The importance of national heritage

Editor's note: China Daily launched Vision China in 2018 to play its role as a bridge for communication between China and the rest of the world. Focusing on developments in both China and abroad, Vision China invites well-known Chinese and overseas opinion leaders to give talks and share their ideas on forums focusing on a wide range of topics. In this event on Thursday, we gathered in Chaoyang, Liaoning province, a place where Hongshan Culture thrived more than 5,000 years ago. With the theme "Tracing the Origins of Chinese Civilization and Passing it on to Future Generations", experts shared their thoughts on the inspiration provided by ancestors and called for exchanges and mutual learning among various cultures. Let's hear what they said at the forum.

Official focuses on studying the past to create the future, and the need to reach out to world, and locate China's contributions to global civilization

Our majestic China, long may its mountains and rivers run. At this historic moment when the Party and the nation are studying in-depth and implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, conscientiously implementing the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's keynote speech at the symposium on cultural inheritance and development on June 2, and embarking on a new journey to build a modern Chinese civilization, we are gathered here in Chaoyang, Liaoning province, one of the important birthplaces of Chinese civilization, and capital of the three Yan regimes during the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304-439), for a Vision China event themed "Tracing the Origins of Chinese Civilization and Passing It on to Future Generations".

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, has attached importance to cultural heritage work as never before. Focusing on the latest archaeological discoveries and their significance, and deepening the project of tracing the origins of Chinese civilization, General Secretary Xi Jinping has twice presided over group study sessions of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, pointing out that archaeological discoveries demonstrate the historical lineage of the origins and development of Chinese civilization, its brilliant achievements, and its significant contributions to world civilization; and that the findings of major projects, such as the tracing of the origins of Chinese civilization, have proved the country's million-year human history, ten-thousand-year cultural history, and 5,000-odd-year history of civilization.

He stressed the need to develop archaeology with Chinese features, style and ethos to better understand long-standing and splendid Chinese civilization, and to take the study of the history of the Chinese civilization to a deeper level to enhance our historical awareness and cultural confidence.

On June 2, General Secretary Xi Jinping attended a symposium on cultural inheritance and development and delivered an important speech in which he summed up the five outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization, namely, consistency, originality, uniformity, inclusiveness, and peacefulness, profoundly elaborated on the inevitable course of "two combinations" (to combine the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and fine traditional culture), and stressed the necessity of properly carrying out major projects like the comprehensive study on the Origins and Early Development of the Chinese Civilization and Archaeology China, to do a good job of researching and interpreting the origins of Chinese civilization, to take on new cultural missions, to stimulate the vitality of national cultural innovation and creativity, and to work hard to create new cultures that reflect our times.

Hongshan Culture is an important Neolithic culture in the northern part of China. Liaoning, together with the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and Hebei province, is the core area for Hongshan Culture sites, and is also a key area for the comprehensive national research program to trace the origins of Chinese civilization. Its altars, goddess temple, stone barrows and jade ritual artifacts mark profound changes in social structure, perceptions and beliefs in China, and demonstrate that the late period of Hongshan Culture they represent entered a complex social stage. They are an important source of Chinese civilization's tradition of valuing rituals and revering jade. In recent years, archaeological research of Hongshan Culture continues to make new progress. Research of the Civilization Process of Hongshan Society was added to the major Archaeology China project. The Niuheliang site has been turned into a national archaeological park. The dawn of more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization on this land is gradually becoming clear. The pluralistic and integrated cultural qualities, cultural traditions such as regarding the dragon as a totem and respecting jade, and the concepts of the universe and society, of humans as an integral part of nature, and of the respect for ancestors reflected in Hongshan Culture have been integrated into China's makeup, and have become organic components of Chinese civilization.

It is our new cultural mission in the new era to continue to promote cultural prosperity, build China's cultural strength, and create a modern civilization for the Chinese nation from a new historical starting point. To this end, I advocate deeply understanding the outstanding characteristics of Chinese civilization, profoundly grasping the essence of the "two combinations", deepening research on archaeology, civilization and history, digging deep into the multiple values of cultural heritage, telling the story of China's cultural heritage, giving better play to the role of cultural heritage in uniting hearts and promoting exchange and mutual learning among civilizations, and promoting cultural self-confidence and self-improvement.

First, we shall deepen archaeological studies and prolong the lineage of history and culture. We shall break the bonds created by the present system and its mechanisms, and stimulate the vitality of our field through scientific innovation. We will deepen our research in projects tracing the origins of Chinese civilization and other key programs part of Archaeology China, properly combining archaeological exploration, documentation studies, and the approaches of natural science technology. We can thereby gradually re-tell the process by which trickles of civilization converged into grand rivers, unveiling the pattern of evolution of the global history of civilization and of a "community with a shared future for mankind", and provide inspiration for the development of modern human society. We expect Liaoning to strengthen the excavation, research, and explanation of archaeological sites like those of Hongshan Culture, and make new contributions to prove the more than 5,000 years of history of Chinese civilization.

Second, we shall improve exploration of values and make relics alive. We shall advance the study, explanation and publicity of the historical, cultural, aesthetic, scientific value of heritage, as well as its reference in the modern context. Efforts should be made to sort out traditional cultural resources and bring back to life relics sleeping in closed palaces and records in ancient books, legacies of the vast land of China. The fundamental features of Chinese civilization — consistency, originality, uniformity, inclusiveness, and peacefulness — need to be precisely narrated in their entirety, and the creative evolution and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture need promotion.

Third, we shall uphold the idea of openness and inclusiveness and better tell China's story. We shall actively participate in building systems of global governance and academic discourse. We will carry out the practicable steps of the Global Civilization Initiative, and properly construct the Alliance for Cultural Heritage in Asia. We would like to promote collaborative archaeology, as well as communication and cooperation on cultural heritage conservation and museums. We will also strengthen the exchange of experience in protecting cultural heritage and associated theories with other countries, and work with China Daily to create a global communication platform, including the key program Silent Testimony: Artifacts of China's Inclusiveness. Through these efforts, we can contribute Chinese wisdom, solutions, and strength to the global protection of cultural heritage.

Those with deep headwaters have long streams, while those with deep roots have lush leaves. Let us follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and stick to the principles of cultural relic-related work, making protection a priority, strengthening management, exploring the values, making effective use, and allowing heritage to come alive. Let us better bear the cultural mission of the New Era with a hardworking attitude to seize the day and strive for success. Let us build the modern civilization of the Chinese nation with righteousness and pioneering spirits to uphold fundamental principles and break new ground and continuously create new glories for Chinese culture, and compose new chapters for the rejuvenation of the nation.

Vice-minister of Culture and Tourism and Director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration