Kulangsu Gardens and Conservation Measures Undertaken
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additional information on disaster preparedness, the relation of the proposed Outstanding Universal Value to the Kulangsu gardens and conservation measures undertaken. A (China) response was received from the State Party on 23 November 2016. No 1541 On 20 December 2016, ICOMOS sent an Interim Report to the State Party, which contained further requests for additional information on the justification for the proposed Official name as proposed by the State Party Outstanding Universal Value, protection of the property Kulangsu: A historic international settlement and its visitor management. The State Party responded on 22 February 2017. All additional information has been Location incorporated into the relevant sections below. Fujian Province China Date of ICOMOS approval of this report 10 March 2017 Brief description Kulangsu is a tiny island located at the estuary of Chiu-lung River facing the 600 metres distant city of Xiamen across the Lujiang Strait. Based on earlier traditional settlements, 2 The property the international settlement, which formally carries this title since 1903, integrated influences of foreigners living there Description is the late 19th century in the vicinity of Yiamen international The nominated property covers the entire island of port and later in the early 20th century of Chinese returning Kulangsu and its adjacent coastal waters with an overall from abroad. Its heritage reflects the composite nature of size of 316.2 hectares. The boundaries in the waters are a modern settlement composed of 931 historical buildings demarcated by the extension of the surrounding coral reefs. of a variety of local and international architectural styles, The buffer zone, which covers the adjacent Dayu and natural sceneries, a historic network of roads and historic Monkey islands and reaches until the shoreline of Xiamen, gardens. includes additional 886 hectares. Category of property The nominated property is located in sub-tropical marine In terms of categories of cultural property set out in Article I monsoon climate, which determines its evergreen of the 1972 World Heritage Convention, this is a site. ecological landscape. Two ridges extending across the island, one in north-south and the other in east-west direction, divide the area into distinct areas with limited 1 Basic data visual sight relations. The urban spaces and highest architectural density is framed by these ridged towards the Included in the Tentative List north east of the island facing the city Xiamen. 21 January 2013 The island hosts an urban settlement of close to a International Assistance from the World Heritage thousand historic buildings and is further characterized by Fund for preparing the Nomination historic roads, natural landscape elements and historic None gardens. The architectural structures include private residences, public buildings of administrative, judicial or Date received by the World Heritage Centre diplomatic function, commercial structures, including 29 January 2016 former office and warehouse buildings of foreign firms and religious structures of Buddhist, Taoist, Christian and Background Ancestral communities. Educational, recreational and This is a new nomination. sports structures complete the spectrum of facilities for the Kulangsu community. The private residences are Consultations often larger structures in form of villas and mansions but ICOMOS consulted its International Scientific Committees also include the former staff quarters of foreign firms. on Shared Built Heritage, Historic Towns and Villages, and several independent experts. These architectural structures represent a variety of architectural styles, most of which can be traced back to Technical Evaluation Mission the interaction with or import of foreign architectural An ICOMOS technical evaluation mission visited the traditions. These styles are referred to as traditional property from 16 to 21 October 2016. southern Fujian Style, Veranda Colonial Style, Western Classical Revival Style, Modernist Style and Art Deco, as Additional information received by ICOMOS well as their fusion in what is considered unique of A letter was sent by ICOMOS to the State Party on Kulangsu and called the Amoy Deco Style. 29 September 2016 requesting further clarification and 104 Kulangsu also integrates four roads designated as of renovated the traditional settlement and developed new historic importance as well as the natural landscapes of ones. At the same time, they initiated the integration of several hill and cliff sites. Such natural features, in Chinese and foreign residential areas. Parallel to this particular reefs and rocks are associated to narratives of development, Kulangsu witnessed a boom in community local history and traditional culture and, hence, bear service facilities and infrastructure, which remains well special cultural connotations. Its preserved and diversified evidenced in tangible heritage. Finally, it is worth noting that historic gardens, both independent and affiliated with the 20th century also witnessed the introduction of alien historic buildings, like the architectural features reflect plant varieties that enriched the botanical diversity of the combined layouts of both Chinese and Western styles island, and changed its previously somewhat desolate demonstrating the interaction and integration of different landscape. cultures. History and development 3 Justification for inscription, integrity and The history of Kulangsu is part of the history of Chinese authenticity migration to Southern Asia and further abroad. Early residents, from the 14th century CE and before, supposedly Comparative analysis migrants from the north, established scattered traditional The State Party presents a comparative analysis of the settlements on the island. They were moved to the nominated property with properties inscribed on the World mainland in 1387, and returned after 1487. Three large Heritage List and the UNESCO Tentative Lists. It is settlements were formed during the Ming and Qing focused on Chinese Historic Towns and other Building th th dynasties (15 -18 centuries), and were located at: Complexes of the 19th century reflecting exchanges Neicuo’ao (being the oldest of the three), Lu’erjiao and between Chinese and Western cultures. This comparative Yanzaijiao. analysis is accordingly focused on a chronological, regional approach, comparing similar phenomena within th As early as the 18 century, foreign traders have been the same historical period and broader geographic attracted to the island, a fact attested by a tomb of a location, but also considers the function and nature of the Spaniard sea trader named Manuel (1729-1759). After the site, and the nature of its foreign cultural influence. Opium War in the1840s, Kulangsu became administratively independent from the British Settlement in Xiamen, which The comparative analysis shows that most of Latin was then an open commercial port. However, its America’s properties are from the 16th-18th centuries and development as a residential settlement remained were generally developed under the cultural influence of dependent on Xiamen. It was determined by the presence one country (Spain, or Portugal). Among Latin America’s of foreign missionaries, consular and diplomatic officers World Heritage properties, only “Historic Quarter of the and foreigners working in larger city visible across the strait. Seaport City of Valparaíso “, Chile (2003, criterion (iii)), These foreign residents brought with them western and and the “Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos”, Cuba, South Asian architectural styles and concepts of modern (2005, criteria (ii) and (iv)) date to the 19th century. The community amenities including schools, hospitals, roads latter was mainly a sugar and tobacco production centre and cemeteries, as well as their respective religious and and the former a business and trade centre. In terms of cultural lifestyles. Thus, Kulangsu became a nucleus of the function, both properties, like most of the properties introduction of international culture towards China as well inscribed on the World Heritage List in Latin America, are as a base for modern western culture and technology that mainly trade, industry, and administrative centres. were to be disseminated to the wider region and inland China. Comparison with cities from the Asia-Pacific region inscribed on the World Heritage List shows that also these The history of the introduction of modern western culture towns display different features for various reasons. can be divided in two phases. The first beginning in the mid- Towns from the 16th -18th centuries like Macao (“Historic th 19 century was a ‘phase of collision and exchange’, with Centre of Macao”, China, 2005, criteria (ii), (iii), (iv) and relatively distinct residential areas. The second, a phase of (vi)) have an overall planning system based on western blending and maturation, symbolically started when the ideas. Singapore witnessed a urban planning 1903 Land Regulations for the Settlement of Kulangsu took transformation, which aimed at spreading western culture, effect. The starting of the Pacific War in 1941 caused many but its residential areas were based on ethnic separation. foreigners and overseas Chinese to settle in Kulangsu, which accelerated the maturation of the multi-cultural Comparison with Malacca (“Melaka and George Town, blending in the island. This resulted in the development of Historic Cities of the Straits of Malaca”, Malaysia, 2008, culture, education, industry, new