Who is to blame for destroying the Gongchen Tower?
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, January 10, 2015
The Gongchen Tower in Yunnan Province, an ancient city gate tower with a history of more than 600 years, was destroyed in a fire on the morning of Jan. 3. But who is to blame?
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The Gongchen Tower in Yunnan Province, an ancient city gate tower with a history of more than 600 years, was destroyed in a fire on the morning of Jan. 3. |
"No one can really shoulder such heavy blame," said Zhang Hong, former chief of the Weishan County Cultural Bureau, told a China Central Television (CCTV) program on Jan. 6. "My heart aches. "
The fire broke out at 2:49 a.m. on Jan. 3 and was put out two hours later. No casualties were reported in the fire but the tower, built in 1390 during the Ming Dynasty, was burnt down, leaving only a few scorched wooden structures. The tower, 26 meters long, 15.7 meters wide and 16 meter high, is listed as a key cultural protection site in Yunnan Province. An investigation later found an electrical fault was to blame for the fire.
The wiring fault ignited nearby flammable materials in the southeastern corner at the top of Gongchen Tower, and the fire quickly engulfed the historic structure and burned it down.
The tower is listed as a key cultural protection site in Yunnan Province.
Yin Junhua, head of a local ancient music troupe that performs in the tower, confessed to CCTV that the tower was used to perform Nanzhao ancient music as well to sell tea and snacks to tourists. Electronic smoke extractors, electric cookers and various other pieces of equipment were installed in the tower. Besides being the head of the music troupe, Yin was also a head of a local clothing factory, so the tower was also used to sell clothes and other handicrafts.
Yin has now been taken into custody and is being questioned by police.
Wang Liwei, the governor of the county, explained why the cultural heritage site had become a commercial tea house with musical performances in April 2010. "There are too many tourists coming to Weishan County to see the ancient city," he told Xinhua News Agency, "To meet their demands, the Gongchen Tower officially became the exhibition site of Nanzhao ancient music to showcase the intangible cultural heritage."
The music troupe was responsible for the daily operation of the tower. The local county cultural relic administration office handled regular supervision and inspection. However, when the county cultural and sports bureau agreed that Weishan County Nanzhao Ancient Music Troupe could use the tower, the cultural relic office under the bureau disagreed.
A document dated April 24, 2010 from the office noted that "according to China's cultural relics protection law, protected cultural relics and ancient architecture should only be built into museums, cultural relics storage sites or visiting sites. If they must be used for other purposes, the provincial cultural protection department should review the case and ask the provincial government for approval." Meanwhile, China's entertainment venues administration regulations also stipulate that "entertainment venues should not be built in residential buildings, museums, libraries and buildings that are checked and verified as cultural relic protection sites."
But sources close to the situation said that the words of the cultural relic administration office were ignored, and the higher government has the higher authority to hand over the tower to the music troupe for use from April 2010 to March 2015. But just two months before the lease ended, the tower was destroyed.
" We don't want such an ancient building to produce bigger economic interests," said Liu Xishu, director of the Weishan cultural relic office. "The only thing we should do is keep it, protect it, guard it and hand it over to the next generation. This is our duty. So we are opposed to opening it as a commercial entertainment venue."
But even more surprisingly, the tower was used by the music troupe as an entertainment venue for free without paying a cent in rent, according to an agreement document signed by the local cultural bureau and the music troupe.
"Our only thought at that time was to combine the beautiful ancient music and the ancient city," said Zi Gen, the director of Weishan County Cultural Bureau. He denied it was commercial exploitation, but said it was an attempt to help promote the particular style of music.
Fan Jianhua, chairman of the Yunnan Federation of Social Science Circles and a researcher who once helped research and protect the ancient city, confirmed the Weishan officials' words, saying "It should be applauded that Weishan largely hasn't been commercially exploited. The local government has not only tried to protect ancient architecture and historical relics, but also protects the local lifestyle and traditional culture."
But, he said, the fire indicates that model protectors of an ancient town also have their loopholes, "and the damage can never be compensated."
It was reported by local press in January 2014 that the local fire department asked the music troupe to correct their installation, including the cloth decoration at the hall of the tower. Later, the local cultural relics office also asked them to remove the causes of danger.
"We checked it one month ago," said Fan Binwen, vice director of the Weishan Cultural Relics Office, "But they didn't take down the decorative cloths and materials following our demands."
Liu Mingwei, director of the supervision and inspection department of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said the electrical fire was a major reason for cultural relic fires (the cause of more than 40 percent of fires), and was an especially big problem for some provincial, municipal and county level cultural relics protection offices. Liu said they will strengthen enforcement to correct the management system and wrongdoings, and find and correct potential security dangers nationwide in the future, with help from nation's police and fire departments.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage said on Wednesday that they will dispatch investigation teams to cultural sites around China to secretly inspect problems.
Yunnan Province has been suffering from a series of damages to its ancient cultural relic towns since 2013. A part of Lijiang Ancient Town was burnt down on March 11, 2013. The ancient town of Dukezong in Shangri-la County, which is more than 1,300 years old, is known for its Tibetan-style architecture that suffered damage in a fire that broke out on Jan. 11, 2014 and burnt nearly a fifth of the ancient town's core preservation area.
As for the recently destroyed Gongchen Tower, a team of experts will be assembled to assess the damage to the tower, said the local government. Reconstruction may begin if approved.
On the morning of Jan. 4, after the fire, an old woman surnamed Cai, 78, walked around the damaged Gongchen Tower with teary eyes, "I have been living in the old town since I was young. The tower is so intimate to me, like my parents," she said, "Every night, when I looked at the tower and saw the lamp, I knew I should go home."
But today, the tower which stood for 625 years, will never light its lamps again.
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