20 years ago today, the final word: the successful application of "One Palace and Three Tombs" to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the successful application of "One Palace and Three Tombs" on the World Heritage List (9)
Introduction:
Twenty years ago today, on July 1, 2004, at the 28th session of the World Heritage Conference held in Suzhou, China, the final word was reached: Liaoning's "One Palace and Three Tombs" was successfully inscribed on the World Heritage List.
I was on the scene and filmed some of the live. Afterwards, he wrote the "Documentary of the Mainland's Declaration of the "Goguryeo Royal City, Royal Tombs and Noble Tombs" and the "One Palace and Three Tombs" Project. This article was never published in any media and online for a number of reasons. At the historical moment of commemorating the 20th anniversary of the successful inscription of Liaoning's "One Palace and Three Tombs" on the World Heritage List, I publish this commemorative text (omitting the relevant part, and retaining as many details as possible so that everyone can know more about the situation) to share with relatives and friends.
July 1, 2024
20 years ago today, the final word: the successful application of "One Palace and Three Tombs" to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the successful application of "One Palace and Three Tombs" on the World Heritage List (9)
On July 1, 2004, at the 28th session of the World Heritage Conference held in Suzhou, China, three projects nominated by our country were approved. Among them, independent projects: "Goguryeo Royal City, Royal Tombs and Noble Tombs" jointly declared by Liaoning Province and Jilin Province; The Shenyang Imperial Palace and the Three Tombs of the Qing Dynasty were approved to be included in the World Heritage List as the expansion projects of the "Ming and Qing Imperial Palaces" and the "Ming and Qing Imperial Tombs". So far, the number of projects inscribed on the World Heritage List has reached 30. We have 6 heritage sites in Liaoning Province, and we have begun to enter the major provinces of China's world cultural heritage, which is a successful leap, a very leap, a historical leap.
It was a day to celebrate, a day to remember, a day that should undoubtedly go down in history.
According to the schedule of meetings, the meeting was supposed to start at 9 o'clock every morning, but for some reason it didn't start until 10 o'clock today. The first item under consideration was the archaeological site of um Reisas in Jordan. The meeting was going on quietly, and the comrades of our Chinese delegation were very concerned about the deliberations on the projects of other countries, but everyone was more concerned about the projects declared by our country. Like everyone else, I have been thinking about the projects declared by our country, and I am very anxious. In the past two days, the progress of the meeting has been very slow, and some items have been deliberated for more than two hours, and everyone has discussed them privately, and some deputies have spoken too many times; if the meeting continues like this, they will have to wait until when it will be their turn to deliberate on China's items, and some people have even begun to blame Zhang Xinsheng, executive chairman of the meeting, for his slow pace of presiding over the meeting, and for being too lenient and slow for foreign delegates. I had this kind of thought and view at first, but after thinking about it, I felt that this was not the case, and this was not a matter of whether or not we in China were holding a meeting and whether or not we were going to give the deputies who were going to speak should be given a chance, and this was by no means a matter of promoting democracy in the general sense, but a question related to whether or not we respected sovereignty. Therefore, relying on executive orders and the will of the chief will will never work, and it is useless to rush it, and this kind of meeting has its own unique rules of procedure, so it can only be natural. As the chairman of the conference, he is more anxious than anyone else, knows better than anyone else the weight of China's declared projects, and hopes that China's projects can be approved as soon as possible.
It should be said that on this issue, the mood of the Chinese is completely unanimous. Comrade Sun Jiazheng was originally going to France to visit France with a delegation led by Comrade Li Changchun, but in order to witness the results of the deliberations on the spot, he has already refunded his air ticket to France twice. Today, we must hear the results of the deliberations and tell our comrades from Liaoning and Jilin attending the meeting that as soon as the project of "Goguryeo Royal City, Imperial Tombs, and Tombs of the Nobles" is passed, he will invite everyone to celebrate the victory. We are all eagerly awaiting this moment.
At 12:50, Zhang Xinsheng, executive chairman of the conference, announced that China's application project will be discussed below, and according to the rules of procedure of the conference, I will recuse myself. In accordance with the advice of the Executive Committee of the General Assembly, I am invited to act as Executive Chairman of the General Assembly a.i. Omotoso, Vice-President of the Bureau of the General Assembly and Vice-President of the World Heritage Committee of Nigeria. As soon as Comrade Zhang Xinsheng's words fell, his burly body, Omotoso, who was wearing Nigerian clothes, stood up unhurriedly from his seat and walked slowly to the rostrum, he shook hands with Zhang Xinsheng and sat in the chairman's seat, and Zhang Xinsheng sat next to him. At this time, I glanced at the members of the Chinese delegation sitting in the first row of the audience: the head of the delegation, Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng, the Chinese Ambassador to UNESCO Zhang Xuezhong, the Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage Shan Jixiang, the Executive Deputy Director Zhang Bai, the Director of the World Heritage Division Guo Zhan, the Vice Governor of Liaoning Province Teng Weiping, and the Vice Governor of Jilin Province Li Jingbin. I said in my heart, everyone's hearts are hanging.
Omotoso was very composed, he looked around the room with his eyes, and then said, "I'll act as president temporarily." There was some slight laughter in the room.
At 12:52, Omotoso asked the Israeli Chora Sora, appointed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites, to introduce the situation of China's application for the project "Goguryeo royal city, royal tombs and noble tombs"
At 13:18 on July 1, the project of "Goguryeo Royal City, Royal Tombs and Noble Tombs" declared by the mainland successfully passed the deliberations of the 28th session of the World Heritage Conference, and the venue resounded with warm applause for nearly one minute.
I lost no time in capturing this exciting scene. At this moment of history, although the Chinese in the venue did not cheer, jump, or hug, through everyone's expressions, I have truly felt that all the Chinese present are so proud, so proud, and so happy.
In accordance with the practice of the Conference, if a new item from a country has been inscribed on the World Heritage List after it has been considered by the General Assembly, the President of the General Assembly will invite the highest-ranking official of that country present to address him. Most of the representatives of the countries who spoke before expressed their gratitude and expressed their attitude towards the further appreciation and protection of heritage. Omotoso invited Sun Jiazheng, head of the Chinese delegation and Minister of Culture, to speak.
Minister Sun said in warm applause that after the deliberation of the 28th World Heritage Conference, China's nomination of "Goguryeo Royal City, Royal Tombs and Tombs of Nobles" was approved for inclusion in the World Heritage List, which is a generous gift to the Chinese people at this conference. The Chinese people and the Chinese Government will always value it and do our utmost to be worthy of the present generation, the future and future generations. Minister Sun went on to say that in the current trend of peace, friendship, exchange, cooperation and development in the international community, and in the situation where cultural diversity and pluralism are increasingly respected by all countries and nations, the protection of world heritage is an irreplaceable and important part of the sustainable development of human society. At the same time, he said that China is looking forward to the approval of the Goguryeo tomb complex project submitted by its friendly neighbor Democratic People's Republic of Korea to be inscribed on the World Heritage List. He also said that the Chinese Government supports the Chinese cultural relics circles and academic circles in actively holding consultations with their DPRK counterparts and carrying out all possible and useful technical cooperation. Minister Sun's speech is so good, which reflects the demeanor of the People's Republic of China as a great power, shows the clear attitude of the mainland government towards world heritage, and reflects the good wish of the mainland people to cherish the common wealth of all mankind.
Minister Sun's speech once again won a round of warm applause. The female representative of India specially stepped out of the middle of the second row and moved to Minister Sun to shake hands warmly and congratulate her.
After the Chinese project was approved, it was time for lunch. I didn't have time to wait for Chairman Zhang Xinsheng to announce the adjournment of the meeting, so I hurriedly said hello to Vice Governor Teng and walked out of the venue. At this time, outside the venue, reporters had already surrounded Vice Governor Li Jingbin of Jilin Province, who had left the venue first. I signaled to the reporters in Liaoning that Vice Governor Teng would soon be walking out of the venue and asked them to prepare for the interview. As he was saying that, Vice Governor Teng walked out of the venue with a spring breeze on his face, and all of us stood in a row with Vice Governor Teng, holding hands above our heads, and shouting: "The Wunu Mountain City has successfully applied for the World Heritage Site, and we report good news to the people of our hometown!" The reporters immediately gathered around, "click", "click", and the shutter of the camera sounded. At the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee, a reporter from Liaoning TV interviewed Vice Governor Teng on the successful application of the Goguryeo project.
A few reporters I didn't know were smiling when they saw me hanging a sign as a Chinese observer, and they surrounded me to ask about the situation.
Because I took notes in the course of listening to the deliberations, I introduced some of the facts of the proposals, told them that the representatives of eight countries spoke in the proposals, and none of them had any objections, and summarized the situation of China's project being submitted with the "five most." This is the shortest time for deliberations, the most unanimous views among the deputies, the most flattering words used by speakers, the most emotional part of the chairman, and the smoothest adoption of items.
Since Minister Sun Jiazheng was going to give a banquet to the comrades from Liaoning Province and Jilin Province attending the meeting, we quickly went to the Yadu Hotel, the residence of the leading comrades of various ministries and commissions of the state, as requested. According to Vice Governor Teng's proposal, our comrades in Liaoning are waiting in the hall. As soon as Minister Sun arrived, we took a group photo with him, and Minister Sun also accepted an interview with reporters.
The atmosphere of the banquet was very warm. Minister Sun personally opened the champagne, everyone shook hands tightly, frequently raised glasses, and congratulated each other. They called one after another to report the good news to leaders, friends, relatives and colleagues from all corners of the motherland. Everyone fondly recalled the hardships of the inscription process, talked about the friendship formed by the inscription, described the details of the deliberations, and looked forward to the prospects for success with enthusiasm. Our province attended the banquet with Vice Governor Teng Weiping, Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Culture Zhang Chunyu, Deputy Director of the Provincial Institute of Archaeology Li Xinquan, Vice Mayor of Shenyang City Wang Ling, Vice Mayor of Fushun City Liu Shi, and Huanren County Mayor Sun Xudong. Also sitting at the table with me were Shan Jixiang, Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Zhang Bai, Executive Deputy Director, Guo Zhan, Director of the Division, Ding Wei, Director of the Foreign Relations Bureau of the Ministry of Culture, and Li Jingbin, Vice Governor of Jilin Province. Also at the other two tables were Wang Jun, deputy director of the Office of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, Gu Yucai, director of the Department of Cultural Relics Protection, Zhu Ye, translator of the Liaison Office, and some comrades from Jilin Province. We were having dinner when Vice Governor Teng's secretary Ban Feng and I respectively received telephone calls from the general offices of the provincial party committee and the provincial government, saying that Wen Shizhen, secretary of the provincial party committee, had personally proposed to send congratulatory telegrams to the comrades attending the meeting in Liaoning in the name of the provincial party committee and the provincial government. When I heard the news, I couldn't help but add a little joy, a little responsibility, and a little thought.
Since we will also review our Liaoning expansion project "One Palace and Three Tombs" in the afternoon, it is impossible for everyone to stay at the dinner table for a long time, and simply discuss the matter of returning tomorrow, and then return to the venue.
After deliberating on the first few items, Chairman Zhang Xinsheng suddenly announced that there was something to ask for everyone's help, and the venue suddenly fell silent. Zhang Xinsheng began to read a letter from the representative of Norway to the Committee of the General Assembly, which probably meant that because they were leaving Suzhou, China, tomorrow, they requested that their national nomination be considered first, so that they could return with the results of the review, and that they would be very grateful if the General Assembly would agree to their request, and that they would be even more honored if the project was adopted. After Zhang Xinsheng finished reading the letter, there was a round of applause at the venue. In the face of this incident, in connection with the adjustment of the order of the DPRK's application projects, I feel that such meetings in the international community have both very strict standards and a particularly relaxed atmosphere. Representatives of all countries in the world are conducting diplomacy in different ways and through different channels, and they are all trying to seek cooperation. The review of the cultural landscape of the Norwegian Vega Islands was quickly adopted, and the representative of Norway made an enthusiastic speech. I think that the representative of Norway is satisfied, and tomorrow he will be able to return full of joy and victory. What about us? What will be the result of "one palace and three tombs"? Believe in our strength, believe in our luck.
For this kind of meeting, there should be a coffee break every 2 hours, usually 15 minutes. But in the past few days, sometimes a break is 1 hour, every time the service staff rings the bell repeatedly, almost nothing works, he should eat snacks and still eat snacks, drink coffee and drink coffee, in short, he wants to do what he wants, he doesn't care at all.
With the experience of the first two days, I was not in a hurry during this tea break, and after drinking a cup of tea in the hall, I simply went outside to change the air and take a few photos. As soon as I reached the gate, I noticed a few "Gege" dressed in Manchu costumes walking gently in front of a van, and I knew they were from the Shenyang Forbidden City, preparing for the celebration when the project passed. It just so happened that Sun Xudong was also coming in this direction, so I called the three "Gege" over and asked them to take pictures next to the relief in front of the main entrance of the venue. We were happily illuminated, and a few "foreigners" walked out of the venue, and as soon as they saw the brightly dressed "Gege", they shouted and shouted, and came to take a picture with them. I found out that there was Omotoso from Nigeria in the group, and I was very happy to take a lot of pictures of them.
I pointed out Omotoso to County Magistrate Sun, and then took some pictures of each of them. Omotoso was very welcoming and happy, he wanted us to send him the photos and gave us the business card (omitted here). We called Vice Governor Teng to come out of the room, and Vice Governor Teng spoke to Omotoso in very fluent English, and Vice Governor Teng praised him for the good conduct of the morning meeting and asked him if he would be acting as chairman when the Chinese item was being considered next. Omotoso said that he would be the acting chairman of Zhang Xinsheng for a while. Vice Governor Teng told him that the content of the following discussion was the Shenyang Forbidden City where these "Gege" were located, and Omotoso said that they were beautiful, and the Forbidden City must be even more beautiful, and raised a thumbs up at "Gege", followed by a hearty laugh. Journalists are really everywhere, and it is not known when they have "surrounded" Omotoso.
The county magistrate Sun Xudong took out the commemorative envelope of the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee and asked Omotoso to sign it, and Omotoso readily agreed to write his name in Nigerian script. Sun Xudong told me that he wanted to put this commemorative seal in the Huanren County Historic Site Exhibition Hall, so that the people of the whole county would know about Omotoso, and everyone who came to visit would know that Omotoso presided over the review of the Wunu Mountain at the 28th session of the World Heritage Committee. I really admire County Magistrate Sun's ideas and professionalism.
At 7:21 p.m., delegates returned to the venue after a tea break. Chairman Zhang Xinsheng said: "Good evening, everyone! Thank you all for your close cooperation in keeping up with our schedule. I now invite the Assistant Director-General of UNESCO to read out a passage from the letter from the Director-General of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, to the Committee of the General Assembly (omitted here). After reading Koichiro Matsuura's letter, Zhang Xinsheng said: According to the rules of procedure of the conference, the next thing to be considered is China's expansion project, and I would like to recuse myself and ask Nigeria's Omotoso to perform the duties of executive chairman. Omotoso walked to the rostrum again and sat in the chairman's seat. He said, "Good evening, everybody! This is the second time that I have come here to take the presidency, as this is the rules of procedure of our UNESCO Committee. The next thing we want to consider is China's application for the Forbidden City in Beijing, which is an expansion project to expand the Forbidden City in Shenyang.
At 7:27 p.m., Omotoso invited an expert from ICOMOS to make a presentation, who spoke about the historical and scientific value of the Forbidden City in Beijing and its inscription on the World Heritage List in 1988. Then, he used some pictures to introduce the construction age and architectural style of the Shenyang Forbidden City. Finally, he suggested that the Shenyang Forbidden City should be inscribed on the World Heritage List without hesitation. It is fully compliant with standards 1, 2, 3, and 4. The architectural style of the Shenyang Forbidden City showcases the civilization and art of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is an outstanding masterpiece, representing the splendor of ancient Chinese palace architecture, a testament to its evolution, and also reflecting the connection between literature and art.
At 19:40, Omotoso said, thank you very much for the introduction of experts, I believe that everyone has confidence in China's expansion project. I give the floor to the representatives. The Acting Chairperson was very interesting, and he chose to give the representative of Nigeria the first to speak, even though there were many people below who wanted to speak.
The representative of Nigeria said that I was pleased to have the opportunity to speak. There is no doubt that this project in China is an outstanding legacy, and this legacy has far-reaching significance. If it is included in the World Heritage List, it is not only to protect the building, but also to protect the history. This extraordinary heritage should be enjoyed by the whole world, and we strongly support the Shenyang Forbidden City as an expansion project. The next speaker was the representative of Chile. He said, thank you, Chair. We support this expansion project, which will further enrich the Forbidden City program in Beijing. The female representative of India continued to speak with no diminished momentum, saying that, on the basis of the information just presented and the pictures listed, the inscription of the Shenyang Palace on the World Heritage List was well deserved. I would like to express it in a Chinese phrase. Later, she said in blunt Chinese: "Great, support China." After listening to the Indian representative's "Chinese words," the venue burst into laughter and applause.
Omotoso joked, "I like your words very much. There was another burst of laughter.
The representative of Japan made a simple statement: we support the inclusion of this project in China on the World Heritage List! The representative of the United Kingdom said that we supported the project. But there is a questioning question. This is the Forbidden City in Beijing called the Ming and Qing Imperial Palaces, and Shenyang is called the Shenyang Imperial Palace. Omotoso asked the representative of China to answer. Guo Zhan, member of the Chinese delegation and director of the Heritage Division of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, gave an explanation, and Zhang Xuezhong translated in English. Next came the representative of Colombia, who generally agreed, but he also raised the question of whether the Forbidden City was included in the World Heritage List in accordance with 3 or 4 criteria, and now the expanded Shenyang Forbidden City has added 1 or 2 criteria. Omotoso said ICMOS has no comment. ICMOS experts say that this is something that we also considered when we were nominating. As a series of projects, the Forbidden City in Beijing and Shenyang are a whole, representing the same historical value and scientific value. Based on the detailed information we have introduced about the Forbidden City in Beijing and the Forbidden City in Shenyang, I think there is a good reason for it. Omotoso said that the States parties were invited to take the floor, and the representative of Kuwait said that we fully agreed that this very important heritage should be immediately inscribed on the World Heritage List as an extension project.
At 7:50 p.m., Omotoso happily lifted the wooden hammer and struck it hard while saying, "Thank you! ”
Then, he said, what we are going to consider is still a project in China, which is an expansion project of the Ming and Qing imperial tombs, including Yongling, Fuling, and Zhaoling in Liaoning Province. I would like to give you the floor for a briefing from ICMOS. ICMOS used 4 distribution maps and multiple photos to introduce the geographical location, architectural style, and environmental protection of Yongling, Fuling, and Zhaoling. Finally, he briefly concluded that the three mausoleums are undoubtedly of universal value, whether in terms of the consistency of their architectural style, or in terms of the specificity of the heritage, or in terms of their relevance and continuity of historical evolution, they meet the criteria of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6, and we recommend that they be inscribed on the World Heritage List as an extension. At the beginning of the deliberations, Omotoso first gave the floor to the representative of the United Kingdom, who spoke very briefly and fully endorsed the ICMOS proposal without any dissenting views. In this kind of meeting, each delegate has a sovereign state label in front of him, which is usually placed horizontally on the base of the sign, and the sign is erected when he applies to speak. After speaking, put the sign down. At this time, although the signs in front of the representatives of many countries were erected, after listening to the speeches of the British representatives, they did not insist on speaking. I don't know if they listened to the introduction, read the information and were convinced, or felt that the general trend was the same, and a round of applause broke out in the venue. Probably Omotoso also felt that it was a waste of time to discuss it any longer, so he immediately decided, "Bang! Another crisp hammer sound, at 20 o'clock, the mainland declared the royal mausoleum expansion project successfully passed.
After the approval of the mainland project, Zhang Xuezhong of the Chinese delegation also made a wonderful speech, and he did not speak English this time, but directly expressed his gratitude in Chinese.
The very funny Omotoso still didn't forget to joke, he said, we have a custom in Nigeria, young men want to find a daughter-in-law, but also look for a beautiful one. I've done both of these good things today. In accordance with the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, it is time for me to conclude my work.
There was laughter and applause in the hall again. I found that Chinese laugh brightest, happiest, and happiest.
Completed from 1 July to 8 July 2004