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2016-March-16

Guardianship of Historical Sites Grows

Key Role of Education

The restoration in Malang Village is the fifth project of its kind in China. A few years ago, Professor Ruan Yisan of Shanghai’s Tongji University set up a foundation to protect heritage sites. Its first project was restoration work in the ancient city of Pingyao in Shanxi Province. Through Ruan’s efforts, historical towns and villages in China, including Dali, Fenghuang, Zhaohua, and Zhouzhuang, have been well preserved. UNESCO has honored Ruan with the Asia-Pacific Heritage Award. He has also received from France the Chevalier medal in the Order of Arts and Letters for his devotion to the conservation of heritage sites. Now in his 80s, the professor still works hard and travels far on his self-appointed mission.

Professor Ruan’s original intention in setting up the foundation was to popularize knowledge about ancient building protection. “Education plays the key role,” Ruan said. “Restored houses and well-preserved sites are simply a drop in the ocean of China’s vast land. But people – our successors – are the most critical factor. We must encourage younger generations to discover the charm of ancient buildings. They are the main hope of this undertaking.” Though retired, the professor still gives classes, in the form of lectures at institutes and organizations involved in architecture protection. He also expects his foundation to contribute to raising public awareness and training inheritors in this field.

“Neither the government nor the university where I worked have given me any funding. I have done all fundraising for these projects and also contributed my own savings,” Ruan said. Research on historical constructions costs him almost RMB 200,000 each year. When Ruan Yisan and his team members carried out city planning for Pingyao he invited local officials to attend training programs at Tongji University, in hopes this would reveal to them the value of historical buildings. The professor took personal responsibility for all accommodation, tuition, and excursion expenses. In 1984 and 1985, he organized three such training programs, all highly successful. “However, we badly needed financial support from the public. In 2006, therefore, on the advice of my friends, I set up the heritage foundation in my name,” Ruan Yisan said. “It’s just one coin in the bucket, but I hope that through our activities more public attention will focus on safeguarding endangered architectural heritage.”

When Pingyao ancient town was on the verge of demolition years ago, Professor Ruan led 12 of his students in carrying out planning to save the site. They cycled around the town, sketched the buildings, and developed themselves the photos they had taken. It is now a world famous tourist attraction. Thanks to their timely action, the thousand-year-old town was restored according to their research and can now be passed down to future generations.

 

Room for Improvement

Increasingly more volunteers in China are joining Ruan’s team, so becoming one of the non-governmental forces in the field of cultural heritage protection.

The Chinese government has also issued various laws and regulations in this regard, including the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Protection of Cultural Relics in 1982, and the Regulation on the Protection of Famous Historical and Cultural Cities, Towns and Villages in 2008. As of June, 2014, 125 places had been ratified as famous historical and cultural cities.

In the meantime, local governments are becoming more aware of the significance of ancient sites protection in city planning and construction, and are learning from the experience of countries such as France.

Like China, France has a great number of time-honored monuments, around 40 of which are inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage. The French government spends more than €2 billion on the maintenance and restoration of ancient constructions. People in China are not yet fully aware of the importance of heritage protection, according to Emile Moriniere. “For example, we once discovered a cave that had formerly been used as a grain silo. But the local people’s first reaction was to fill it in rather than conserve it.” He went on, “In France, town planning and building give priority to conserving original materials and techniques. But in China, efficiency comes first – projects are expected to be completed as soon as possible.” He has found that the state of repair of historical sites in China varies dramatically. “For instance, some small temples are very well restored and maintained. But there is a chaotic ambience at other famous attractions due to overdeveloped tourism. I once visited a natural cave and discovered that it had more or less become a shelter for vendors. On the other hand, residents of some ancient villages have to leave their homes to make way for tourism. So I wonder if we develop tourism to enable better protection of such sites, or if we restore them solely for tourism’s sake.”

The Chinese volunteers in the team shared his opinion, saying that it is locals’ habitation of these residences that guarantees their practicability. Moreover, tourism cannot be recklessly developed and motivated solely by economic interests, as this has negative impact on historical sites. Professor Ruan Yisan observed that tourism and preservation are not contradictory. “But ‘memory’ and ‘traditional techniques’ should come before economic benefits. Once lost, they can never be regained,” Ruan said.

Over thousands of years, Chinese architecture, as represented by wooden buildings, has always embodied the concept of “home” – a philosophy highly regarded by Chinese people. Hutong in Beijing, alleys in Shanghai, and tulou (earthen rural architecture) in Fujian represent family, neighborhood, and hometown values. There is in China today, as Professor Ruan advocates, greater awareness of heritage sites protection, evident in more efforts to restore them and so pass down the wisdom and culture of Chinese ancestors.

 

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