At a press conference sponsored by the State Council Information
Office on September 10, Zhang Bai, vice director of the State
Administration of Cultural Heritage, described the progress being
made in the protection of the relics in the Three Gorges Dam area.
The level of protection being afforded to the relics in the area is
unprecedented in China. Of the 1,087 cultural sites to be
protected, 723 are underground while the remaining 364 are above
the earth's surface. The protection of such large-scale relics
requires considerable time and energy, said Zhang Bai.
At
present, 690,000 square meters (171 acres) of underground
excavation has been completed, accounting for 77 percent of the
total work to be carried out in the second phase of the project,
Zhang said.
The relic's protection project can be broadly divided into three
parts: One, 144 items on which information must be collected
throughout the program, of which 133 data items have been gathered;
two, 87 items to be protected by local interest groups, of which 41
items have been recovered; three, 133 items to be entirely removed
for further assessment and preservation, of which nearly half has
been completed.
The work accomplished so far indicates that the two wards (Hubei
Province and Chongqing
Municipality) are able to fulfil predetermined objectives in
the project's second phase. As such the relics' protection will not
be subject to the threats posed by the impounding of water in the
area. The achievements made in the protection of the relics are in
preparation for the future damming of water in the Three
Gorges.
Zhang reiterated that the relics protection work being conducted in
the Three Gorges Dam area embodies three parts.
First, a set of significant scientific records has been unearthed
through the excavation and protection work done over the past few
years. Of the over 50,000 pieces of cultural remnants excavated in
the past five years, more than 6,000 are regarded as holding
significant scientific value. Some of the precious artefacts are
thought to be totally unique to the region.
Second, great achievements have been made in the area of academic
research. As an example, Zhang pointed to cultural artefacts from
the Palaeolithic period found at over ten sites in the area, many
of which are distinctive chopping tools unique to the southern
China region.
Such finds can be used to study the regional differences between
southern and northern China during the Palaeolithic era, an
extremely significant archaeological accomplishment. Zhang Bai also
pointed out that cultural relics from the Neolithic age were seldom
found in Yangtze River's Three Gorges area. The excavation being
carried out in Three Gorges area have unearthed many antiquities
from the Neolithic age, filling a major gap of understanding in the
academic arena.
Third, more scientific and technological tools than ever before
have been used in protecting the relics in the Three Gorges area.
In the past, protection of cultural ruins depended mainly on the
traditional methods. However, the protection of the cultural relics
in the Three Gorges area has been quite different. Taking the
protection of the Fuling White Crane Beam Inscriptions in Chongqing
as an example, pressure-fee containers are planned to be used for
preserving the inscriptions of each individual item. Most of the
archaeological excavations in Three Gorges area have also adopted
digital technology, providing enormous advantages in the area of
materials management.
According to Zhang Bai, the overall standard of protection being
offered to the cultural relics of the Three Gorges area is
first-rate. The Chinese government has attached great importance on
the protection of these historically significant artefacts. Under
the uniform guidance and planning of the Three Gorges Project
Construction Committee, protection has been jointly carried out by
the Hubei Province and Chongqing Municipality. The State
Administration of Cultural Heritage has conducted an additional
examination, offering supervision and guidance to ensure the
requirements of the state are being meet. Professionals from all
over the country have been assembled to assist in protection
project.
(china.org.cn by Wang Qian and Wang Zhiyong, September 12,
2002)