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Shaanxi: protecting Silk Roads cultural heritage and promoting the exchange of civilizations under "Belt and Road Initiative"
Summary: Over the past five years since the "Silk Roads: Route Network o fChang'an-Tianshan Corridor" project had been successfullyinscribed on the World Heritage List, Shaanxi had fulfilled its internationalcommitments, promoted exchanges and mutual lea
Over the past five years since the "Silk Roads: Route Network o f
Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor" project had been successfully
inscribed on the World Heritage List, Shaanxi had fulfilled its international
commitments, promoted exchanges and mutual learning
among civilizations, increased heritage protection and management,
and rational and appropriate development and utilization. The "Silk
Roads" heritage had become a model for strengthening the protection
and management of cultural relics.
With the goal of promoting exchanges among civilizations, Shaanxi
took the initiative to participat in the overall initiative, an d used
cultural heritage as a “business card of Shaanxi” to play a positive
role in promoting the "Belt and Road Initiative". Over the past five
years, Shaanxi had held 45 domestic and overseas exhibitions,
organized 24 exhibitions (including 5 co-organized exhibitions) and introduced 21
exhibitions to 11 "Belt and Road Initiative" countries and Hong Kong SAR, Macao
SAR as well as Taiwan region. In June 2016, the "Shaanxi Cultural Heritage
Photo Exhibition" was held at the National Museum of Kazakhstan , which was
the first time that Shaanxi had held an exhibition with a Central Asian country. In
June 2017, for the first time, an exhibition of “Terracotta Warriors and Horses of
Qin First Empero of China” was held at the National Museum of K azakhstan.
President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, President Hamid of Bangladesh, President
Vējonis of Latvia and other heads of state visited the exhibition. In August 2018,
the "Exhibition of Royal Gold Wares of Wanli Period, Ming Dynasty” was held in
Slovenia, an exchange exhibition sponsored by a non-state-owned museum in
Shaanxi Province. In November 2017, Shaanxi, together with Kaza khstan and
Kyrgyzstan, held the "World Heritage Silk Road" exhibition in Hong Kong SAR,
becoming the first "Silk Roads" theme exhibition and won the "International and
Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Cooperation Award" selected by "Top Ten Exhibitions
in National Museums". In May 2018, the Tang Dynasty W est Market
Museum introduced Kazakhstan's "Exhibition of Early Nomadic Culture on the
Eurasian Prairie", which was the first exhibition of precious Kazakh cultural relics
in Shaanxi.
At the same time, Shaanxi sent its cultural heritage conservation and archaeological
technical teams to carry out archaeological work in Central Asian countries,
promoted transnational cooperation, and built bilateral and multilateral
exchange mechanisms and cooperation platforms. In 2015, Shaanxi and
Kazakhstan carried out archaeological cooperation at the sites of the ancient city
of Rabat, and signed a “Memorandum of Understanding on Exchange and Cooperation
in the Field of Cultural Heritage” with the Kazakh Ministry of Culture and
Sports. In 2016, the “Memorandum of Cooperation on Joint Affairs” was signed
with Kazakhstan to reach a consensus on archaeological research at the ancient
city of Rabat in the country. In 2017, the archaeological team went to Kazakhstan
to investigate heritage sites covering an area of about 510000 square meters. In
October 2017, a delegation of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
went to Kyrgy zstan to carry out archaeologi cal cooperation and s igned anarchaeological cooperation agreement with Kyrgyzstan to investigate 10 ancient cities
in the Chu River and Thalas River in the country. The ruins of City of Suyab, Balasagun
City and City of Nevaket along the "Silk Road" were investi gated. In 2018,
Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology excavated a Buddhist temple site on the
west side of the ancient city of Honghe River in the country. For the first time, accurate
mapping of the site of the ancient city of Honghe River was car ried out and phased
results were achieved, and relevant archaeological excavations in the country in 2019
are still on going. Shaanxi organized colleges and universities to actively participate in
archaeological excavations and research in Central Asia, and Northwest University
has signed a "Cooperation Agreement" with the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy
of Sciences of Uzbekistan. In 2016 and 2017, the Institute of Archaeology of the
Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan, the Xi'an Institute of Cultural Heritage Conservation
and Archaeology and the Tianshui City Museum jointly carried out rescue excavations
at the No. 1 cemetery in Rabat.
Shaanxi had continuously expanded its business exchanges with countries along the
"Silk Roads" in the field of cultural heritage protection, and jointl y promoted project
cooperation in many fields, such as cultural relics protection, scientific research, personnel
training, and so on. Since 2015, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Cultural
Heritage Conservation had sent four groups of experts to Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and
other places to carry out Heritage Conservation cooperation projects. It participated in
the Symposium on the Conservation and Restoration of Museum Exh ibits held in
Tajikistan and reached a number of cooperative intentions. In 2016, the Shaanxi Provincial
Administration of Cultural Heritage hosted the Forum for Cultural Heritage Protection
and Cooperation of Countries along the "Belt and Road Initiative" on behalf of
the provincial government, and the Provincial Archaeological Research Institute
signed cooperation agreements with scientific research institut ions in Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan, Russia and other countries. In May 2018, Shaanxi held an "International
Forum on the 'Silk Roads' from an Archaeological Perspective" to publish the "Xi'an
Consensus on International Silk Roads Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Protection"
and promoted the "Silk Roads" cultural heritage to inscribe on the World Heritage List.
In September 2018, the Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage hosted the
"2018 Silk Road Cultural Heritage Protection and Utilization Science and Technology
Cooperation Forum and Exhibition" in Xi'an, which expanded the horizons
of Shaanxi cultural heritage and promoted foreign exchange s
and cooperation to make a useful exploration and practice. The Tang
Dynasty West Market Museum had established friendly relations with
21 museums in 15 countries of "Belt and Road Initiative." Its membership
had increased to 65, involving 16 countries along the route, and
five entry and overseas exhibitions had been held. The "Friendship
Alliance" had been incorporated into the construction of Xi'an Free
Trade Zone in Shaanxi Province.
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Key words：Shaanxi