Xi Jinping's Cultural Footprint | Jiayuguan Great Wall: Guarding the Spiritual Root of the Chinese Nation Xi Jinping's Cultural Footprint

Lanzhou, July 9th, Xinhua News Agency (Xinhua) - The Jiayuguan Great Wall: Safeguarding the Spiritual Roots of the Chinese Nation, Growing and Endless

Xinhua News Agency reporter

Under the Qilian Mountains, in the Hexi Corridor, there is a majestic and majestic pass, full of grandeur.

He emphasized, "In today's world, when people mention China, they will think of the Great Wall; when they mention Chinese civilization, they will also think of the Great Wall. The Great Wall, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, and other important symbols of the Chinese nation are important symbols of the Chinese spirit."

Jiayuguan is the western starting point of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall, which, together with nearby walls, trenches, fortresses, and beacon towers, forms a rigorous military defense system. It is known as the "Number One Great Wall in the World".

During the inspection, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must do a good job in the excavation of the cultural value of the Great Wall and the inheritance and protection of cultural relics, promote the national spirit, and gather majestic strength for the realization of the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."

In recent years, Gansu has deeply explored the cultural value of the Great Wall, strengthened the interpretation of the cultural connotation of the Great Wall, inherited and innovated on the basis of protection, and continued the Chinese cultural heritage with the spirit of the times.

Ascend the city and appreciate the spirit of the Great Wall that never stops

Jiayuguan Guancheng is one of the first national key cultural relics protection units in China, and was included in the first batch of China's World Cultural Heritage List in the 1980s. At present, there are 43.62 kilometers of Great Wall walls, 12.94 kilometers of trenches, 8 fortresses, and 49 beacon towers and enemy towers remaining within the territory of Jiayuguan.

In August 2019, when General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected the city of Jiayuguan, he climbed the tower to carefully examine the layout of the city.

There is a city inside the city, walls outside the city, trenches outside the walls, layers of defense, and a tight layout, truly deserving of the title of "the most magnificent pass in the world". Looking up from afar, the top of the Qilian Mountains is covered in white snow, and the Hexi Corridor is lush with greenery.

The General Secretary stressed that the Great Wall embodies the Chinese nation's spirit of continuous self-improvement and the patriotic feelings of unity and perseverance, and has become a representative symbol of the Chinese nation and an important symbol of Chinese civilization.

Climbing up the stairs, looking around, the Great Wall winds its way through the vast mountains. The smoke has dissipated, and the hissing is no longer. Gently stroke each brick and tile, feeling the majestic momentum of hundreds of years ago that continues to this day.

He Shuangquan, a researcher at the Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said, "The Jiayuguan Pass and the Great Wall behind it are not only military projects, but also carry hundreds of years of historical memory and a spiritual inheritance. Together, they have condensed into the driving force for the Chinese people to constantly create new great miracles."

At the foot of Guancheng lies the first thematic museum in China, the Jiayuguan Great Wall Museum, which showcases the history and culture of the Great Wall. The main building of the museum, shaped like a beacon tower, is simple and heavy, complementing the ancient majestic pass. In the center of the wall of the preface hall of the museum, there is a large oil painting of over 220 square meters called "The Great Wall of Ten Thousand Miles", which condenses the main landscapes of the Great Wall in the east, middle, and west of China, with a grand momentum; With the theme of "The Soul of China", more than 2200 precious collections have been laid out in sequence with the historical context: the treasure of the museum, the "Great Wall Work Card", proves the construction model of the Great Wall, which is divided into sections and contracted step by step; The wooden goblet unearthed from the beacon tower of the Han Great Wall in Yumen, with 212 characters in Han script, tells people about the vicissitudes of history

"The ups and downs of the history of the Great Wall gather here, and I deeply feel the grandeur of the Chinese national spirit. I cannot help but feel proud," said Cui Yawen, a junior high school teacher from Lanzhou, after visiting Guancheng and the Great Wall Museum.

Protecting the cultural context and bringing the heritage displayed on the vast land to life

To the north of Jiayuguan Pass, the Black Mountain Range stretches and undulates. From a high altitude, a yellow "giant dragon" dives down the mountain top and connects with Guancheng. This is known as the inverted cantilever Great Wall, which is an important component of the cultural relics of the Jiayuguan Great Wall. After hundreds of years, its tall walls and battlements still stand tall on the mountaintop.

The Great Wall stands tall and stands tall, behind which lies the innovative development of cultural heritage protection work and the relay protection of generations of people in Changcheng.

On June 2, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized taking on the new cultural mission when attending the cultural inheritance and development symposium in Beijing, and summarized a series of new ideas, new viewpoints and new judgments put forward in cultural construction since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Protect historical and cultural heritage like cherishing one's own life, strengthen the protection and utilization of cultural relics and the protection and inheritance of cultural heritage, and protect the Chinese cultural heritage.

Throughout its long history, the Great Wall has been plagued by natural disasters such as wind, rain, erosion, earthquakes, and human damage. The roots of the wall have become brittle and alkaline, the walls have been hollowed out, the surface of the rammed earth has weathered, and cracks and other diseases have occurred frequently.

At present, the innovative use of multiple technologies such as PS material wall protection and maintenance has made the Great Wall cultural relics robust and beautiful.

In order to transform non renewable cultural relics of the Great Wall into data resources that can be permanently preserved and sustainably utilized, cultural relics departments in multiple regions of Gansu province use technologies such as drone oblique photography and remote sensing surveying to collect data and reconstruct the surrounding environment of the Great Wall, and grasp the changing trends of local cultural relics of the Great Wall.

Xu Haijun, Director of the Cultural Heritage Monitoring Center of the Jiayuguan Silk Road Cultural Research Institute, said, "Only by effectively increasing protection efforts, endowing the Great Wall with new vitality, and allowing cultural essence to nourish our spiritual world, can we continuously enhance cultural confidence and provide an inexhaustible source of powerful power for realizing the Chinese Dream."

Hundreds of years of "living history" have revitalized Jiayuguan.

In recent years, the Jiayuguan Great Wall Museum has vigorously organized a series of research activities and invited experts and scholars from the Great Wall to enter the campus. Special lectures such as "Building a City with a Small Brick" allow knowledge of the Great Wall culture to enter the mind and heart.

In the Guancheng Scenic Area, research and learning activities such as "I'm Building the Great Wall at Jiayuguan", "I'm Building Cultural Relics at the Great Wall Museum", and "Little Great Wall Explanator" organized by youth organizations allow students to have an on-site understanding of the construction history of the Great Wall and appreciate the cultural spirit of the Great Wall.

"Participating in these research activities has allowed me to learn a lot about the Great Wall and heroic deeds. I will do my best to protect the Great Wall and tell the story of its culture," Zhong Shuaicheng, a fifth grade student at Jiayuguan Experimental Primary School, told reporters.

Integrating the past and present, building a shared spiritual home through inclusiveness and unity

Guarding the hub of the Hexi Corridor, the city of Jiayuguan has stood quietly for hundreds of years. It has witnessed the intersection of nomadic culture and agricultural culture, as well as the integration of the Chinese nation and the Western world through the ancient Silk Road.

Nowadays, the historical context on the land of China has been integrated into modern life, and the intersection of mountains, rivers, and culture has become a modern livable place, carrying the common honor and dreams of different ethnic groups, bursting with new vitality and moving towards a farther future.

In the Guancheng Scenic Area, China's first epic drama of the Great Wall based on the culture of the Great Wall and the stories of border heroes, "The Great Wall of China", is currently being grandly performed. The stories of Silk Road pioneers and heroes such as Zhang Qian, Huo Qubing, and Xuanzang create a cross time and space spiritual resonance for the audience.

In recent years, Jiayuguan has integrated elements such as the Great Wall culture, border culture, and Silk Road culture to create a new cultural IP for the Great Wall, and has formed a cultural and tourism industry pattern of "one movement, one stillness, one ancient, one present, one new, and one old" with the ancient Guancheng.

Strolling through the scenic area, the crisp camel bells and the sound of horse hooves echoed through the towering city towers and vast Gobi, as if they had been passed down thousands of years ago.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the symposium on cultural inheritance and development that the outstanding inclusiveness of Chinese civilization fundamentally determines the historical orientation of the exchanges and exchanges of the Chinese nation, determines the harmonious pattern of the coexistence of various religious beliefs in China, and determines the Chinese culture. The open mind of the world civilization is eclectic.

Chinese culture has a long and rich history, originating from the endogenous driving force of the Chinese nation's pursuit of unity and solidarity. Chinese civilization is colorful due to exchanges and enriched through mutual learning. Continuing to uphold the concept of equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusiveness, protecting national symbols, and inheriting cultural genes, is the only way for the Chinese nation to thrive and stand tall among the nations of the world.

Zhang Xun, Deputy Director of the Cultural and Tourism Bureau of Jiayuguan City, said that Jiayuguan will stand firm in upholding the spiritual roots of the Great Wall culture, draw nourishment and wisdom from the excellent traditional culture formed and accumulated by the Chinese nation for generations, continuously explore and innovate modern expressions of traditional culture, and build a shared spiritual home for the Chinese nation with cultural confidence.