"Maintaining cultural relics by themselves" has been a hot topic in
recent years. It is argued that cultural relics units can obtain
profit through opening up to the public and charging an entrance
fee. This provides them with funds for maintenance and they no
longer have to rely on the limited government budget. The Mogao
Grottos, for example, can get 20 to 30 million yuan each year from
charging the public for entrance. The profit of Yungang and Longmen
grottos also exceed 10 million yuan per year respectively.
However, the famous Maiji Grottos is an unhappy exception. The
grottos, which enjoy equal fame with those previously mentioned,
earns at best only 2 million yuan a year. The sum seems to be an
astronomical figure in the eyes of common people, but it is almost
nothing for maintaining the grottos.
Maiji Grottos possess the only large-scale clay figure models in
China, or even in the world.
The history of the Maiji Grottos can be traced back over 1,500
years. Totally different from Mogao Grottos in Gansu Province,
Yungang Grottos in Shanxi Province and Longmen Grottos in Henan
Province, the Maiji Grottos are all made of clay. They contain the
only large-scale clay figure models in China, or even in the
world.
Maiji Mountain, located in the eastern part of northwest China's
Gansu Province, consists of natural gravel, which is easier to be
dug for opening caves than for carving statues. Workmen could not
engrave the josses directly as was the case with the Yungang or
Longmen grottos. Instead, they had to do it with soft clay, which
could be easily molded to display vivid expressions.
The mountain was parted from the middle because of a violent
earthquake in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and one statue toppled
down because of a passing plane last May.
Maiji Mountain happens to stand on the active seismic fault
line. Historical books show that 18 earthquakes, large or small,
occurred during the long time, with the most violent one happening
during the Tang Dynasty that almost destroyed all the Buddhist
statues in the caves.
After that earthquake, the mountain collapsed from the middle
and many of the supporting pillars in the caves were broken.
Fortunately, it only changed the original look of the mountain,
while most of the statues in the caves escaped by sheer chance.
In order to avoid more catastrophes, the government invested a
large sum to wholly consolidate the mountain between 1976-84,
wrapping the natural gravel with reinforced concrete from the
surface.
The statues should have rested safely after the renovation.
However, one of them toppled down, this time, because of a plane
passing over the mountain. There is a military airport 30
kilometers away. One day last May, one of the statues collapsed
from the shockwaves generated by a jet flying overhead. The relic
protection staff had no choice but to collect all the pieces to try
to restore it later.
Water seepage is the fatal matter to the grottos
There are many other problems, however, including frescos
fading. The local people are broken-hearted when they see the
frescos gradually fade day by day.
In fact, water seepage is the hardest nut to crack, especially
as the impact is not immediately apparent. But the statues will
gradually become soft and suffer severe erosion until all the outer
surfaces peel off and wholly disappear.
The cultural relic protection departments have called together
experts many times and have finally worked out a practical and
feasible plan. However, the work needs fresh funding, posing a
headache for the local authority, as it is impossible to collect
such a large sum of money in a short time. In these circumstances,
the plans have to be laid aside and the Maiji Mountain will also
have to wait in silence.
Is it practicable to protect the cultural relics by
itself?
It is a commonly recognized fact that the sums from the State
Administration of Cultural Heritage and the related local
authorities are far from meeting requirements. Nowadays, many
cultural relics have to be opened to the public in order to obtain
more income for maintenance.
The Forbidden City in Beijing and Terracotta Warriors and Horses
in Xi'an, for example, can get several hundred millions of yuan
respectively each year and Mogao Grottos also over 30 million yuan.
With the increasing number of travelers pouring in, new problems
appear. Travelers have to wear special kinds of shoes before they
can go into the Forbidden City,
which has been damaged by hundred of thousands of people visiting
it year after year. The frescos in Mogao Grottos have suffered from
the carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors.
The cultural relics protection departments and travel agencies
always face a paradox. Travel agencies stick to opening all the
cultural relics to the public, while cultural relics protection
departments are more concerned about how to protect the relics.
However, these cannot continue to survive without the financial
support. On all accounts, the key problem that cultural relics
confront is the money problem, which can only be effectively dealt
with by the means of tourism nowadays.
Qi Dongfang, an archeological professor with Peking University,
tends towards the protection of the cultural relics as the first
priority, arguing, "It is by no means a long-term strategy to
protect cultural relics this way. For cultural relics are not
resources, and they will never reappear once damaged."
The key point is how to raise the awareness of the whole society
towards the protection of cultural relics. Nowadays, many
enterprises want to sponsor sporting events rather than investing
in the cultural relics protection. The local authority once offered
that anyone willing to invest in the Maiji Grottos could hang his
portrait on the gate to achieve public recognition. But, so far,
there has been no response.
Professor Qi pointed out that the cultural relics are an
important section of a nation's culture. Even a small-sized
American museum can attract many visitors, but such a thing is
impossible in China. Both government and the public should pay more
attention to this matter. Only in this way can more people and
enterprises attach great importance to the cultural relics
protections.
(China.org.cn 06/14/2001)