Behind the Frequent Inspections by the Provincial Secretary: Jilin Intends to Reverse the Stereotype of “Lack of Culture in a Cold and Arid Place”
Recently, Huang Qiang, the secretary of the Jilin Provincial Party Committee, has been frequently inspecting and conducting unannounced visits to cultural preservation work, attracting public attention.
On November 30, Huang Qiang, the secretary of the Jilin Provincial Party Committee, conducted a surprise inspection of the preservation and utilization of historic buildings in Changchun, visiting the former residence of the commander of the Japanese Kwantung Army to check on the progress of renovations. (Photo: WeChat public account “Jilin Daily”)
On Saturday (November 30), Huang Qiang conducted a surprise inspection of the renovation progress of the historic building, the former residence of the commander of the Japanese Kwantung Army, in Changchun. He emphasized the need to fully display the historical, scientific, artistic, and societal values of historic buildings, and to confidently and righteously tell historical stories, so that people can have a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of Jilin, become more willing to visit Jilin, and fall in love with Jilin.
According to “Jilin Daily”, before the provincial party committee’s special seminar on cultural heritage preservation and inheritance on November 19, Huang Qiang visited museums, memorials, exhibition halls, and cultural relic sites in Jilin Province 20 times to personally inspect the preservation and inheritance of historical and cultural heritage. He also specifically arranged for research teams to conduct field research on the preservation and utilization of historic buildings in other provinces and cities, and requested relevant research groups to conduct in-depth studies.
This included a number of less well-known historic buildings. For example, in September of this year, during a research trip to Jilin City, Huang Qiang visited Northeast Electric Power University to inspect the preservation and utilization of the Stone Building Complex, a key cultural relic protected at the national level. The Stone Building Complex was the first design work of architect Liang Sicheng after he returned to China from his studies abroad and is the site of the former campus of Jilin Provincial University, the first public university in Jilin Province. Huang Qiang emphasized that as the city with the richest historical and cultural heritage in the province, Jilin City should strengthen the protection and utilization of cultural relics and the preservation and inheritance of cultural heritage to better continue the historical and cultural traditions and enhance cultural confidence.
“Jilin has a profound historical and cultural heritage, and we should be confident and passionate about cherishing and protecting these historical and cultural relics,” Pengpai News noted. As the provincial party secretary frequently inspects the preservation and inheritance of historical and cultural heritage, an article titled “Strengthening Cultural Heritage Protection and Continuing Jilin’s Historical and Cultural Traditions” by Cao Lubao, member of the Standing Committee of the Jilin Provincial Party Committee and Minister of Propaganda, was published in the “New Long March”, the official publication of the Jilin Provincial Party Committee (Issue 11, 2024).
The article mentioned that in order to better implement cultural heritage preservation and inheritance work, the Provincial Party Committee’s Propaganda Department conducted research in all counties and cities in Jilin, personally inspected a large number of historical and cultural relics, and focused on investigating and surveying national and provincial cultural relic protection units such as Goguryeo, the South Manchuria Railway Company, and the Chinese Eastern Railway (Jilin section). A series of special meetings were organized and held to discuss and promote topics such as the protection and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, the revitalization and utilization of industrial cultural heritage, and cultural protection and inheritance. Special inspections were also conducted on the implementation of the “archaeology first, sale second” policy.
Some leaders, including some officials in the culture and tourism system, lack understanding of the province’s and local historical culture, have an inaccurate grasp of historical changes, unique cultural features, and important issues, and fail to effectively communicate and disseminate this knowledge, lacking confidence in culture and reverence for history. They mistakenly believe that Northeast China, due to its harsh climate, lacks culture, leading to a somewhat erroneous judgment that Northeast China’s cultural heritage is insufficient.
The lack of strong protection is seen as a lack of resources. Some places view cultural relics as obstacles to development or as cash cows. In urban and rural construction, surveys are inadequate, leading to frequent occurrences of “demolishing old buildings to construct new ones” and overdevelopment, resulting in the destruction of some valuable old buildings and neighborhoods. Some red relics have undergone excessive renovations, altering their historical appearance. Some places have invested significant manpower and resources in building fake relics and imitation ancient streets while neglecting the proper protection and utilization of genuine historical sites, failing to fully utilize the value of these precious relics.
The lack of deep research is understood as a lack of substance. The research and interpretation of historical culture are fragmented, superficial, and one-sided. Much of the research still remains at the level of data compilation, lacking in-depth analysis, viewpoints, contemplation, and refinement. Particularly, the exploration of the spiritual core and cultural value of Jilin’s historical culture is not deep enough, and a widely recognized Jilin cultural identity has not yet been formed.
The lack of sufficient attention is seen as a lack of support. The importance of cultural relic protection has gradually diminished from top to bottom, with decreasing sensitivity at each level. Some issues have been pointed out multiple times but have been slowly rectified. During this cultural relic survey, some counties and cities did not provide sufficient funding, resulting in Jilin’s average field survey rate falling below national requirements.
Cao Lubao stated that the existence of these problems is partly due to inadequate institutional mechanisms and policies, but ultimately stems from insufficient ideological understanding and a failure to truly prioritize cultural heritage preservation and inheritance. We must follow the important expositions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on cultural heritage preservation and inheritance, clarify our ideology and strengthen our foundations, and effectively protect and inherit the cultural heritage left by our ancestors. Centering around the implementation of the requirements of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on deepening the reform of cultural institutions and mechanisms, we should focus on the following five aspects:
First, based on a clear understanding of the situation, we will continue to strengthen the protection of cultural heritage. Historical and cultural heritage is non-renewable and irreplaceable. If protection efforts are not proactive, it can be destroyed at any time. Unlike environmental protection, once a cultural relic is damaged, even if it is repaired or rebuilt, it becomes a fake and loses its value. If the object does not exist, what culture can be attached to it? Therefore, we must enhance our sense of responsibility and urgency and cannot relax for a moment. The top priority is to gain a clear understanding of the situation, take the fourth national cultural relic survey as an opportunity, strengthen cross-departmental, cross-regional, and cross-level collaboration, seize the window of opportunity before winter, fully promote field survey work, comprehensively grasp the number, preservation status, and resource distribution of cultural relics in the province, form a list of protected cultural relics and a base map of immovable cultural relic resources in Jilin Province, and lay a solid foundation for future work. The most important task is to strengthen protection and prevent damage, adhere to the principle of protection first and protect what should be protected, and ensure the holistic and systematic protection of cultural heritage such as historic sites, ancient trees and famous woods, ancient towns and villages, cultural landscapes, and intangible cultural heritage and customs in Jilin Province. We must not do surface work by only preserving a few isolated cultural relic protection units. For old buildings, neighborhoods, and urban spatial textures with important historical significance and cultural value, we must ensure overall and systematic protection and never allow them to be demolished without supervision.
Second, we will make breakthroughs in strengthening historical research in key areas to better explain Jilin’s historical and cultural heritage. Historical and cultural heritage is the cultural crystallization of Jilin’s long-term historical evolution, the diligent contributions of the people of Jilin, and the development and progress of Jilin. We must deeply explore the historical and cultural connotations contained within it and better refine Jilin’s spiritual identity and cultural character. We will coordinate archaeological excavation with research and interpretation, deeply implement projects such as exploring the origins of Chinese civilization and the “Archaeology in China – Jilin Series”, promote the compilation of the “Complete Book of Jilin”, publish a series of research results on Jilin’s cultural heritage, further explain the status and contribution of Jilin’s local civilization in the diverse and unified process of Chinese civilization, and provide strong support for shaping a universal historical cognition.
Third, we will promote the high-quality development of cultural and museum venues as a way to disseminate correct historical and cultural perspectives. As important spaces for collecting, researching, displaying, and disseminating cultural heritage, cultural and museum venues play a special role in preserving and inheriting historical and cultural heritage. Led by systematic planning, we will plan and construct a high-level museum cluster in Jilin Province, build a museum system with state-owned museums as the mainstay, industry museums as the特色, and private museums as the supplement, to achieve improvements in both the quantity and quality of venues. Emphasizing red resources as the driving force, we will accelerate the construction of the “Three Sites and Three Birthplaces” red resource exhibition system, promote the construction of museums such as the China FAW Museum and the China Aviation Museum, renovate and upgrade key venues such as the Changchun Film Studio Museum and the Siping Campaign Memorial Hall, and lead the rapid development of venue construction across the province.
Fourth, we will create new cultural spaces as carriers to better promote the revitalization and utilization of cultural heritage. Utilization is the best protection for cultural heritage. We will fully explore the social, cultural
