With a new eco-museum group established in southwest China's Guizhou Province, the eco-museum, as a new form of sprouting museums and "a living social specimen", has set a new module for China to preserve its diversified ethnic cultures.

Seven eco-museums, distributed in southwest, north and south China, where a large number of ethnic groups as Miao, Dong, Buyi, Mongolia and Yao people are inhabited, have protected unique ethnic cultures and folklore, and promoted local society and economy.

Dong Mingkang, deputy director of the State Cultural Relics Bureau, made the above remarks at a seminar held this month in Guiyang, capital of the province.

Born in France in 1971, the concept of eco-museum has become a new trend for preserving ethnic cultures in Europe, north and south Americas. There are already 300 eco-museums around the world.

Su Donghai, an expert who first introduced the eco-museum theory into China, holds that eco-museum is aimed at protecting natural environment, living environment, and original residence of ethnic people.

Su and his colleagues have tried to infuse the idea of "people living in harmony with environment" into the people in China.

Su and his Norwegian counterpart John Jestrum presented a feasible research report on the establishment of China's first eco-museum in Suoga county of Guizhou in 1995, which had drawn powerful support from Chinese and Norwegian governments.

China's first eco-museum, featuring in Miao ethnic culture, was set up in 1998 in Suoga village, followed by four other eco-museums featuring in cultures of Buyi, Dong, and Han ethnicities, making Guizhou the province with the most numerous in number of eco-museums and the longest history of such museums in the country.

Located on a mountain village in a deep valley, the Suoga Miao eco-museum is 208 kilometers off the capital city of Guiyang. The Suoga village, with its 4,000 folks, has retained its original tribal culture.

The village, managed by the tribe chief, has kept the original natural economic status as men do the farming and women are engaged in domestic weaving. Women folks wear eye-catching hairstyles in the village, which has its unique wedding and funeral rites, along with superb embroidery skills.

With the help from experts and local governments, Suoga villagers set up their own information center, which had collected hair dresses, and traditional looms for display.

A "memory-tracing" project was also launched for a full-spectrum protection of the local culture heritage.

The village has reinforced the traditional cottages, is inducing water and hydro-electricity up to hills which largely ameliorated the living and production conditions of local villagers.

Relatively secluded environment has also endowed Guizhou with a diversified folk culture of ethnic groups, which made Guizhou known as a "land of songs and dances."

Zhang Jizeng, director of the Guizhou Provincial Culture Bureau, said the four already built museums are elite ones selected from among 20-plus provincial-leveled ethnic villages.

Acknowledged by the international community, the six-article principle raised by Guizhou include that "villagers are the sole master of their own culture," and "there is no fixed way for building eco-museum."

Guizhou experience has spread to other provinces and regions rich in ethnic cultures, such as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China, and Yunnan Province in the southwest.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2005)