加载中…AcrossChina:Revivingneglectedhistoricalsites
(2018-03-21 12:31:59) | 分类： 媒体报道 |
新华社| 2018-03-19 00:30:27|Editor: Mu Xuequan
by Xinhua writer Yuan
Quan
BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) --
They are dilapidated buildings in villages of northern China's
Shanxi Province: sites of no apparent interest.
But to Tang Dahua, 48, a
cultural heritage lover, they are "dying friends," and he wants
more people to know and save them.
His photos tell their own
stories: an aging temple becomes a sheepfold surrounded by piles of
goat dung; an ancestral hall is overgrown with weeds; a
centuries-old wooden pagoda rots away; a theatre abandoned for
decades collapses; archaic frescoes of a damaged temple are heavily
eroded.
Some are listed as the cultural
relics at county level, but some are even unknown to locals. Tang
posted these dying buildings on social media, saying they were
precious relics worthy of preservation and that "they will perish
in the wild."
"In front of these buildings,
you will feel the smallness of humans and the cruelty of time. You
think something should be done," Tang said.
Tang has photographed the
cultural relics for 12 years. He usually spends half a year
seeking, researching and taking photos of damaged pagodas, temples,
and any other historic sites in rural areas of Shanxi, home to 452
cultural relics under state-level protection and more than 28,000
ancient architectural sites -- among the highest in all provincial
regions.
Since 2006, he has crossed
hills and rivers, braved freezing cold and extreme heat, driving
hundreds of kilometers from his hometown Shandong Province to
Shanxi.
He has visited and recorded
more than 400 long-neglected historic sites. The project he
launched on Weibo social network "Snapshot and Save Historic Sites"
has unveiled more than 200 ancient buildings on the verge of
collapse. Tang says most information is provided by travelers,
amateur cyclists and local villagers. "They have one thing in
common: seeing these dying buildings as cultural
relics."
An Internet entrepreneur, Tang
started the project in 2011, after he posted a series of photos of
a wooden temple built more than 110 years ago. "The dilapidated
images and its long history created a sharp conflict that shocked
the public," said Tang, who did not expect his photos to draw tens
of thousands of hits and reposts within 24 hours.
The project has not only
brought him 350,000 followers and considerable media coverage, but
also with a hope that more cultural relics can
survive.
The most successful case Tang
remembers is an decaying temple "Longtian," which he found in 2014
in Xilianghe Village, 16 kilometers away from the Pingyao County, a
world heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1997.
The temple, almost collapsed,
had rotted with only a few of wooden pillars left standing. Most
frescoes inside, dating back to the Qing Dynasty, suffered from
erosion due to rain and snow leaking through its dilapidated roof.
Locals could not tell when the temple was built and abandoned.
Lacking money, they are unable to repair it.
Tang posted the pictures of the
temple on Weibo, and it soon drew attention from hundreds of web
users and a dozens of media outlets, including the People's Daily,
which published the pictures Tang photographed and called for
people to protect cultural relics nearby.
Two months later, the local
cultural relics bureau replied through its official Weibo account
that restoration was underway. Since then, the temple has been
frequented by Tang and other historic architecture lovers to see
whether conditions improved or not.
In November 2015, Tang got a
text message from a local villager that the temple had been
restored and reopened for opera plays.
"I was very happy." Tang said.
"The rural historic sites have regained the respect and
popularity."
"Many historic sites are
important because they are the platforms to display and protect
intangible cultural heritage, such as operas, temple fairs and
ancient crafts. Once the historic buildings are saved, the culture
will be revived," he said.
More than 40 sites have been
restored by the local governments after Tang posted the pictures.
He has revisited some places many times to follow the restoration
progress.
Tang found another threat that
many historic buildings are facing - they are not officially
recognized as cultural relics. Now that the province is rich in
well-preserved heritage, some people or real estate developers
dismantled, relocated and took away parts of unprotected buildings,
attempting to sell them for more money, without official
approval.
"I hope my constant exposure of
these crimes will arouse government attention to intensify the
preservation efforts," Tang said.
"I am touched by his passion.
Hope more people join to take care of the neglected historic sites.
They also record the nation's memory," said a web user with a
screen name "Jiandan".
Tang calls himself "Aiguta"
online, which means "love pagoda." His love for pagodas dates back
to 30 years ago when he read a book introducing Chinese pagodas,
while at high school. But now, his love has expanded to more
buildings.
He also organizes rural relic
tours guiding young people to "learn and respect the historic sites
beyond the textbooks." As long as Tang is around, the future of
China's neglected buidings looks bright.
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