2 | Tuesday, June 22, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY PAGE TWO

Left: A roof decoration excavated from the Qingpingbu site in Shaanxi province. provided to china daily Center: A tile from the unearthed at the Shaliangzi city ruins near the Great Wall in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Right: A statue excavated from the Qingpingbu site. XINHUA Wall: Studies aid risk assessment work

From page 1 triggering anger among netizens. Although the “mis- ruins. The work in Jiankou is not on a large scale, but for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage and take” was later rectified, it spurred lengthy debate it sets an example for more sections to follow.” Archaeology, said Qingpingbu was constructed in Zhang said, “Cultural heritage has its own life. among the public about ways in which the Great Not all archaeologists are as fortunate as those the mid-15th century. In the 1690s, an army led by Each renovation project over the years has been an Wall should be restored. working in Jiankou. Emperor Kangxi during the Qing Dynasty (1644- ‘intervention’ in the wall’s life, providing crucial Chai said: “More and more people have recog- Chai said the Great Wall is strictly protected by 1911) marched past the castle, heading to war north information. nized that renovating the structure does not simply national laws, so scholars do not have that many of the Great Wall. The site was gradually abandoned “As we have had to intervene in its life again through mean repairing a wall. When you add a brick or a tile, chances to physically remove bricks or earth samples following the emperor’s victory. this ongoing project, it’s essential to first decode the there must be a solid reference point, which can only for their studies. City gates, bridges and the castle’s watchtowers information through our work as archaeologists. We be provided by archaeological studies.” “Great Wall archaeology is not only about a wall,” have been found by Yu’s team, which since May last can then understand how the wall’s original appear- Archaeology, in particular, is a highlight of the he said. “There is much more cultural heritage relat- year has also worked on a Taoist temple ruin, known ance has changed and also gain an insight into its plan released in 2019 to establish Great Wall cultural ing to the wall than we initially thought. Our as Xianying Palace. The ruin, which is some 60 present condition. This will greatly help with conser- parks, with the aim of better retaining historical ­knowledge of the structure needs to be largely meters long and 25 meters wide, is considered by Yu vation work. detail and supporting conservation work. expanded from below ground.” to be a highlight of the ongoing project. “We’ve basically figured out how the watchtowers Many sections of the structure are in a poor state Studies of inscriptions on a stone tablet unearthed were constructed, used and became damaged. This of repair. Unlike the fortifications on the outskirts of Buried castle at the temple, which dates to the reign of Emperor has provided key clues for our architectural studies.” Beijing, which are made from bricks, on other parts Archaeologists are particularly interested in a Wanli, show the site was devoted to a local patron The conservation project has also been helped by a of the wall, stone fences or rammed earthen walls are 10-km section of the wall built during the Ming god. About 30 colorful earthen lifesize statues were new digital surveying platform that analyses aerial more in evidence. Dynasty in Jingbian county, northern Shaanxi prov- found in the temple ruins. photographs of the site. Chai said: “Seeing the wall from an archaeological ince. The section is home to the Qingpingbu site, a Yu said: “The basic layout of this courtyard is well- “Through digitization, conservation can be man- perspective, people will better understand its diver- castle ruin buried in sand. preserved and the statues are exquisite. The site, aged and evaluated with a more scientific approach. sity and also accept that some parts are already in Yu Chunlei, a researcher at the Shaanxi Institute which was quickly buried by sand after being aban- To a large extent, scattered bricks and stones that doned, has seldom been disturbed by human activi- have been unearthed can be recycled for the restora- ties, helping to protect its original condition.” tion work.” To the east of the temple, another structure, which The material used to construct the wall has been is more than 3 meters high, is still buried by sand, retained as much as possible, and a principle of giving Yu further hopes for follow-up excavation “minimum intervention” was adopted for the work. project, Zhang said. Records show that 36 castles in the area were used Shang Heng, a researcher at the Beijing Archaeo- as barracks for soldiers safeguarding the northern logical Research Institute, said the 520-kilometer- frontier along the wall. long section of the Great Wall in Beijing passes Yu said the temple was built on this site to show through six districts along the Yan mountains. A that the Ming government was determined to safe- small part of the structure dates to the 6th century, guard the frontier. but most of it was built during the . Numerous porcelain pieces unearthed at the site The watchtowers and lower stones were put in are evidence that the castle was situated on a regular place in the 14th and 15th centuries, particularly trade route. There were also two markets near the during the reign of Emperor Yongle, who moved the fortification. national capital from Nanjing, in what is now Jiang- Yu said: “As a result of booming trade, there was su province, to Beijing. frequent communication among different cultures Reinforced brick walls were not erected on a large and ethnic groups in this area. The Great Wall thus scale until the mid-16th century, during the reign of became a crossroads where agrarian culture to the Emperor Jiajing. The structure’s defenses were fur- south and nomadic culture to the north mixed, form- ther strengthened during the reign of Emperor Wan- ing a shared community of Chinese civilization.” li (1573-1620), when the Jiankou section was built. Studies of other heritage sites along the Great Wall Zhang Zhonghua, deputy director of the Beijing have also produced a better insight into its history. institute, said, “Studying archaeology on the Great In 2019, archaeologists from the Institute of Cul- Wall is an interdisciplinary program that also tural Relics and Archaeology of Inner Mongolia and involves studies of ancient architecture and the sur- from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, Guang- rounding environment. dong province, began researching a city ruin from “These studies enable us to figure out the type of the Han Dynasty near Hohhot, capital of Inner Mon- risks that threaten the stability and safety of the wall, golia autonomous region. helping us draft plans to prevent potential threats,” Zhang Wenping, a researcher from the Inner Mon- he said. golia institute, said that although the ruin — known as the Shaliangzi site — was only the size of a basic Construction history county seat in those times, the remains of earthen Construction of the Great Wall took more than architecture, covering about 1,800 square meters, 2,000 years, peaking from the Qin (221-206 BC) to Han are evidence of its exceptional status. (206 BC to AD 220) dynasties and in the Ming Dynasty. “Tiles unearthed at the site were even found to According to the National Cultural Heritage have a similar pattern to those excavated from the Administration, the wall is 21,196 km long and pass- ruins of Han Dynasty imperial palaces,” Zhang Wen- es through a total of 15 provinces, administrative ping said. regions and municipalities. Some 8,850 km of the The remains of cellars and pottery-throwing gau- wall was built during the Ming Dynasty. ges, along with a large amount of millet, have been In January 2019, a master plan for the structure found at the site, showing it was used as a barn, the was released by the State Council, China’s Cabinet. researcher said. The aim is to comprehensively guide protection, As people in the county seat may not have needed ­renovation, management and academic research such a big barn, archaeologists now widely believe related to the wall until 2035. the site was used to house soldiers guarding the In July, 2019, a national plan to establish Great Wall Great Wall. cultural parks was released. Since then, the National “As a frontier city close to the wall during the Han Cultural Heritage Administration has listed 83 key sec- Dynasty, it helps us fill the gaps in our archaeological tions of the structure as candidates for these parks, and studies of such heritage,” Zhang Wenping said. “It’s some 20 projects for such venues were formally also the first time that we have found a Han barn approved earlier this year. along the Great Wall.” Chai Xiaoming, director of the Chinese Academy As management of the barn was strictly controlled of Cultural Heritage, said: “Because the Great Wall is by the central government to ensure food supplies, a cultural icon in China, most Chinese people think he expects further research to assist comprehensive they’re familiar with it. Actually, we aren’t. Its studies of the national political and economic sys- ­specific cultural value still needs to be better tem during the Han Dynasty, which governed the explained and studied in depth.” northern frontier area. The Great Wall is hugely significant for Chinese. In In the middle of the 1st century BC, Huhanye, a 1933, Chinese troops fought invaders for months leader of the nomadic Xiongnu people, moved south along the structure near Beijing during the War of to pledge allegiance to the Han Dynasty and join Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45). efforts to safeguard the border. As a result, the wall is often seen as a symbol of forti- Records show there were no warning signals on tude and strength. the northern frontier for generations and that the However, because it represents the nation’s spirit- people lived prosperous lives. ed resolve, people used to believe that repairs to the “The barn is probably an indicator of those peace- wall needed to be carried out in such a way that the ful and flourishing times,” Zhang Wenping added. structure appeared to have been untouched. Wei Jian, a professor of archaeology and museolo- In the 1950s, when the section in Bei- gy at Renmin University of China, said, “The Great jing was renovated, such an approach was adopted, Wall was built as a military defense system, but but Chai now regrets that the wall’s restored nomadic people continued to move south through- appearance may not correspond precisely with how out ancient history, seeking to establish their new it looked originally. Top: Workers clear the surface of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall in Beijing to prepare homes in Central China. In 2016, photographs of a section of the Great Wall for archaeological studies. Center: A bird’s-eye view of the Xianying Palace temple ruins at “The wall thus became a driving force for cultural in Liaoning province were posted online. Renova- the Qingpingbu site. Above: The remains of a tower erected on the Great Wall during the exchanges that maintained the country’s vitality and tion work left the section with a totally new look, Ming Dynasty unearthed in Yanqing district, Beijing, in 2018. photos provided to china daily growth.”