In September 2023, at the 45th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Conference held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, China's application for the "Pu'er Jingmaishan Ancient Tea Forest Cultural Landscape" was successfully inscribed on the World Heritage List, becoming the world's first tea-themed world cultural heritage.
Reporter:After more than ten years of inscription, what was your reaction when you heard the news when it was actually inscribed as a World Heritage Site in September this year?
Chen Yaohua, head of the compilation team of Jingmai Mountain's inscription on the World Heritage List:I think it's really happy for the people of Jingmai Mountain, everyone has been looking forward to it every year for so many years, and every time they come to say, Mr. Chen, which year can we succeed?I said soon, soon, soon.
Chen Yaohua, Director of the World Heritage Research Center at Peking University, has been working on this project for 13 years as the head of the compilation team of the Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest inscription text.
Chen Yaohua:Of course, it is impossible for me not to be excited, after all, everyone has worked together for more than ten years and looked forward to it for so many years.
Southwest China is the center of the origin of tea trees, and it is also the first place in the world to discover, utilize and cultivate tea trees, among which the Lancang River Basin in Yunnan Province is the hometown of Pu'er tea in the world, and the Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest is located in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province. After thousands of years of accumulation and inheritance, Jingmai Mountain has formed five large-scale and well-preserved ancient tea forests, nine traditional villages distributed in them, and three separate shelter forests between ancient tea forests, which together constitute the area where Jingmai Mountain represents the Chinese tea culture and is declared a World Heritage Site.
Reporter:The popularity of Jingmai Mountain was not high before, and in this case that there was still a blank in the tea field, would it be a little more basic to declare other more well-known tea gardens or tea culture parks?
Chen Yaohua:China's tea culture is very broad and profound, and our Longjing tea, Wuyi tea, and the six major tea mountains in Yunnan are more famous. What is the value of the ancient tea forest in Jingmai Mountain?Because World Heritage is a very professional evaluation process.
Chen Yaohua:The biggest feature of the ancient tea forest in Jingmai Mountain is that it is planted under the forest, and the tallest tree is to shade the tea trees. Pu'er tea has a lighting rate of about 80% and grows the best. Therefore, the tallest trees in the past are not ancient tea trees, but tall trees that provide shade to it. The middle layer is full of tea trees, so it is the best witness to the planting under the forest.
Reporter:What is the relationship between traditional understory planting and heritage conservation?
Chen Yaohua:There are six criteria for world heritage and cultural heritage, and the third criterion is the testimony of existing or disappeared civilizations, or the testimony of some cultural traditions. The ancient tea forest of Jingmai Mountain is a witness to the traditional tea planting under the forest.
Different from the terrace tea that uses modern tea planting technology and is planted in dense and high-yield modern tea gardens, the planting method of "planting tea under the forest" originated in Jingmai Mountain and has lasted for thousands of years. The ancestors of Jingmai Mountain realized that Yunnan large-leaf tea did not like the growth Xi of being directly exposed to the sun, and while cutting down some trees and shrubs in the natural forest, a certain number of shade trees were retained, so the tea garden formed a unique ecosystem composed of "tree layer - tea tree layer - herb layer".
Chen Yaohua:Understory planting is not just a superficial approach, but more of an ecological wisdom embodied in it.
Reporter:What does this wisdom mean?
Chen Yaohua:You can think about the mesa tea we see, what we see is tea, the variety is very single, not to mention biodiversity. But there are more than 900 species of plants and nearly 200 species of animals in Jingmai Mountain. It makes good use of biological diversity to solve two of the most critical problems in agricultural production, one is pest control.
Reporter:What does this have to do with pest control?
Chen Yaohua:It's very interesting, biologically speaking, it is the inhibition relationship between species. To take the simplest example, some of the big trees and trees we see are like camphor trees, and the camphor trees themselves can repel insects, and there are also herbs on the ground, and insects don't want to go when they smell this smell. Like dendrobium and two-sided needles, they also have the effect of repelling insects. There are a lot of birds on it, and there are a lot of birds in the big forest, and they also eat bugs. In addition, there are a lot of cobwebs on each tree, and the cobwebs filter a lot of small insects, because they have all hit the web in the past, so it is a very good biological system in it, a system of diversity.
Chen Yaohua:That's our ecological intelligence. The first solves the control of pests and diseases, and the second solves the provision of nutrients. When the leaves fall down, they pass through the herbaceous layer on the ground, and when they wither in winter, they will turn into humus and provide nutrients to the tea plant. The problems that we now rely on chemical fertilizers and pesticides to solve are solved by our ancestors in a good ecological way, which is a very important ecological value in the ancient tea forest of Jingmai Mountain.
Reporter:Why don't other tea trees have this fence, but this tea tree has this fence?
Chen Yaohua:This is a special cultural phenomenon of ours, and this tree is called the Tea Soul Tree. It is in the tea garden of the Brown people on Jingmai Mountain, each tea garden has a tea soul tree, which represents the tea ancestor to protect this tea garden.
The ancient tea forest of Jingmai Mountain has lasted for thousands of years, and for the locals, each tea tree represents not only their livelihood, but also their connection with their ancestors. Legend has it that more than 1,000 years ago, the ancestors of the Brown people experienced a serious epidemic when they migrated to Jingmai Mountain. At a critical juncture, the special effects of wild tea saved the people. That's how they got to know this amazing plant.
Chen Yaohua:There are two very important cultural elements in the ancient tea forest of Jingmai Mountain, one is called tea ancestor. Tea ancestor is the first to lead the Brown people to Jingmai Mountain, found wild tea trees, and then domesticated the cultivation of the tribal leader, now he is enshrined as the tea ancestor, every year in April there is a very grand Shankang tea ancestor festival. On another hill there is a tea soul table, to go to the sacrifice. Because after the tea ancestor discovered the wild tea tree, there was a tea ancestor's testament, that is, if I give you cattle and horses, there may be times when you die of illness, if you leave you gold and silver treasures, and when they are all used up, only to leave you so many tea trees, you will not be able to use them up for your children and grandchildren. So you have to take care of the ancient tea trees like your eyes, this has been until now, they still remember it very well, and protect the ancient tea forest very well, for example, it is absolutely not allowed to cut down trees casually in the ancient tea forest.
Chen Yaohua:Arbor trees are also not allowed. If it falls, it falls, you can't say I fall, I'll pull it out and sell it. Naturally, termites will break it down and follow nature. What is the trunk of the tea soul tree?It represents the tea ancestor to guard this tea garden, we can see the sacrificial platform, and the first thing to come to worship before the spring tea is mined. The tea leaves on this tea soul tree are the best tea leaves.
Reporter:Can this tea be picked and sold as well?
Chen Yaohua:After picking, the tea leaves on this are generally not sold, and the first one, originally in history, was specifically made tribute tea, such as tribute tea to the royal family. The second, for religious purposes, is used in the temple, for example, and the third, which is the most honorable guest, takes this out at home. In many lives, we say to give an invitation, they all use tea as an invitation, and when they make a relationship, they will send a love tea, which is all tea. There is a lot of tea in the world, there are many tea plantations, and this place is actually far beyond the concept of pure as a crop, but has become a cultural symbol.
Today, when it comes to the ancient tea garden of Jingmai Mountain, Chen Yaohua can tell the story of a few treasures. But in 2011, he came to Jingmai Mountain for the first time, and he only met by chance.
Reporter:When you came to Jingmai Mountain in 2011, what was your initial impression?
Chen Yaohua:At that time, we happened to be with the leaders of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the leaders and experts went to Hani Terraces together. It's also my first time here, and I remember very well, I smelled the tea when I went up the mountain, and I felt that this place seemed to be different from the fragrance of flowers in other places. The village is also very beautiful, like black tiles, all of them are dry-bar buildings, they are all very traditional, very well preserved, we say that this is easy to apply for the World Heritage Site. And there is also a background, at that time, our country was declaring two large heritage sites, one was the Silk Road and the other was the Grand Canal, both of which were very linear, with long distances and large spaces. When we looked at such a small, condensed and quintessential place, everyone said that this place was so good, and as soon as we came, we felt that this place was quickly declared.
In 2011, the people of Pu'er City officially launched the application of Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest for World Heritage Status. In the same year, the people of Lancang County entrusted the team of Chen Yaohua of Peking University to lead the assessment of the heritage resources of the ancient tea garden of Jingmai Mountain, and to compile the text of the inscription.
Reporter:What is the impact of the formulation of the text on the entire inscription process?
Chen Yaohua:We can say that we are the most important or the most basic work in our inscription work, why?Because we are nominated as a World Heritage Site, we need to submit two very important documents to the World Heritage Centre, the first is the inscription text, and the second is the conservation management plan. The purpose of the inscription is to explain to the international community what heritage isWhat are the important values?How's the state of preservation?Because there are many tea plantations in the world, and there are many in China, but we have unique value, where is the value?It's a long process of research, a process of refinement.
In addition to the thousand-year-old tea forest, another unique place of Jingmai Mountain is its ancient village. More than 10 natural villages such as Jingmai Dazhai, Nuogang Ancient Village, and Wengji Ancient Village are scattered in Jingmai Mountain, and still maintain the ancient life style. The dry-column dwellings, which use wooden pillars as supports, make the wooden houses hang above the ground, this architectural style that appeared in the Neolithic period has been used by the Shiju people of Jingmai Mountain to this day. The houses in each village are laid out around the heart of the village.
Chen Yaohua:This village heart is very important to the village, and the Brown people choose the village heart first when they build the village. The heart of the village is the place where the god of the village lives, and the god of the village can protect the peace of the whole village. The land conditions in the mountainous area are very limited, so it is necessary to save every inch of usable land, and develop very intensively and compactly around the heart of the village.
Reporter:It is equivalent to a circumference in the heart of the village.
Chen Yaohua:Until now, this village heart is also very important. For example, if the Brown people are going on a business trip and are far away, he will come to the heart of the village to ask the god of the village to bless him. In addition, if he makes a mistake, such as cutting down a tree inside, doing something bad, and is discovered, he will come and confess his mistake. First of all, you have to go to the heart of the village to ask the god of the village to ask for sin, and then you have to do public welfare in the village, such as building a section of road, and after you finish it, you have to write a sign next to it, and whoever has done something bad will be publicized. In this way, no one dares to destroy the ancient tea forest casually, and no one can do anything that destroys public order, so that the ancient tea forest can be passed down and the ancient village can be preserved to this day.
Understanding the ecological value and humanistic connotation of the ancient tea plantation in Jingmai Mountain is the basis for compiling the text of the inscription. In 2012, the Jingmai Mountain project was successfully included in the tentative list of China's world heritage, and in 2013, it was included in the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units. Thus began the long road to World Heritage nomination.
Reporter:At first, I didn't expect that the entire declaration process would last for more than ten years, did I?
Chen Yaohua:But I don't think this time has been wasted, for more than ten years, we have been declaring on the one hand, and on the other hand, we have communicated well with the community, so that they can understand what the original ancestors left us, and there is such a high value, so as to enhance their awareness of protection. So now the people of Jingmai Mountain, as soon as you ask him, he can probably tell what the value of Jingmai Mountain is.
Reporter:In the process of more than ten years of declaration, will it bring a test of confidence and patience to the applicant?
Chen Yaohua:This one will definitely be, because after all, more than ten years. Looking back now, the more difficult thing was around 2015, about 4 years before and after. The community will have some wait-and-see, why hasn't it succeeded, and at the same time, this time is just in time for the traditional ganlan-style building in Jingmai Mountain to enter the renewal period. The dry-bar building may be about 30 years old, and the roof will leak because it is all wooden planks, and if it is broken, it will have to be rebuilt. Therefore, around 2015, it entered a period of renewal on a large scale, and in 2011, I saw the small black tiles and particularly beautiful small villages, and I instantly felt that a lot had changed.
Reporter:Were you in a hurry at that time?
Chen Yaohua:Of course I'm in a hurry, that's watching it change under our noses, this village looks at it today, the old house is still there, and tomorrow I see how it's gone, renovated. This period of time is the most difficult time for us and for the villagers, and we don't know which year to declare it, and the people keep building.
Although he is only responsible for the compilation of the text, no matter how well the text is compiled, if the village is destroyed, the text will lose its meaning. At the suggestion of Chen Yaohua's team, in 2018, the people of Pu'er City established the Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest Protection Administration, which was directly managed by Pu'er City, compiled detailed rules for village planning and repair, made strict and meticulous regulations on house maintenance, and the original appearance of the village was protected.
Chen Yaohua:Looking back now, why did the Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest pass the entire World Heritage assessment process very smoothly this time, and the international organizations gave a high evaluation to our ancient tea forest, believing that the Jingmai Mountain Ancient Tea Forest is a challenging environment that is easy to change, we call it modernization, urbanization, including climate change, these challenging environments, Jingmai Mountain reflects a good interactive relationship with it. In the face of the belief of tea ancestors, the protection of traditional tea culture, the traditional way of social governance, and the traditional knowledge system have played a very good role in this. Jingmai Mountain is not only the past and present for the development of the whole human race, but also the enlightenment for the sustainable development of the future, that is, the harmony between man and nature, the harmony between man and man, and the coexistence of this multicultural play a very good role.
After the successful application for the World Heritage Site, the ancient tea forest of Jingmai Mountain became famous all over the world overnight, and during the November of this year, there were significantly more tourists than in the past.
Reporter:Now that the popularity is getting higher and higher, more tourists will come to Jingmai, what kind of plan do you have for the protection of the ancient tea garden of Jingmai Mountain in the future?
Chen Yaohua:We have already thought about it when it comes to declaring the estate. The first is the ancient tea forest itself, for example, a large number of tourists will go to the ancient tea forest, and everyone wants to taste it. But if all the tourists run to the ancient tea plantations and run all over the mountains, the growth of the ancient tea trees will definitely be affected. To take the simplest example, the spider web was originally to catch insects, but the tourists knocked all the spider webs off as soon as they entered, and the ancient tea forest lost its protective barrier, so it will have an impact on the natural growth of the ancient tea tree itself. The second is the impact on culture. Everyone runs to a very sacred place, stands on this tea soul platform twice, goes to do something, shouts twice, it will definitely not work. So the first one is that we have limited open space, and the five large ancient tea forests are now only open to the Dapingzhang Ancient Tea Forest, and the Dapingzhang Ancient Tea Forest is only open to a small corner. Therefore, in terms of space, it is not said that tourists can run freely all over the mountains, but in fact, it is necessary to strengthen the prevention and measures of culture shock. First of all, we people in Jingmaishan can stick to our own culture, not that with the impact of tourism outside, I will soon commercialize all of them.
Reporter:That is, the locals should stick to the culture, and the outsiders should respect the culture.
Chen Yaohua:Respect for the culture, but also understand their culture, respect for the culture, how you should better protect this place, this is the common responsibility of everyone. Of course, it is also the responsibility of the locals of Jingmai Mountain, they are the masters, they have the responsibility, the first responsibility, and the tourists also have the responsibility.
* CCTV news client).