China
like India is one of the very few countries of the world, that has
history, which goes back for thousands of years. It has hundreds of
heritage sites all over the country that can relate to it's long and
chequered history.
Unfortunately,
China lost a significant number of heritage sites and cultural relics
during the decade-long Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976. Mao's war
against so called 'Four Olds' ( habits, ideas, customs and culture)
saw much destruction of these heritage sites and cultural relics. The
after years again saw some resurgence in heritage preservation
initiatives. Since last one decade, a new phenomenon has emerged
again as a new threat to the heritage conservation efforts. The
excessive commercialization of sites is now being done all over China
as local authorities are taking up expensive renovation projects to
attract investment and drive up tourism revenues. The heritage sites
often become the first victims of such renovation drives.
There
is one heritage site however, which no one had dared to touch so far,
not even the cultural revolution zealots of Chairman Mao. This
heritage site is a 1300 year old temple known as 'Xingjiao temple' in
city of Xian, Shaanxi province, an ancient capital city (then known
as Chang’an) and thriving centre of Buddhist learning ever since.
This temple complex has tombs of many eminent Buddhist monks,
including that of the most famous Chinese monk ever; Xuan Zang. His
earthly remains are believed to be kept here.
XuanZang,
one of the most famous travelers of the ancient world, made an epic
journey from his native China to South India and back, in the seventh
century of our present era, to obtain original Buddhist scriptures in
pure form and translated them in Chinese. His entire journey was made
on land , unlike that of another famous Chinese traveler, Fa Hien,
who also had traveled to India two centuries earlier by the land
route, but had returned back to China by sea. XuanZang had left the
then Chinese capital city of Xian sometime in 629 AD and could return
back home only in 645 AD.
On 8th
of April 2013, Southern Metropolis Daily, a Guangzhou-based
newspaper, broke the news that the local government in Chang'an in
Xian is planning to take up a project that involves demolishing and
renovating parts of the temple including a dining hall and a
dormitory. The local Government claimed that these buildings were not
part of the original 1300-year old temple and are needed to be
cleared to strengthen the temple's application for Unesco World
Heritage status. the Southern Metropolis Daily report said:
“Some
buildings will be demolished because it would make the environment
more elegant, Zhang Ning, chief of Changan District’s Ethnic and
Religious Affairs Bureau, told the newspaper. Almost two thirds of
the buildings on temple grounds would be demolished, but the three
towers, including one that houses a relic of XuanZang who died in
644, would be preserved. According to official documents, the world
heritage application lists only the towers that were built in 669,
the Daily said. Most of the surrounding buildings would not qualify
because they were built in the 1920s, after the originals were
destroyed in fires. After the planned demolition, Xingjiao's monks
would be relocated to a nearby temple.”
The
temple authorities, who had initially supported the application to
obtain world heritage status were now trapped in a dilemma as they
were told that as much as two-thirds of the building, including 80
rooms, from monk’s dormitories to dining halls, would have to be
demolished to make room for greenery. They decided to wash their
hands off the affair and announced on 11th
April 2013 that they are withdrawing their participation in the
provincial government's move to obtain the world heritage status.
Temple spokesman Master Kuanshu told local journalists that he did
not agree with the provincial government and said: "If they
demolish the buildings under the current plan, it is still possible
that the application will be vetoed by the international panel,"
The temple also wrote a response to the plan:
“The
buildings gradually constructed throughout the years were built
around the Xuanzang Tower. Therefore it is essential to preserve the
integrity of the entire temple…The integrity and history of
Xingjiao Temple would be destroyed if all the supporting buildings
were torn down."
Temple abbot Kuan Chi also declared on the same day:
“If there was no demolition, we would support the world heritage
application. But if the plan includes demolition, we shall quit.”
When
this report first came out, an outrage soon flared up all over
Chinese media with many Chinese scholars, bloggers and media outlets
expressing extreme anguish. Many netizens believed that the real
motives behind this move by local Government is purely commercial and
a state owned enterprise is involved in it.
On
10th
April 2013 that state-owned enterprise denied charges that it was
behind the demolition plan in an effort to profit from redeveloping
the temple and promoting it as a tourist attraction. The company has
stopped participating in all relevant construction projects since
January, a post said on its official Sina Weibo account.
Inspired
by Xuan Zang and his 17-year pilgrimage to India for Buddhist
scriptures. A Chinese classical novel titled as “Journey to the
West” was written. Based on this novel, number of television
series, movies and comics have been produced in China. In this novel,
an hypothetical character of “The Monkey King” was introduced as
a key character who accompanied Xuanzang in his travels.
A
popular actor, Zhang Jinlai, who had played the part of Monkey king in a
popular 1988 television drama :Journey to the West” decided to join
the issue and started campaigning to save parts of an ancient
Buddhist temple in Xian. He posted on Sina Weibo (Chinese Twitter):
“The
Xian Xingjiao Temple which houses a relic of monk Xuanzang is facing
large-scale demolition…As an actor I sincerely hope the religious
affairs administration and other relevant government organs will
co-ordinate [on the matter.”
By
afternoon of 11th
April 2013, Zhang’s post was reposted more than 110,000 times and
received more than 24,000 comments. A massive response by any
standard.
Finally,
recognizing the strong feelings of the people, China's religion
watchdog, State Administration for Religious Affairs ordered
religious authorities in Xi'an to investigate the case as reported by
the media and consult local Buddhists before properly acting in line
with relevant laws and policies. It is expected that the renovation
project is unlikely to see light of the day.
This
entire episode is highly enlightening or illuminating the way in
which, Chinese internet users are bringing up issues that are
socially relevant and pressurizing the authorities to act. In a
totalitarian country, this kind power in the hands of people shows
that things are changing in China.
16
April 2013
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