Loading...
Hangzhou, the representative of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River, has both the softness of the West Lake and the magnificence of the Qiantang River. From 5,300 to 4,300 years ago, there was also a city that thrived on water - the ancient city of Liangzhu. This ancient city has a dense network of rivers and a well-developed water system, and is the 55th World Heritage Site on the mainland. Over the years, General Secretary Xi Jinping has always attached great importance to the protection of the ancient city of Liangzhu.
The archaeological and cultural research of the Liangzhu site began in 1936. In November of that year, Shi Xin, a staff member of the West Lake Museum, found several pieces of black pottery during a field investigation near the chessboard tomb in Liangzhu Town, and submitted an application for excavation to the museum. Thus, the prelude to the archaeology of Liangzhu officially opened.
In 1959, archaeologist Xia Nai named the prehistoric remains represented by the ruins of the ancient city of Liangzhu as "Liangzhu Culture". Subsequently, sites such as Anti-Mountain and Yaoshan were discovered one after another, and a large number of pottery, stone tools and jade artifacts were unearthed.
However, with the continuous development of the economy, at the beginning of the new century, the Liangzhu site fell into the contradiction between protection and development.
In July 2003, Xi Jinping, then secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, listened to a report in the conference room of the Liangzhu Cultural Museum. At the meeting, it was reported that the closure of six quarries in Huzhou was resisted, affecting the safety of the site. Xi Jinping made a quick decision and rushed to Huzhou the next day to investigate. Soon, the quarries were shut down entirely.
Under Xi Jinping's care and guidance, the protection of the Liangzhu site has gradually improved. In 2007, the ancient city of Liangzhu, which has a complete pattern and a grand scale, reappeared in the world, with an inner city area of about 3 million square meters. In the following years, the ruins of large dams on the periphery of the ancient city of Liangzhu were also unearthed one after another.
On July 6, 2019, at the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, the President of the General Assembly made a final decision that the site of the ancient city of Liangzhu in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China was successfully "inscribed".
The tree that towers to the sky must have its roots; The water of the mountains must have its source. The excavation and protection of Liangzhu culture has made the long-standing Chinese civilization no longer just a yellowed memory in the history books. Every cornerstone that casts the blood of the nation is deeply engraved with the imprint of cultural self-confidence.