"As this materialistic civilization continues to develop, people themselves are in need of spiritual support to fight against a sense of emptiness. Where can they find this support? For the people of China, that support can be found in our traditional cultures of the various ethnic groups," said Wu Haiying in an exclusive interview with China.org.cn.

Wu, president of the Ningxia Academy of Social Sciences, and a deputy to the Fifth Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), shared her experiences in the protection and development of ethnic culture on the sidelines of the ongoing annual NPC session.

An ethnic Hui, Wu has devoted much of her time to the research of ethnic history and culture. She has been instrumental in calling for regions that are home to China's ethnic minorities to be more involved in the research, preservation and protection of ethnic culture in addition to focusing on economic development.

The autonomous region of Ningxia, a Hui stronghold in western China, has played an important role in preserving Hui tradition and culture including traditional dress, cuisine, architecture and arts. The local government has also implemented special measures to guard against the impact of development on historical sites.

"Ethnic culture makes the vast western parts of China more colorful and attractive," Wu said, adding that the tourist industry in this region could have benefited more from using its cultural diversity as a draw.

There are currently four ongoing research programs on Hui culture being conducted by the Ningxia Academy of Social Sciences.

Wu herself is in charge of compiling the Hui section of the Bibliography of Ancient Books by China's Ethnic Minorities, which is being coordinated by the State Ethnic Affairs Commission. Composed of 60 volumes, the tome contains more than 300,000 entries covering the written and oral materials of 55 ethnic minorities and several ancient ethnic groups in China.

In addition, Wu also supervised the compilation of the Encyclopedia of the Hui Ethnic Group in China, a mammoth project which was started in 2005. Wu is hopeful that the compilation will be completed by next year, in time for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the founding of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Other Hui-related publications in the pipeline include Overall History of Hui Ethnic Group, to be chief-edited by scholar Yang Huaizhong, and Catalogue of Ancient Hui Ethnic Group, which will be a digital collection of Hui classics.

(China.org.cn by Staff Reporter Zhang Liping, translated by Huang Shan, March 9, 2007)