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Journal of Advance Research in Social Science & Humanities ISSN: 2208-2387

Methods and Paths for Building Characteristic Cultural Brand of

Section of the

WANG Zhongli 1, YANG Yongfang 2

(1. College of Cultural Industry and Tourism Management, , , Henan 475001, ; 2. College of Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan 475004, China)

Abstract: Henan Section of the Grand Canal is an essential part of China’s Grand Canal cultural belt construction. It is an important link between the inland, grassland and maritime civilization in ancient China. Besides, it is also a pivotal hub for the extensive exchange of world civilizations. It has nurtured the early Central Plain City Clusters. The canal system connecting the north and the south has guaranteed the water balance and water security of ancient China. Based on the analysis of the actual problems in construction of the cultural belt of Henan Section of the Grand Canal, this paper analyzed the paths and possibilities of the innovative use of the Grand Canal culture in the new era. It is recommended to take advantage of the cultural resources of the Grand Canal to optimize the urban spatial pattern, rebuild the water ecological civilization system of Henan Province, and build a rest space shared by the hosts and the guests to meet people’s ever- increasing needs for a better life.

Key words Grand Canal cultural belt; Cultural space; Ecological civilization

The Grand Canal (of China) has a total length of about 4,000 km, spanning more than 10 latitudes, linking up five major water systems, and connecting 35 cities in eight provinces (municipalities directly under the central government). The cultural added value of the Grand Canal takes up more than 50% of China’s cultural industry [1]. In February and June of 2017, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, made important instructions on the protection, inheritance and utilization of the Grand Canal, and pointed out the direction for promoting the construction of the Grand Canal cultural belt. He pointed out that it is required to “protect, inherit, and utilize well” the historical and cultural resources of the Grand Canal, and stated that the protection of Grand Canal is a common responsibility of all regions along the Grand Canal. Building coastal and riverside cultural belts is an important trend in the development of world culture. The strategy of building the Grand Canal cultural belt is China's first belt development strategy mainly oriented towards cultural

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construction [2]. The Grand Canal cultural belt has a direct connection with China’s “Belt and Road” construction strategy, River Economic Belt strategy, and -- coordinated development strategy [3]. As a core part of the Grand Canal, Henan Section of the Grand Canal has a long history and profound influence. The Sui, Tang, and Dynasties were its heyday. At that time, it was the economic lifeline, it undertook an important function of water transport and played a major role in promoting the development of coastal cities [4]. Through consulting the existing , we made a preliminary exploration on the methods and paths for building characteristic cultural brand of the Grand Canal. Firstly, we analyzed the historical evolution and cultural value of the Grand Canal, and summarized the value of characteristic culture of the Grand Canal at the present stage. Next, on the basis of the existing policies and current social situations, we analyzed the actual difficulties in building characteristic cultural brands. Besides, combining the actual situations of Henan Province, we came up with some policy recommendations for methods and paths for building characteristic cultural brand of the Grand Canal. In addition, it is hoped that the analysis of actual difficulties will provide certain guidance on future in-depth theoretical studies. At present, the construction of the Grand Canal cultural belt is still at the starting stage, and the studies on the Henan Section of the Grand Canal are few. Therefore, it is of great significance to probe the construction of cultural belt of Henan Section of the Grand Canal, explore the value of Grand Canal culture and build the Grand Canal cultural belt, for enhancing the cultural confidence, building a well-off society in an all-round way, and realizing the dream of great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 1 Historical evolution and cultural value of Henan Section of the Grand Canal 1.1 Historical evolution of Henan Section of the Grand Canal In ancient times, people in the Central Plains had a fine tradition of using natural waterways to control and use water to benefit them. They have a long history of artificially digging canals. Emperor Yu taming the flood and digging of Hong Gou (“Canal of the Wild Geese" or "Far-Flung Canal") are not only the important beginning of the canal history of Henan Province, but also main root vein of the Grand Canal culture. Henan Section of the Grand Canal consists of “Bai Gou” (Bai Ditch), Yongji Canal, and River, Hong

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Gou and Yang Canal, Tongji Canal and Bian River, and the front section of Huitong River of Beijing- Grand Canal. It experienced three important development stages: to Sui dynasties, to Northern , and Dynasty to the middle of the 20th century. Tongji Canal, repaired on the ancient Hong Gou of the Warring States, not only inherited the former canal waterway of the Central Plains, but also started the large-scale Grand Canal project of Sui and Tang dynasties. Henan Section of the Grand Canal carries the profound traditional that has been accumulated since the pre- period and has become an important source of Chinese Grand Canal culture since the Sui and Tang dynasties. Thus, Henan Section of the Grand Canal is not only the main root vein of the Grand Canal river course, but also the important cultural root vein of the Grand Canal. The river course of Henan Section of the Grand Canal has undergone great changes, some river courses are buried underground, and the ancient canal and the rivers in use are interlaced with each other, forming a unique shape of canal waterway of Henan Province. Henan Grand Canal cultural belt is not only a linear cultural belt, but also a unique fan-shaped cultural area with a “Y shape” as the main body composed of many different periods of river course relics.

Fig. 1 Map for “Y shape” of Henan Section of the Grand Canal

1.2 Cultural value of Henan Section of the Grand Canal The excavation of the Grand Canal has a profound influence on ancient Chinese society, and it should be placed in a long historical process to study its significance and value [5]. The value of Henan Section of the Grand Canal is mainly manifested in the following aspects.

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1.2.1 Henan Section of the Grand Canal is the main carrier of Chinese excellent traditional culture. Flowing from the birthplace of Chinese traditional culture, Henan Section of the Grand Canal is a flowing cultural corridor. In areas along the Henan Section of the Grand Canal and surrounding areas, there appeared Chinese classical thoughts such as , , , and Legalism, preserved the material cultural heritage such as Historic Monuments of in “Center of Heaven and Earth”, in , Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, Capital of Song Dynasty in Kaifeng, Yin Dynasty ruins in , kept the non- material cultural heritage such as opera culture, Kungfu culture, Bian embroidery, mandarin porcelain, and new year wood-block prints, and integrated the cultural spirit such as Emperor Yu taming the flood, the Foolish Old Man removing the mountains, Yuefei's utmost loyalty in serving the country, and administering the country with clean government. These together manifest the Chinese cultural value, cultural spirit and cultural confidence.

1.2.2 Henan Section of the Grand Canal is a core channel for the inheritance and development of Chinese civilization. Henan Section of the Grand Canal connects the relatively independent natural economic zones from north to south, making up for the shortcomings of difficult transport between north and south due to few north-south rivers and barrier of land transport by mountains and rivers, and facilitating the integrated development of five water systems, namely, , , , Yangtze River and [6]. Henan Section of the Grand Canal is a core channel connecting the Yellow River civilization, Yangtze River civilization, grassland civilization, and integrating and inheriting Chinese civilization. In the course of the inheritance and development of the Chinese civilization, the Henan Grand Canal Cultural Belt, based on the core area of “being in the middle of the world”, connected the regional cultures such as Culture, Jianghuai Culture, Wuyue Culture, Yanzhao Culture and Beijing-Tianjin Culture, promoted the cultural exchange between the north and the south, the west and the east, drove the integration of multiculturalism, promoted the construction of a multi-integrated Chinese civilization system, and created the unified, inclusive and open Chinese culture, strengthened the cohesion and centripetal force of Chinese nation, expanded the radiation and influence of the Chinese civilization, and accordingly have exerted a profound impact on the inheritance and innovation of the Chinese civilization.

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1.2.3 Henan Grand Canal is the axis area of world civilization exchange and integration.

Henan Section of the Grand Canal is an important link between the inland, grassland and maritime civilization in ancient China. It is the intersection of the Road and the Maritime , and the axis area of the world civilization. In the Tang and Song dynasties, when Chinese civilization quickly integrated and led the development of world civilization, Henan Section of the Grand Canal continually transported material and cultural resources from all over the country to international metropolises such as Chang'an, Luoyang and Kaifeng, which not only created the era of great civilization with political stability, economic prosperity, developed culture and scientific and technological progress, but also spread Chinese civilization to all over the world through civilization messengers gathered there, directly contributed the exchange of goods, thoughts, knowledge and value between the East and the West. As a key hub connecting the main civilization system of mankind, Henan Section of the Grand Canal has greatly promoted the exchange and integration of Chinese civilization and other civilizations in the world.

1.2.4 Henan Section of the Grand Canal is the birthplace of Central Plain City Clusters. The opening of the Grand Canal has promoted the rapid prosperity of some cities and towns along the canal. In the Tang and Song dynasties, cities such as Luoyang and Kaifeng had become the international metropolis along the canal and they became the frontier areas of world economic and cultural exchanges at that time. Since the renovation of Tongji Canal, Luoyang, as the junction of the north and south of the Grand Canal, became the hub of economic exchange and material distribution between the north and the south [7]. Benefiting from the Granal Canal, Kaifeng prospered and held a population up to one million, and became a water and land metropolis gathering all areas of the country and connecting numerous countries in the world. , Yongqiu (now County), Xiangyi (now Sui County), Ningling, Songzhou (now County), Gushu, , and also prospered thanks to the Grand Canal, and areas along Henan Section of the Grand Canal became the important birthplace of the Central Plain City Clusters.

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1.2.5 The Grand Canal is the safety guarantee for water ecology and water balance. The Grand Canal connects the central and eastern plains of China, and intersects most of the river systems in the lower reaches of the Hai River, the Yellow River, the Huai River, the Yangtze River, the Taihu Lake, the Qiantang River and the Lancang River, forming a complex canal water system network. Ancient builders, maintainers, and users took advantage of diverse water resource conditions under the difficult conditions of complex and ever-changing hydrological environment, intricate landforms and geological structures, successfully realized the amazing diversion of water resources in both the time and space at the earliest time in the world, and provided support and guarantee for integration of Chinese civilization and the safeguarding of national unity. The Grand Canal plays a great role in improving the ecological environment in regions along the canal, including conserving the groundwater sources, regulating the runoff, providing habitat for living things, and safeguarding the water ecology.

2 Actual difficulties in building Henan Grand Canal cultural belt By now, 41 heritages in Henan Province have been included in the Grand Canal Protection Plan, covering the complete heritage type and witnessing the historical process of the Grand Canal from excavation, expansion to prosperity and decline, having important universal value. However, there are many actual difficulties in exploring the cultural value of the Grand Canal and building the Grand Canal cultural belt.

2.1 Enormous pressure of ecological restoration The ecological environment of areas along the cultural belt of Henan Section of the Grand Canal and surrounding areas has been damaged in varying degrees. There are great difficulties in river course restoration, water body flow, and ecological conservation. Thus, to achieve the expected ecological effect, it needs more efforts in building the cultural belt of Henan Section of the Grand Canal than other sections.

2.2 Difficult living conservation of heritage Along the cultural belt of Henan Section of the Grand Canal, there are few ground visual heritages, but many underground buried heritages, so it is difficult to form the cultural sense of integrity. The cultural belt of Henan Section of the Grand Canal lacks convenient conditions

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for direct display of heritage, the living conservation of material cultural heritage and non- material cultural heritage is an arduous task.

2.3 Unbalanced development of regions along the Grand Canal The construction of cultural belt of Henan Section of the Grand Canal needs powerful policy support and large funds. However, due to unbalanced economic and social development of regions along the Grand Canal, some regions are weaker in economic foundation and have obvious short board. In view of unbalance in the cultural construction of different regions, Henan Province should actively mobilize various resources and forces to promote coordinated development of regions along the Grand Canal.

2.4 Insufficient study and dissemination of Grand Canal culture

In the history, the Grand Canal has undergone several changes, and the actual shipping function has disappeared. As a result, the public lacks overall perception of the Henan Section of the Grand Canal. In the past, Henan Section of the Grand Canal was not given due attention, the related study and dissemination were insufficient, and the cultural value of the Grand Canal was not fully manifested.

3 Basic principles for building the Henan Grand Canal cultural belt 3.1 Taking the culture as the leader and integrating the development It is required to adhere to the development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, take cultural construction as the leader, and promote economic, social, and ecological construction, accelerate the penetration and integration of cultural tourism industry and related industries, make innovation in cultural formats, enrich cultural products, expand cultural consumption, strengthen the endogenous development momentum of the canal, enhance the development level of the cultural industry, and promote the integration of culture with industry, ecology, and towns.

3.2 Following the principle of ecology first and green development It is required to adhere to the concept of ecological civilization that respects nature and protects nature, and set up and practice the concept that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”, and treat the ecological environment of the Grand Canal like life. Besides, it is required to determine the ecological red line on the basis of analyzing and evaluating the

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ecosystem and resource environment capacity of the Grand Canal, to renovate the ecological environment of the Grand Canal, strengthen the protection of the original state of river course, promote the ecological restoration and ecological environment construction of the Grand Canal, and build the water ecological civilization system with harmonious relationship between human and water and green development.

3.3 Making the past serve the present and fostering innovation in development

It is required to stick to the principle of making the past serve the present, strengthen the protection and display of Grand Canal cultural heritage, explore the concepts, humanistic spirit, and ethics contained in traditional culture of the Grand Canal, and inherit the culture and spirit accumulated in the long history of the Grand Canal. The key to inheritance is to make the Grand Canal and the culture it reflects (or is connected with) still play an important guiding role in today's production and life. The culture contained in the Grand Canal includes water transport culture and trade culture. It has certain enlightenment for the orderly development of the existing market economy and the benign changes of the urban pattern. In addition, it is necessary to inherit innovations according to the requirements of the times, explore development models and transformation paths, and give new life and charm to the Grand Canal with new cultural formats, new ways of expression, and new means of communication, and enhance the attraction, appeal and influence of the Grand Canal culture. It is required to constantly expand the public cultural space of the masses, to make the Grand Canal show its permanent charm and style of the times.

3.4 Coordinating regions and balancing the development It is required to follow the principle of regional coordination, make overall consideration of the actual situation of different sections of the Grand Canal, make clear the regional functional positioning, strengthen regional cooperation, and promote the balanced development of cities and towns along the canal with respective characteristics and complementary functions. Besides, it is required to break the barriers of departments, industries, systems, fields, and regions to achieve mutual cooperation, complement each other, assist each other, and cooperate with each other. Also, it is required to promote the integration of the culture with related fields, to drive the simultaneous development of economic, social and

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ecological undertakings of regions along the canal and related regions.

3.5 Interconnection and open development

It is required to strengthen the top-level design to form a new kinetic energy for the interconnection and integration of regions along the Grand Canal. Specifically, it is required to give play to the geographical hub of Henan Province in the Grand Canal and the “Belt and Road”, revitalize the trade culture of the canal, activate the trade of ancient water-based towns, promote regional economic coordination, and promote the economic and cultural integration and exchanges between the north and the south of the Grand Canal. Besides, it is required to deepen the opening to the east, speed up the opening to the west, and make effort to build a new corridor for opening up to the outside world.

4 Focusing on the sustainable development in the construction of the Henan Grand Canal cultural belt

At the same time of protecting the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal and inheriting the cultural genes of the Grand Canal, it is recommended to explore the historical and cultural resources of the Grand Canal and its cultural values, and study the direction and possibilities of the innovative use of the Grand Canal culture in the new era. Also, it is recommended to take advantage of the cultural resources of the Grand Canal to optimize the urban spatial pattern, strengthen the beautiful countryside construction, rebuild the water ecological civilization system of Henan Province, and build a rest space shared by the hosts and the guests to meet people’s ever-increasing needs for a better life.

4.1 Rebuilding the urban cultural space of the Henan Section of the Grand Canal

Culture is the name card of a city and the soul of the city. On June 22, 2014, the Grand Canal was officially inscribed on the World Heritage list. Later, 35 cities along the Grand Canal jointly established a city alliance, and planed to build the “Grand Canal Cultural Belt”. Among the 35 cities along the canal, there are 6 large ancient capitals, 22 national famous historical and cultural cities, 4 starting and ending cities of the Grand Canal, namely Luoyang, Kaifeng,

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Beijing and Hangzhou. The historical and cultural resources are extremely rich. However, there are only 5 cities taking the Grand Canal as their cultural name cards, namely, Changzhou, , , Huai'an and . The Henan Section of the Grand Canal lacks the packaging and lighting of the canal culture. In order to inherit and utilize the heritage resources of the Grand Canal, it is urgent to reposition the urban cultural functions of cities along the canal.

Taking the section of the Grand Canal Tongji Canal and the historical and cultural heritage protection and development as the core, Zhengzhou City integrates historical and cultural area, the Ersha Cultural and Creative Industry Park, and Bainian Dehua Cultural Area into an important cultural space for the protection and inheritance of canal culture, and so highlight the important position of the canal hub of Zhengzhou in the Henan Grand Canal cultural belt. Besides, Zhengzhou plans to build Guying Grand Canal Historical and Cultural Demonstration Zone, Zhengzhou National Grand Canal Data and Information Center, National Grand Canal National and Non-material Cultural Heritage Protection Center, and transform Zhengzhou Guancheng into a center integrating the silk road culture and canal culture. Zhengzhou should implement the comprehensive environmental renovation of Huiji Bridge Section and Suoxu River Section of Zhengzhou Secton of Bian River ancient course of the Grand Canal. Luoyang City should explore and integrate the cultural resources of the canal, expand the construction of the Luoyang Sui and Tang Dynasties Grand Canal Museum, vigorously implement the protection and display project of Luoyang Hanjia Granary Relics and Huiluo Granary Relics, and build Luoyang Chanhe Hui District into a demonstration base of integration of Silk Road culture and Grand Canal culture. Kaifeng City should rebuild the prosperous landscape of Grand Canal culture of Song Dynasty, especially, build Song Dynasty Grand Canal Museum and Song Dynasty Capital Grand Canal Cultural Exhibition Center. Besides, relying on the existing space planning of cultural industry, Kaifeng should strengthen the mutual connection between the cultural space of “one city, two rings and eight districts” and the construction of the canal cultural belt, and build the Song Dynasty Cultural Theme Park and ring landscape belt in ancient city district, tourism commercial cultural landscape belt of “Six Rivers and Five Lakes Connecting Ten Scenic Spots”, Longting Palace

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Cultural Zone, Kaifeng House, Lord Bao Memorial Temple Court Cultural Zone, Daxiangguo Temple, Yanqing Taoist Temple, Tieta Park Religious Cultural Zone, Gulou Block Commercial Cultural Zone, Shuanglong Alley, Liujia Alley Folk Cultural Zone, Starting Zone for Downtown of Ascending the River on , “City on Cities” Relic Museum Industrial Zone, and Small Song Dynasty Cultural, Commercial and Tourism Complex into an important cultural space for the Grand Canal cultural belt. Anyang City can build the ancient capital Anyang Canal Cultural Space through integrating the unique historical and cultural resources such as the Grand Canal relics, origin of inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells and The Book of Changes, birthplace of Spirit, and Chinese National Museum of Chinese Writing. Furthermore, it is recommended to re-evaluate the cultural and functional orientation of historical and cultural cities such as Shangqiu City, City, , City, City and other characteristic towns along the canal, and create a new cultural space to display the canal culture. Specifically, it is recommended to dig deep into the cultural resources of the famous historical and cultural cities such as Shangqiu, Puyang, , Jiaozuo and Xinxiang, as well as the canal cultural resources of the characteristic towns along the canal, integrate existing historical and cultural resources, re-evaluate their cultural functional orientation, and gather elements of the canal culture and technological innovation, industry integration and brand cultivation, realize the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture, and build a new cultural space to exhibit the canal culture.

4.2 Rebuilding the water ecological civilization system of Henan Section of the Grand Canal

4.2.1 Building the ecological civilization system of the Grand Canal cultural belt

The Grand Canal is an artificial river course with “water” as the link connecting the cities along the canal. It is a flowing cultural belt. Building the ecological civilization of the canal is an important support for building the cultural belt of the Grand Canal. At present, the river conditions of the Henan Section of the Grand Canal cultural belt can be divided into the ancient canal and the rivers in use, rivers with water and rivers without water (Table 1). Thus,

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the water ecological civilization construction for the Henan Section of the Grand Canal can be divided into the canal ecological restoration project and the canal cultural landscape rebuilding project.

Table 1 Length and planning area of regions along the Henan Section of the Grand Canal

River course / Relics No. Region Planning area // km2 Remarks Length / km

1 Zhengzhou City 15 17.9

2 Kaifeng City 68 37.6 All are relics

3 Luoyang City 50 95.0

4 Anyang City 50 39.4

5 Hebi City 71 67.9

6 Xinxiang City 75 61.0 All are relics

7 Jiaozuo City 74 18.1 All are relics

8 Puyang City 42 29.0 All are relics

9 Shangqiu City 170 92.5 All are relics

10 City 34 27.0

11 County 8 8.5

Total 657 493.9

It is recommended that the goal is to integrate the water ecological civilization construction of the Great Canal cultural belt into the unified planning and governance system of the national Grand Canal cultural water ecological civilization construction; establish the canal ecological restoration project and canal cultural landscape reconstruction project with the heritage characteristics of Henan Section of the Grand Canal according to its current situations.

4.2.2 Incorporating the tributary system of the Grand Canal into the water ecological civilization construction system

Compared with the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the river courses of Henan Section

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of Grand Canal were rarely used, and the river courses have undergone great changes in history. At present, some water systems in Henan Province belong to ancient river course of the Grand Canal or formed due to the flowing of Grand Canal. Therefore, these water systems should be incorporated into the system of the Grand Canal, such as Chan River, Jialu River, Huangbian River, Huiji River, etc. In the construction of the Grand Canal cultural belt, it is recommended to restore the water system connected with the Grand Canal system as much as possible, and some rivers can even be open to navigation, so as to realize the reproduction of the canal landscape.

4.2.3 Strengthening the construction of canal ecological corridor, to comprehensively improve the ecological environment of the Grand Canal

For river courses still in use, it is necessary to push forward the canal water ecological restoration project with desilting and dredging as main works. At the same time of bringing into play the natural functions of the Grand Canal, it is recommended to attach importance to the ecological functions, improve the canal landscape functions, strengthen the water environment improvement, ecological protection and construction of regions along the canal, determine the ecological protection red line, and make reasonable plan and build ecological water system, to set up the Grand Canal ecological corridor. The construction of ecological corridor for Xiaodan River, Baiquan River, and in Henan Section of the Grand Canal should be coordinated with Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Canal and be provided with a unified management plan; the ecological corridor construction of Section should be combined with the exhibition of granary relics (such as Luokou Granary, Hanjia Granary, and Huiluo Granary).

For ancient courses of the canal, it is necessary to push forward the canal water ecological reconstruction project with cultural landscape exhibition as main works. It is recommended to speed up the exploration and excavation of the ancient canal courses, formulate a clear road map of the canal as soon as possible, and determine the basic protection boundaries on both sides of the canal; protect the water sources and improve the water quality of ancient canal courses according to the excavation work of the relevant sites along the canal; take powerful measures as soon as possible to stop and rectify polluting enterprises along the

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canal and ancient courses occupied by life and production. Besides, it is recommended to strengthen the construction of major transportation infrastructure as soon as possible, interact with adjacent provinces, and build express ecological corridor (including walkway, bike lane and highway) along the ancient canal courses.

In addition, it is recommended to protect and renovate the ecological water systems of cities, ancient towns, ancient villages along the canal. Nine cities and 3 counties directly under Henan Province along Henan Section of the Grand Canal should take the Grand Canal cultural belt as the opportunity, energetically build the water ecological civilization cities, fully integrate the cultural elements of the Grand Canal, show the characteristics of urban section canal, create beautiful living environment, and improve the urban life quality. The ancient towns and villages along the Henan Section of the Grand Canal should implement the ecological water system protection and restoration project combined with the connotation of beautiful countryside, build beautiful countryside with “smooth rivers, clear water, green banks, picturesque scenery, and profound culture”, to retain the nostalgia.

4.3 Building a rest space shared by the hosts and the guests

It is recommended to make an in-depth study of the direction and possibility of the Grand Canal culture and space utilization, and actively explore the development path of a cultural space shared by the hosts and the guests. The Grand Canal belongs to giant linear cultural heritage. There are few ground remains and the distribution is scattered. Therefore, the development should adopt a point-axis linear space development model. The key to the development of linear space is to sort out the historical sources, to form a sense of sequence. In other words, it is necessary to guide the development of the whole Henan Section of the Grand Canal with the thousand year canal thought, to connect node cities along the canal. All node cities along the canal have had their own glorious history. Since there are few ground remains in the Henan Section of the Grand Canal, it is feasible to learn the idea of theme parks, select important historical and cultural resources and the relationship with the Grand Canal, refine their cultural symbols, and apply such cultural symbols to the packaging of their sense of sequence, guest greeting gate, exhibition center, and recreational product development. The Grand Canal realizes the combination of time and space. It not only horizontally shows

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the Chinese civilization in different historical periods, but also vertically shows the blending of the canal and different regional cultures. According to the actual situations of the areas along the canal, it is recommended to develop water projects if there is water, develop land projects if there is no water, and develop landscape projects if it is suitable, form “Y” shape framework in space, build the recreational space shared by hosts and guests, including scenic byway system and camp system. The scenic byway system includes water and land walkway and riding system. The camp system, as the guest greeting gate of each node city, is the specific expression, marketing terminal and exhibition center of urban culture.

4.3.1 Improving the scenic byway system

The scenic byway system is to form a cultural diversified super park seamlessly connected with the public transport system, bike system, and walkway system through improving the infrastructure and public supporting facilities. It is recommended to speed up the renovation of ancient canal courses according to the actual situations of each place, conserve well the river courses of Wei River (Yongji Canal) section, and transform the river courses into a vertical ecosystem of water, grassland and forest, to realize rowing boats on rivers and building walkways beside forests. Henan Province should take advantage of the roads near the existing wetlands in Luoyang — Zhengzhou — Kaifeng — Shangqiu line, connect the wetlands together, and transform some polluted waters, to form a unified water ecological natural protection system, intercepting rainwater, realizing local resources through absorption and purification, constituting a green sponge system that maintains the ecological security of the earth. Besides, it is recommended to bring into play the ecological functions of the wetland, create excellent ecological environment, and provide beautiful rest space for local people. Through integration with the modern life style, the ancient canal will radiate new vigor and vitality.

4.3.2 Building camp system

The camp system is distributed near the nodes of the scenic byway system (the cities and the ancient towns with flowing of the canal), and integrates and expresses the canal history and urban culture with the theme park's thought in a cross-section manner. The scenic byway shows

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the ecological benefits of the canal as a green sponge system, while the camp system shows the Chinese civilization that the canal has lasted and passed down for thousands of years. It is recommended to select and refine the cultural symbols of the node cities, and dig deep into the context of the canal and the node cities, and express them in a specific manner. Thus, local people can know the history of their cities and the canal civilization, strengthen their cultural confidence of Chinese nation, so that every individual becomes the messenger of culture. Taking advantage of Luoyang Hanjia Granary No. 160 granary relics, Huiluo Granary relics, and water transport system, it is feasible to establish the product system of ancient world granary and present world heritage; taking advantage of Zhengzhou Tongji Canal section, it is feasible to build the product system of ancient - Canal and present urban wetland; taking advantage of Bian River from Kaifeng to Shangqiu, it is feasible to create the urban travel with the same Bian River and different styles; relying on Xun County and section of Wei River (Yongji Canal), it is feasible to establish the product system of remained charm of Ming and Qing dynasties and vernacular canal.

4.4 Cultivating characteristic cultural brands of the Grand Canal

4.4.1 Developing cultural and creative products to build characteristic cultural brands

Developing cultural and creative products is a main path for the construction of the Henan Grand Canal cultural belt. It is recommended to realize the product activation from the cultural heritage of the Grand Canal with cultural creativity, and to realize the heritage protection with the continuity of the cultural context. Henan Province should make full use of the Grand Canal cultural belt to build such an epoch-making cultural project and set up the concept of "creative transformation and innovative development". Besides, Henan Province should combine the construction of the “Belt and Road” to build Central Plains cultural highland, realize the cultural confidence advocated by the state, to lift the world influence of the central plains culture.

In terms of the development of cultural resources along the Henan Grand Canal cultural belt, the key is to build fine cultural products, create cultural brands, set up a unified brand

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image of the Henan Grand Canal cultural belt, to win the market and enhance the competitiveness. The departments along the belt should implement multi-level and diversified market positioning and development according to the economic strength of consumers, accelerate the development of cultural resources of the Grand Canal, and enrich and enhance the cultural connotation of products along the canal. It is recommended to make different packaging in line with the characteristics of existing cultural resources and cultural products in different areas along the canal, and set up a distinctive cultural brand image. In the process of development, it is necessary to enhance the cultural pride of local residents, make them deeply realize the value of cultural landscape and cultural tradition of the Grand Canal, and promote the inheritance of cultural tradition of regions along the canal, so as to protect and carry on the precious cultural heritage such as various local-style dwelling houses, folk arts and crafts, music, opera, dance, and food culture in the construction of the Grand Canal cultural belt. In the process of cultivating the characteristic cultural brand of the Grand Canal culture, it is necessary to bring into play the role of representative folk craftsmen, masters of arts and crafts and cultural celebrities, and encourage to excavate, protect, and develop China’s time-honored characteristic traditional skills and service concepts, encourage characteristic cultural enterprises to apply for the origin label, and strengthen the protection and use of intellectual property rights. In addition, it is recommended to strengthen the overall image of the tourism of the Grand Canal cultural belt from natural, cultural, and economic factors, enhance regional concept of big tourism and expand the publicity influence, and set up a distinctive regional tourism image of the Grand Canal cultural belt.

4.4.2 Building a characteristic corridor that inherits the architectural culture of the Grand Canal

Henan Province is the source and root vein of the Grand Canal culture, and it also gathers forms of architecture along the Grand Canal. In the entire Grand Canal cultural belt, Henan Province best shows the multi-cultural integration pattern of both north and south culture. The Henan Grand Canal cultural belt is a material heritage that inherits the cultural memory of the canal, and also the material heritage of cultural styles such as canal wharfs, river courses, gates, shops and other architectural styles, water relics such as water conservancy technology,

Volume-5 | Issue-2 | Feb,2018 67 Journal of Advance Research in Social Science & Humanities ISSN: 2208-2387

irrigation technology, farming techniques, gates, dikes, dams, bridges, water gates, fiber lanes, and docks, warehouses, government offices, post houses, temporary dwelling palaces, guild halls, and custom houses, etc.

Many relics along the Henan Section of the Grand Canal, such as Luoyang Hanjia Granary No. 160 granary relics, Huiluo Granary relics, ancient city wall in Hua County, Yunxi Bridge in Xun County, ancient city wall in Xun County, Liyang Granary relics in Xun County, ancient City, Hehe Stone Bridge in Xinxiang, Bian River System in Kaifeng, and ancient city wall in Shangqiu, not only fully reflect the difference of north and south culture, but also gather the essence of north and south water transport. Therefore, it is recommended to string together the famous historical and cultural cities, towns and villages, historical and cultural sites, remains, relics and folk customs of regions along the Henan Section of the Grand Canal, build the canal cultural corridor to form a highland for the inheritance and protection of Henan cultural heritage, and build it into a landmark project of central plains culture and important mark of Chinese cultural context, so as to promote prosperous development of economy, society and culture of regions along the Grand Canal.

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