The 5th “Taihe Forum” with the theme of “Civilization Exchange and Mutual Learning from Archaeological Perspective” was held in the Palace Museum from October 12th to 13th.
Hu Bing, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said that China has carried out 36 joint archaeological projects abroad, involving 21 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and America, and established cooperative partnerships with more than 30 foreign scientific research institutions, museums, universities and foundations. Sino-foreign joint archaeology has become an important means to explore the context of civilization, and has played an irreplaceable role as a cultural bridge in the “the belt and road initiative” cooperation, making more like-minded international partners. “China is willing to work with global civilized partners to overcome the difficulties brought about by the COVID-19 epidemic, strengthen joint archaeological cooperation and research, promote the transformation and utilization of archaeological achievements, and make joint efforts to carry out civilized exchanges and mutual learning in a wider field, at a deeper level and at a higher level.”
Wang Xudong, president of the Palace Museum, said in his speech that in 2016, the Palace Museum launched the “Taihe Forum” and jointly launched the “Taihe Declaration” with relevant international organizations, experts and scholars to promote exchanges and cooperation among colleagues in the field of cultural heritage and open up new ways for subsequent academic exchanges and cooperation and civilized dialogue. In the process of civilization development, we are facing all kinds of challenges. We should respect historical facts and bravely shoulder the historical mission of protecting and inheriting ancient civilization.
Xia Zehan, representative of UNESCO’s representative office in China, said in a video speech that the common mission of China and UNESCO is to build peace and promote sustainable development. Therefore, we need dialogue among civilizations to protect culture and heritage, as well as sustainable and inclusive development, so that all people can enjoy the fruits of development.
Wang Wei, chairman of the China Archaeological Society, pointed out that the value of archaeology lies in taking history as a mirror and providing reference for the future development of human society. Since the new century, China archaeology has gradually gone out, and everyone has realized that China is a part of the ancient world, and China archaeology is being integrated into the world archaeology. Our advantage is that we have solid and rich field experience and can fully absorb advanced factors from various countries.
It is reported that in recent years, under the guidance of “Academic Palace Museum”, the archaeological work of the Palace Museum has been devoted to all kinds of royal remains archaeology, ancient ceramic kiln site archaeology and Silk Road archaeology centered on the Forbidden City archaeology, and has carried out extensive archaeological cooperation with India, Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries, so that countries all over the world can deepen their knowledge and understanding of today’s China.
On the opening day, four academic keynote speeches were given, namely, Yang Jianhua, a professor at Jilin University, Cultural Communication in the Asian Grassland before the Silk Road, distinguished professor Deng Cong, a cultural heritage research institute of Shandong University, New Archaeological Discovery of the Prehistoric Jade Road in the World, Derek Connett, an associate professor at Durham University in the United Kingdom, and the value of quantitative research on ceramics, and the University of Southern California in the United States..Li Chenyan, Associate Professor, Re-explore the Art Communication Mode of the Ancient Silk Road.
After the opening ceremony, the forum also held a one-and-a-half-day sub-forum discussion, focusing on topics such as “cultural exchange reflected by images, buildings and historical relics” and “cultural exchange reflected by archaeological discoveries”. Experts from China gave live lectures and concentrated discussions, and overseas experts shared their research results by video. (Reporter Ying Ni)