The Light of Truth Historical and cultural heritage is a reflection of the life experience and survival wisdom of the ancestors, the bearer of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and the continuation of the spiritual blood of the country and the nation. **The general secretary attaches great importance to the protection and inheritance of historical and cultural heritage, emphasizing: "The important point in evaluating whether a system or a force is progressive or reactionary is to look at its attitude towards history and culture. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the general secretary has made more than 170 important instructions and instructions on cultural relics, archaeology, and intangible cultural heritage, and he has personally investigated and inspected more than 100 historical and cultural heritages. Since the beginning of the new era, the protection of China's historical and cultural heritage has developed rapidly and made outstanding achievements. The important exposition of the general secretary on historical and cultural heritage is an important part of cultural thought, and its profound connotation and great significance need to be carefully studied and studied.
Understand historical and cultural heritage from the perspective of civilization inheritance and innovation
For a long time, the basic concepts commonly used in the field of cultural heritage protection are "cultural relics", "cultural heritage", "folk skills", "intangible cultural heritage", etc., and the concepts often used by the general secretary when talking about cultural preservation work are "historical culture" and "historical and cultural heritage". In November 2015, the general secretary presided over the 11th meeting of the financial and economic leading group, and pointed out: "It is necessary to enhance the livability of the city, guide and regulate the scale of the city, optimize the layout of urban space, strengthen the construction of municipal infrastructure, and protect historical and cultural heritage." The difference between the concepts of "historical culture" and "historical and cultural heritage" and "cultural relics" and "cultural heritage" lies in the fact that they go beyond the emphasis on specific cultural relics or intangible cultural heritage items, and more highlight the status and role of cultural heritage in the overall historical development, and more prominently highlight the significance of cultural heritage to the inheritance of civilization.
In connection with this, the general secretary paid great attention to archaeology. On September 28, 2020, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China held a collective study on the latest archaeological discoveries in China and their significance. Therefore, this expansion of the basic concept in the field of cultural preservation shows that the Party and the first party attach importance to the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage, as well as the deepening of the understanding of the value and role of cultural heritage.
The excellent traditional Chinese culture is the crystallization and essence of the wisdom of the Chinese civilization, the root and soul of the Chinese nation, and the foundation for us to gain a firm foothold in the turmoil of world culture. As a concrete embodiment of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, historical and cultural heritage is the foundation for the inheritance and continuation of Chinese civilization. Therefore, the development of Marxism in China is inseparable from attaching importance to historical and cultural heritage. On June 2, 2023, at the symposium on cultural inheritance and development, the general secretary positioned the combination of the basic tenets of Marxism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture as "another emancipation of the mind", emphasizing that the "second combination" allows us to make full use of the valuable resources of the excellent traditional Chinese culture in a broader cultural space and explore future-oriented theoretical innovation and institutional innovation. This also indicates that our party has reached a new height in terms of theoretical consciousness and cultural self-confidence. Protecting, researching, and making good use of cultural heritage, extracting and displaying the spiritual identity of China's excellent traditional culture, and gaining a deeper understanding of China's excellent traditional culture and the history of Chinese civilization are the ideological basis for realizing the "second combination". Therefore, the issue of the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage has become a major theoretical issue related to the continuation of Chinese civilization and the innovation and development of Marxism in China.
The relationship between protection and development should be properly handled
The great value of historical and cultural heritage determines that we should strive to protect it, but it is not easy to solve the contradiction between the protection of cultural heritage and the current social development. **The general secretary attaches great importance to the relationship between the protection of historical and cultural heritage and social development.
Historical and cultural heritage is constantly generated with the development of the times, but most of the existing cultural heritage was produced in the period of agricultural civilization, when the society entered the industrial and post-industrial era, the great changes in production methods and lifestyles, and the impact of foreign culture made the protection of cultural heritage face many challenges. According to the general recognition of the international community, the threat of public and private works, the damage caused by the rapid development of cities or tourism, and the damage caused by changes in the use of land or the change of ownership are the main factors threatening the security of cultural heritage. Therefore, it has become an arduous task to go beyond the immediate utilitarian interests and coordinate the relationship between protection and development with a long-term vision. On May 11, 2020, the general secretary emphasized during his inspection in Shanxi: "Historical and cultural heritage is a non-renewable and irreplaceable precious resource, and protection must always be put first. However, he also opposes a one-sided severance of the relationship between protection and development. As early as 2003, when he was working in Zhejiang, he said that when we emphasize protection, we do not mean that these natural and cultural landscapes should be tightly covered and not moved, but that we should carry out moderate and reasonable development and construction under the premise of adhering to protection, and achieve better protection through moderate and reasonable development and construction. Protection and development cannot be pitted against each other. We also need to properly handle the relationship between protection and development. On January 17, 2019, the general secretary pointed out during his inspection in Tianjin: "We must cherish the city's historical and cultural heritage, develop in protection, and protect in development." Specific to urban construction, he opposes large-scale demolition and large-scale construction and the behavior of worshipping foreigners, opposes the construction of fake antiques, and advocates the use of microscopic transformation and organic transformation.
By developing and protecting in the course of protection, we can preserve the historical and cultural memory of cities and villages while developing rapidly, so that people can remember history and nostalgia, continue the Chinese cultural context, and let Chinese civilization last forever.
Strengthen research and utilization
Historical and cultural heritage is the crystallization of the wisdom of our predecessors, waiting for us to recognize and excavate. Without in-depth research, it is difficult to deeply understand the rich connotation of historical and cultural heritage, let alone make accurate and rational use of it. **The general secretary has always been concerned about the construction of talent teams in the field of historical and cultural heritage. On August 19, 2019, the general secretary emphasized at the Dunhuang Academy: "We must care for our scientific research workers, improve the talent incentive mechanism, and support and encourage more outstanding professionals to engage in this work." It is necessary to continue to increase investment, use advanced technology to strengthen the protection and research of cultural relics, continuously improve working and living conditions, build a better platform for scientific research workers to carry out research, study, study and exchange, and improve the professional level of scientific research teams. By intensifying the construction of talent team and scientific research, the historical, cultural, aesthetic, scientific and technological value and value of the times of cultural heritage can be truly revealed, so as to "let the cultural relics speak, let history speak, let culture speak", and establish archaeology with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style and Chinese style, so as to better display the brilliant Chinese civilization and carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
**The general secretary attaches great importance to the utilization of historical and cultural heritage, advocates upholding the scientific concept of "taking the essence and removing the dross", actively absorbs the beneficial elements in it, and has a large number of successful practices in economic construction, political construction, cultural construction, social construction, and ecological civilization construction. When he was working in the local area, he liked to check the county records to understand the local situation;He paid attention to the use of cultural heritage to serve economic construction, and opposed the opposition between protection and useThe Belt and Road Initiative he proposed is a wise creation based on the heritage of the Silk Road, which promotes exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizationsHe repeatedly emphasized the educational significance of traditional Chinese virtues and red resources to serve the construction of today's national spirit and socialist core valuesHe believes that the Chinese civilization, which has lasted for more than 5,000 years, has nurtured a rich ecological culture. The concept of "bringing cultural relics to life" put forward by him has become the most distinctive original idea on cultural relics work in the new era. The 2022 National Conference on Cultural Relics Work established the "Protection First.
1. Strengthen management, excavate value, effectively utilize, and make cultural relics come alive".
Strengthen the establishment of systems and the rule of law
There are no rules, there is no circle", the system and the rule of law are the most reliable guarantee for the effective protection and rational use of historical and cultural heritage. **The general secretary attaches great importance to the construction of systems and the rule of law, and has been vigorously promoting relevant work. Since working in Zhengding, Hebei Province, I have been directly involved in the practice of cultural heritage protection for a long time, and I know the crux of the problem. For example, in the 90s of the 20th century, he went to the front line in Fuzhou City and personally contributed to the protection of Lin Juemin's former residence and Lin Zexu's related cultural relics. The process of protecting these two cultural heritages was quite bumpy, and the overall protection of the three lanes and seven lanes in Fuzhou City was even more difficult during the same period, and it took more than ten years to succeed.
The focus of institutional development is to establish an efficient cultural heritage management mechanism at all levels. During his tenure as secretary of the Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee, he took the protection of Lin Juemin's former residence as an opportunity to promote the professionalization and institutionalization of cultural heritage management, such as the establishment of the Fuzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau, which was earlier than the establishment of the Fujian Provincial Cultural Relics BureauIt is stipulated that the opinions of the cultural relics department shall be solicited when the urban construction project is established, and the official seal of the Municipal Cultural Relics Bureau shall be stamped;The "Fuzhou porcelain plaque" fired with enamel was set up to indicate the identity of cultural relics, which was the first in the country. In July 2017, after the successful application of Gulangyu Island for World Heritage Status, the general secretary instructed: "The application for World Heritage is to better protect and utilize, summarize successful experience, learn from international concepts, improve the long-term mechanism, carefully protect the cultural heritage left by our ancestors, and let the historical context be better inherited." On September 28, 2020, the general secretary pointed out when presiding over the 23rd collective study of the 19th Political Bureau: "Archaeological relics and historical relics are witnesses of history and must be protected and utilized. It is necessary to establish and improve the asset management system of historical and cultural heritage resources, build a large database of national cultural relics resources, strengthen the overall guidance of the census of cultural relics resources in relevant fields and the publication of the list, strengthen technical support, and guide social participation. ”
The rule of law is the fundamental support for the protection of cultural heritage, and the general secretary attaches great importance to the establishment and improvement of laws and regulations related to the protection of historical and cultural heritage. On October 27, 1995, under the auspices of the People's Congress of Fuzhou City, the Fuzhou Municipal People's Congress deliberated and passed the Regulations on the Protection of Famous Historical and Cultural Cities of Fuzhou City. On September 29, 2001, Comrade ***, then governor of Fujian Province, presided over a provincial executive meeting to review the regulations on the protection of Wuyi Mountain's "Double World Heritage". On September 5, 2014, at the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the National People's Congress, the general secretary stressed: "It is necessary to strengthen legislation in important areas to ensure that national development and major reforms are based on the law." In August 2021, the General Office of the Communist Party of China issued the "Opinions on Further Strengthening the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage", specifically emphasizing the need to "improve policies and regulations". At present, China's cultural heritage protection construction has made remarkable progress, only as far as the protection of cultural relics is concerned, nearly 20 relevant laws, regulations and rules, together with more than 200 local regulations, have initially built a relatively complete legal system.
Standing at the height of inheriting civilization and creating a new form of human civilization, the general secretary has systematically and profoundly expounded on the value and significance, protection and development, research and utilization, system and rule of law construction of cultural heritage with the attitude of historical materialism and dialectical materialism. In the practice of governing the country, he drew a lot of wisdom from historical and cultural heritage. With his sincere cultural feelings and strong cultural responsibility, he has been promoting the steady progress of historical and cultural heritage for decades. The important exposition of the general secretary on historical and cultural heritage is an important content that we should pay attention to in a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of cultural thought.
(Author's Affiliation: Department of Culture and History, ** Party School of the Communist Party of China (National Academy of Administration)).
Author: Ma Benteng **China Social Science Daily, Issue 2812, January 10, 2024.