On December 19, the symposium on the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage was held in Beijing, and Cai Qi, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Communist Party of China, attended the meeting. In his speech, Cai Qi reviewed the achievements of cultural heritage protection in recent years, and put forward requirements for the construction of a protection system and the promotion of systematic protection of cultural heritage. He emphasized that "efforts should be made to strengthen the protection of the rule of law, increase the intensity of supervision, and protect cultural heritage with the strictest system and the strictest rule of law".
China has a rich cultural heritage, but the protection of cultural heritage started late. In recent years, the protection of China's cultural heritage has developed rapidly, and the Office of the Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Opinions on the Implementation of the Project for the Inheritance and Development of Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture", which for the first time expounded the inheritance and development of China's excellent traditional culture in the form of a document. Since then, important documents such as the "Opinions on the Implementation of the Project for the Protection and Utilization of Revolutionary Cultural Relics (2018-2022)" have been issued. China has accelerated its application for World Heritage Sites, and Quanzhou: The World Marine Trade Center of Song and Yuan Dynasty China and the Ancient Tea Forest of Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er have been successfully inscribed on the World Heritage List, and the number of World Heritage Sites has ranked among the highest in the world. While the protection of cultural and natural heritage is steadily advancing, the protection of agricultural heritage and industrial heritage is also being strengthened. The "living" agricultural heritages such as the Honghe Hani Terraces in Yunnan and the ancient tea forest in Pu'er Jingmai Mountain have been well protected. Recently, Shandong, Hebei and other provinces have released a list of industrial heritage, and Jinan Heavy Industry Foundry Workshop Complex, Qingdao Museum of Posts and Telecommunications, Cangzhou Dahua Site, Renqiu Ancient Qianshan Oilfield and so on have been selected.
Kaiyuan Temple in Quanzhou. (UAV**) China News Service material**).
China has made great strides in the protection of cultural heritage, but it also faces some problems. In some places, "heavy use and light protection", in some places old houses and old neighborhoods with historical value have been demolished, and in some places the use value of cultural heritage has not been recognized, and the phenomenon of enclosing and repairing without using has appeared. In addition to increasing investment and publicity, it is also necessary to rely on the rule of law to solve these problems. China has promulgated laws and regulations on the protection of cultural heritage, such as the Guidelines for the Protection of Cultural Relics and Historic Sites, and the Measures for the Administration of National Industrial Heritage, but in order to establish a sound cultural heritage protection system, it is necessary to further improve the pertinence and systematization of relevant legislation. To this end, reference can be made to relevant documents on the protection of international cultural heritage, as well as the mature experience of other countries.
Through decades of joint efforts by cultural workers from all over the world, the relevant rules for the protection of international cultural heritage have been perfected. In 1931, the First International Conference of Architects and Technicians of Historical Monuments was held in Athens, and the Athens Charter was adopted, which established the principles of preservation such as the preservation of ancient buildings through the maintenance system, the abandonment of overall reconstruction, the respect for past history and art, and the careful use of modern technology for restoration. For the first time, the principles for the protection of monuments and sites were established in the form of an international document, the main tenets of which were inherited by the Venice Charter adopted in 1964 and the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, known as the World Heritage Convention, adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. In addition to these documents, which set out the principles for the protection of cultural heritage, cultural workers from various countries have also adopted the Barra Charter on the work process for the protection of industrial heritage and historic buildings, the Washington Charter for the protection of historic districts and towns, the Florence Charter for the protection of historic gardens, and the Nara Authenticity Document for the "authenticity" of heritage protection. These documents can be used as a reference for cultural management agencies in formulating laws and regulations for the protection of cultural heritage.
Italy, Greece, Japan and other countries all have rich cultural heritage, and there are also lessons for China to learn from in terms of cultural heritage protection legislation. In order to meet the requirements of the Venice Charter, Italy has taken measures such as controlling the scale and pace of tourism development and encouraging green tourism to avoid the over-exploitation of cultural heritage resources, which can also help all parts of China to deal with the use of cultural heritage. Greece enacted and implemented in 2002 "38 articles of the law on cultural relics" is known for its strictness and rigor, with 1838 as the boundary, all monuments, sculptures, pottery, porcelain, bronzes and manuscripts, ancient books, skills, etc. before 1838 belong to the state property, and the family heirloom before 1838 also needs to be registered with the cultural heritage department. This law has effectively protected Greece's cultural heritage and promoted the awareness of cultural heritage protection among the whole people. Japan has a unique approach to legislation for the protection of intangible cultural heritage, which divides intangible cultural heritage into intangible cultural heritage and intangible folk cultural heritage, and the relevant laws emphasize the protection of folk materials. In the protection of intangible cultural heritage, it is common to encounter the problem that folk customs are no longer "original" with the change of lifestyle, and the preservation of folk materials can effectively solve this problem, and this practice can also be applied in the protection and inheritance of folk customs in China. (ENDS).
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Author: Narita.