Luoyang’s fine line between past and progress
Print Edition
BEFORE the middle of the 10th century, the city of Luoyang was already a bustling metropolis — for half of its then 3,000-year-old history it had been the capital of 13 dynasties.
However, despite being home to six UNESCO World Heritage sites, the city in central China’s Henan Province is not as well-known as its Western peers like Athens and Rome. The modern city landscape gives few clues of its historic past.
The often forgotten capital has been overshadowed by Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province, known for its terracotta army. But Luoyang is planning to step out of the shadows and reclaim its former glory.
Construction began in June 2017 on a massive museum at the site of ruins from the Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 BC), with the aim of recreating scenes from more than 3,000 years ago.
It will be called the Erlitou Relic Museum and is expected to be completed in October 2019. The museum will cover about 14 hectares and cost a total of 630 million yuan (US$96 million) to build.
The Erlitou ruins were discovered in 1959 and have been identified by archeologists as one of the capital cities during the Xia Dynasty.
China’s earliest palace complex, bronzeware workshop and road network were all found there, says Zhao Haitao from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Erlitou archeological team.
The museum will include technology such as 3D and virtual reality to reproduce ancient scenes, Zhao says.
The exhibits must be entertaining with impressive visual effects to capture the attention of young visitors, he adds.
As one of the “Four Great Ancient Capitals of China,” along with Xi’an, Beijing and Nanjing, Luoyang has ambitions to attract more local and international recognition. The city was at its peak during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), when China’s only empress, Wu Zetian, moved the capital there from Chang’an, as Xi’an was then known, during her reign (AD 690-705).
Most of Luoyang’s ancient architecture has been destroyed by wars and modern construction.
The local government is investing billions to restore the grandeur of what is believed to have been one of the world’s most populous cities in the Tang Dynasty.
The city government has allocated about 47 square kilometers of land in the city center, where cultural relics have been detected underground, in a plan to restore the architecture of the Sui (AD 581-618) and Tang dynasties, according to Li Ya, Party secretary of Luoyang.
A national-level cultural relics park, including a lavish reconstructed palace and pagoda built on the ancient foundations, opened to the public in 2015.
The imperial garden known as Jiuzhouchi is being recreated in one corner of the park.
Luoyang has a grand plan to restore architecture along the ancient axis line, including ramparts, gates, bridges, and 103 residential complexes where renowned politicians and poets once lived.
“We will build the park step by step as the investment required is huge,” says Li, adding that “President Xi Jinping told us to have pride in our culture and people need something tangible to reach consensus on.”
The recreated Tang-style architecture acts as a “protective shed” in archeological terms, built above the original foundations to avoid damage to relics.
At the same time the buildings serve as tourist facilities, says Wang Ge, from the municipal cultural heritage bureau.
The park received 850,000 visitors last year and expects to see over 1 million this year, according to Wang.
Heritage protection is often in conflict with city development, especially as the relics area occupies a quarter of the city center.
It is no easy job to maintain balance as Luoyang strives to become one of Henan’s two economic engines amid rapid urbanization.
“City planning and construction are intertwined with cultural relic protection. If we can handle them well, it will be a win-win situation,” says Li.
“But if we mess it up, the relics will either constrain development or they will be damaged,” he says.
As early as the 1950s, when the central government planned to turn Luoyang into a major industrial base, the local government avoided building factories in the city area, instead setting up a new industrial district in the suburbs.
Currently, 42,000 residents live in the Sui and Tang cultural relics protection area.
“Some of them will be relocated and some will be allowed to stay. It depends on the threats posed to the relics,” says Li.
Qian Binggen’s family was one of the 800 households relocated in 2009 due to the reconstruction of Tian Tang or Heavenly Hall, where Empress Wu attended Buddhist rituals, and Ming Tang or Hall of Enlightenment, where she handled government affairs. The relocation project cost 1.35 billion yuan (US$210 billion).
Since 1955, Qian, 82, has lived in a compact apartment provided by his employer, a machinery construction company. His family was relocated to a residential complex two kilometers away.
At first, Qian was reluctant to move out, but now he accepts the changes.
The protection of cultural relics should also benefit local residents, said Du Jinpeng, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Archeology.
Providing free entrance for locals or building an archeological theme park can give something back to those who made sacrifices for the protection of the relics, he said.
Song Gaoxiang, 53, a villager who has been working at the excavation site for several years, has high hopes for when the Erlitou Relic Museum opens to the public.
“I’m planning to open a restaurant nearby when the museum is completed,” he says.
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