146 years after Anglo-French Forces stormed into Beijing's
Yuanmingyan and burnt it to the ground, a Chinese private
foundation announced Thursday that it would build a replica of the
famous royal gardens.
The China Culture Relics Protection Foundation and
privately-owned Zhejiang Hengdian Foundation for Chinese Cultural
Development, led by 72-year-old Xu Wenrong, will collaborate on the
replica project.
They intend to build the replica in Hengidan in Zhejiang
Province.
Funds will be raised in China and overseas to build the replica
and collect cultural treasures from the garden, said Xu Wenrong,
chairman of Zhejiang Hengdian Foundation for Chinese Cultural
Development.
"The replica will be a 1:1 imitation of the Qing Dynasty
(1644-1911) complex, featuring the three main building clusters of
Yuanming, Changchun and Yichuan gardens. It will cover more than
400 hectares, and 40 percent will be water," said chief designer
Zhang Xianchun.
The designer said the new Yuanmingyuan will express "the
artistic quintessence of Chinese gardens."
72-year-old Xu told Xinhua at an exclusive interview that he had
been dreaming about the project for 15 years. The old man said he
was confident of being able to recreate the splendor of
Yuanmingyuan.
But Xu's ambition has met with fervent opposition in many
quarters.
Many opponents believe that Yuanmingyuan is a symbol of
humiliation to Chinese.
Professor Ruan Yisan, director of the State Institute of Famous
Historical and Cultural Cities with Shanghai-based Tongji
University, said "Yuanmingyuan took 150 years to build. It cannot
be recreated in five or ten years."
"The present-day ruins are testimony to that period of history.
The replica is unnecessary," Ruan insisted.
"It would be better to spend the money on ancient cultural
heritage sites which are in dire need of protection or build some
modern mansions blended with aspects of ancient Chinese
architecture."
"If the replica is billed as a tourist attraction, it might lose
a lot of money, given the huge funds needed for its construction,"
he said.
China has 2,500 such tourist sites, with an investment of 150
billion yuan (18.75 billion U.S. dollars). Only ten percent of them
are profitable.
Ruan is not the only critic of the project. Ye Yanfang, a
researcher with the institute of foreign literature with the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the destruction of
Yuanmingyuan was a scar left by powerful western nations on the
back of the Chinese nation. Preserving the ruins in Beijing would
protect the true facts of history.
However, some experts and scholars from the China Yuanmingyuan
Institute, the State Archives Administration and Tsinghua
University, Pekin University, support Xu and his replica.
They believe that the replica will provide a stark contrast to
the bleak remains in Beijing, and reminder young people of that
period of history.
Upright at the center of the "storm", Xu said he will not be
swayed. He believes the Yuanmingyuan ruins can continue to serve as
a reminder of history, while the Hengdian replica will showcase the
artistic achievements of pre-1860 China.
"Nothing can change my mind. This project is a long-cherished
ambition of mine and for 15 years I have been collecting materials
from the original Yuanmingyuan, which were scattered to all four
corners of the earth," he said.
Li Jianping, a Yuanmingyuan expert, said both viewpoints seek
"to protect China's great cultural heritage and enhance its
position in world cultural history."
"The advantages and disadvantages of the replica will not be
clear until it has been built," said the expert.
According to historical records, construction of the original
Yuanmingyuan began in 1707 and continued for 150 years under five
Qing Dynasty emperors. It consisted of three interconnected gardens
covering an area of 350 hectares, of which 140 hectares was
water.
The yuanmingyuan is now listed as a site for "patriotic
education".
The Hengdian Social and Economic Federation led by Xu Wenrong
won fame for a development featuring imitations of the Forbidden
City in Beijing, a Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) palace and a prosperous
Song Dynasty (960-1279) downtown street.
The development attracted 3.3 million visitors last year.
(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2006)
