Maoguang: "It's really good to publicize the ancient town. But we are not a scenic spot now, and people regard it as a scenic spot, so we can't enter the building after coming. But if we open the door, and lack basic reception conditions, it makes people feel bad." He said that the county also attaches great importance to the development of the ancient town, We have been negotiating with China Railway 19th Bureau. If the cooperation is reached, this ancient city will one day open its arms to meet the distance.
Despite various practical difficulties, the remains of ancient buildings like Fencheng Ancient Town will eventually occupy a considerable position in the cultural security system. In contrast, the situation of low-grade ancient buildings is much more difficult. In 2022, the Cultural Relics Bureau of Shanxi Province organized a special survey, which counted 50693 low-level immovable cultural relics in the province, with a large number, diverse types and scattered distribution, and about 80% of them were in danger of varying degrees; If we focus on the rescue and recovery of these dangerous situations, we need to invest about 8 billion yuan in total, and the implementation of comprehensive repair and protection will increase to more than 20 billion yuan.
In the past, CCTV and other media have reported that some low-grade ancient buildings were neglected in care and maintenance, and even were frequently stolen; Some ancient building enthusiasts also often use their social platforms to make appeals. In 2021, a rare heavy rainfall caused a large number of ancient buildings to be damaged to varying degrees, which caused temporary concern.
In fact, as early as 2017, Shanxi Province launched the "Civilized Watch Project" to encourage and guide social organizations, enterprises or individuals to participate in the protection of cultural relics without changing the ownership of cultural relics. After that, some low-grade ancient buildings were repaired and protected by "adoption", including Cangtou Bowang Temple in Nanjia Town, Xiangfen County.
As a result of years of disrepair, this small rural temple of the Yuan Dynasty suffered from cracking of the western mountain wall and collapse of the back wall a few years ago. In 2019, a local classical furniture company named "Tang Renju" signed an adoption agreement with the town government, which took nine months to complete the repair, and the daily maintenance thereafter was also his responsibility. "First, fire prevention. The hall is now equipped with monitoring devices and fire extinguishers. If there is a fire, we can deal with it as soon as possible. Second, the village is patrolled every day, and we have to go there twice a week. In addition, we have our own construction team. We can do protective minor repairs and repairs on our own." General Manager Bi Hongwei told China News Weekly.
In addition to the "Civilized Watch Project", Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, in conjunction with the Provincial Department of Finance, will also encourage cities and counties to use general government bonds to comprehensively protect low-level immovable cultural relics by the end of 2022. It is reported that the basic idea of the policy is to improve the preservation of low-grade cultural relics in an all-round way in about 10 years, with a 100% risk elimination rate, and to build a municipal and county security supervision platform for cultural relics in about 5 years, and to form a network with the security supervision platform of national security and provincial security units. At the same time, with the launch of the "Construction of Chinese Cultural Relics Theme Tour" by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and other departments, the scattered ancient building resources in Shanxi are also being integrated and developed accordingly.
In view of the shortage of cultural relics professionals at the grass-roots level, Shanxi also issued the Implementation Measures for Free Orientation Training of Cultural Relics Talents in 2022, which plans to train 600 cultural relics talents at the grass-roots cultural and museum units below the county level by 2025. Duan Enze, director of the Institute of Ancient Architecture of Shanxi Institute of Ancient Architecture and Painted Sculpture Mural Protection, said that the program has now enrolled nearly 220 students for two sessions.
The protection and inheritance of ancient buildings have a long way to go. It needs more ideas and strength. In Zhongxing Village, Xiangfen County, there are a group of special cultural relics protectors: all of them are silver haired elders, who have spontaneously set up a "Xiangling Folk Cultural Heritage Rescue Association", dedicated to calling for local ancient buildings and cultural heritage. One of the retired teachers told China News Weekly that all he did was out of feelings: "One must live all his life and do something beneficial to the society and the people." Not far from her, there was a monument of merit and virtue, engraved with a member of the association who died unfortunately because of his hard work in the repair of the City God Temple in the village, and that was her wife.
Published on the 1144 issue of China Newsweek magazine on June 17, 2024
Magazine title: Shanxi, coming from ancient buildings
Reporter: Xu Pengyuan
Edited by: Yang Shiyang
