Talking about Han Tang Dynasties through Han Tang Stone Sculpture" Seminar

2024

08/07

Talking about Han Tang Dynasties through Han Tang Stone Sculpture" Seminar

Yangguang News (Reporter Hu Kai, Intern Reporter Liu Yanchao) How to adhere to the principle of "protection first", comprehensively improve the level of cultural relics protection, utilization and cultural heritage inheritance, continuously innovate museum exhibition methods, and enhance interactive experiences?

How to better continue the city’s cultural context, showcase the cultural characteristics and humanistic charm of the "City of Museums", and contribute to building a world - renowned humanistic capital that highlights Chinese civilization?

On August 6, 2024, the thematic seminar "Talking about the Han Tang Dynasties through Han Tang Stone Sculpture" was held at the Shaanxi Han Tang Stone Sculpture Museum. Qin Hang, the chairman of the museum, Wan Bo, the president and editor-in-chief of Yangguang Newspaper, Chen Genyuan, a researcher at the Xi'an Beilin Museum, Yang Bing, an associate researcher at the Xi'an Beilin Museum, Shi Ming, the editor-in-chief of Chang'an Yiyunzhi, Sun Dawei, the president of the Xi'an Stone Carving Society, Xue Xin, the editor-in-chief of the calligraphy section of Cultural and Art Newspaper, and Bi Lei, a senior cultural relics restorer at the Shaanxi Han Tang Stone Sculpture Museum, participated in the seminar.

The Shaanxi Han Tang Stone Sculpture Museum was established and put into operation in 2012. It currently displays more than 100 cultural relics and has 1,018 registered collections. It is the first non-state-owned museum in China with the theme of ancient stone carvings. On August 2, 2024, Fang Hongwei, a member of the Standing Committee of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee and the secretary of the Xi'an Municipal Party Committee, visited the Shaanxi Han Tang Stone Sculpture Museum for research.

Qin Hang reported the important instructions given by Secretary Fang Hongwei during his research on the operation of museums across the city, and made a detailed introduction in combination with the cultural relics display, construction, operation, and research and learning services of the Han and Tang Stone Carvings Museum. In particular, the "Setting Off from Chang'an" series of special exhibitions on stone rubbing books jointly held with the strategic cooperation units Chang'an Yiyunzhi and the Xi'an Stone Carving Society this year is a powerful practice of continuing the cultural context of Xi'an, the "City of Museums", and demonstrating its cultural characteristics and humanistic charm.

Shi Ming talked about the successful tours of the "Setting Off from Chang'an" exhibition series in Zhenjiang (April), Suzhou (May) and Xi'an (July). Beyond that, he elaborated on how internet live streaming and short video platforms have been leveraged to effectively promote the nationwide dissemination of Xi'an's unique epigraphic cultural resources and the time-honored cultural spirit of the Han and Tang Dynasties . He also provided a brief update on the progress of the upcoming exhibition stops in Wenzhou (August) and Taicang (September) .

In his speech, Chen Genyuan gave a professional sharing on the current status of protection and research of Shaanxi's epigraphic culture. As a non-state-owned museum, Shaanxi Han Tang Stone Sculpture Museum boasts rich collections and professional exhibition arrangements, both of which are highly valuable for reference and learning. As a cradle of epigraphic culture, Xi'an has the possibility and necessity to enable the "going out" of Han and Tang cultures through exhibitions — by leveraging its abundant cultural relic resources and using stone rubbing copies as a medium.

Yang Bing highly praised the "one stone, one rubbing" exhibition method of Shaanxi Han Tang Stone Sculpture Museum, which balances aesthetics with intuitiveness. He also put forward constructive suggestions on specific aspects such as the museum's interior layout and campus planning.

From the professional perspectives of stone rubbing and conservation techniques , Sun Dawei conducted an in-depth analysis of potential challenges the Shaanxi Han Tang Stone Sculpture Museum may face in various future processes—including daily exhibitions, collection maintenance, and rubbing exhibition tours—and proposed corresponding solutions.

In his speech, Wan Bo fully recognized the efforts and achievements of the Han Tang Stone Sculpture Museum in advancing the development and dissemination of Shaanxi's epigraphic culture. He stated that history carries the nation's memory, and as a bridge for information dissemination, the media should fully fulfill its functions and shoulder the mission of spreading and promoting historical culture . Yangguang Newspaper has actively followed and participated in a series of exhibition and publishing activities aimed at promoting Shaanxi's epigraphic culture, which are advanced by Chang'an Yiyunzhi. Currently, the co-prepared project of the "Chang'an Stone Rubbing Exhibition Hall" has entered the site selection phase, and the digital exhibition project has also begun the application process.

Finally, the participating experts conducted in-depth discussions on two key topics in the new era. First, how to respond to the government’s call for fostering new cultural formats and implement projects for the in-depth cross-border integration of cultural tourism, technology, and media. Second, how to develop cultural creativity, digital cultural relics, digital cultural tourism, and digital publishing, and integrate media resources to jointly build Shaanxi’s distinctive cultural brand centered on epigraphy.