Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Culture
Home / Culture / Heritage

A calling of history

By Wang Kaihao | China Daily | Updated: 2021-03-23 08:00
Share
Share - WeChat
More than 300 old photographs of Yuanmingyuan, collected by Liu Yang, are on display at the Yuanmingyuan Ruins Park in February. Liu hopes the photo exhibition will help increase our knowledge by revealing the past.[Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

"We don't know how many old photos of Yuanmingyuan remain in today's world, maybe I've found most of them," Liu says. "But maybe there are 4,000 remaining, or even more. One thing is for sure, as long as photos are recovered, our understanding of Yuanmingyuan will be refreshed."

At least, his own understanding of Yuanmingyuan has evolved. In 1993, Liu, then only 12 years old, visited Yuanmingyuan for the first time. He originally planned to visit the nearby Summer Palace but fell asleep on the bus and missed the stop.

"I have to say it's serendipity, and Yuanmingyuan has become my lifetime emotional attachment," he says.

Then, he visited an exhibition on how the Anglo-French forces gutted and destroyed Yuanmingyuan. Anger and patriotism urged him to search for everything related to the fallen wonder.

"I accidentally saw an old photo of Yuanmingyuan online and began to look for its source before I got more and more files," Liu says.

He worked for an internet company, 163.com, after graduation.

"I went there because surfing online was not cheap in China then," Liu says. "But I could not forget my dream, so I quit and turned my back on the high salary."

Recommended by other researchers, he came to the administration section of Yuanmingyuan. He is a prolific writer and has published more than 10 books on Yuanmingyuan, including a most recent one, which is a photo collection.

His studies show that looters and the social upheaval in the early 20th century in China brought further destruction to the site. That also explains why cultural relics from Yuanmingyuan have been found in hutong (alley) communities and campuses all over Beijing.

"We have to respect history," he says. "People cannot forget what was done by the Anglo-French forces, and that is the root of all the misery. But we also need to keep in mind that Yuanmingyuan finally became ruins because of a time when there was a lack of care.

"That should urge people today to better protect it," he says.

Great efforts have been taken to protect Yuanmingyuan since 1976, when the administration departments for the ruins were established. Excavations, in recent decades, have revealed its original appearance but sometimes archaeologists have to use their intuition as what they uncover could be considered to be just the tip of an iceberg.

"If we can combine the archaeological findings with the studies of old photos," Liu says, "that will help us to portray an even clearer picture of Yuanmingyuan".

In his quest, Liu, also the deputy director of the Beijing History, Geography and Folk Custom Society, has gathered numerous old photos of the city. He is preparing a book on the axis line of ancient Beijing city via these visual records.

"Following more research, I'd like to compile a book on the history of photography in Beijing as well," he says. "It will be interesting to know which photo exactly was the first to be taken in the city."

|<< Previous 1 2 3 4   
Most Popular
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 特级aa**毛片免费观看| 激情图片在线视频| 无码精品A∨在线观看十八禁| 亚洲精品无码久久久久YW| 草莓视频黄瓜视频| 国产精品亚洲一区二区三区在线| 一本久久a久久精品亚洲| 日韩免费中文字幕| 亚洲日韩中文字幕无码一区| 精品人妻无码区二区三区| 国产又黄又爽胸又大免费视频| 6一10周岁毛片在线| 婷婷五月综合激情| 久久久久久国产精品三级| 欧美亚洲综合网| 人与禽交zozo| 美女一级一级毛片| 国产国产在线播放你懂的| 18禁裸男晨勃露j毛免费观看| 好吊妞这里有精品| 丰满饥渴老女人hd| 最近中文字幕无吗高清免费视频| 亚洲精品中文字幕无码av| 精品国产午夜肉伦伦影院| 国产在线无码视频一区| 真实男女xx00动态图视频| 天堂在线观看视频| 中文字幕一区二区三区永久| 日韩在线播放全免费| 亚洲伊人久久大香线蕉AV| 波多野结衣一区二区三区在线观看 | 狠狠色婷婷久久一区二区三区| 国产zzjjzzjj视频全免费| 成人黄色免费网址| 国产精品无码无卡在线播放| av片在线观看| 尤物久久99热国产综合| 丰满人妻熟妇乱又伦精品| 日韩一中文字幕| 亚洲AV无码一区二区三区在线播放 | 伊人色综合久久|