Source: Guangzhou Daily 2013-05-22 Page A21
Written by: Wang He
Translated by: Wang Chun, Zhang Saijia
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

Yesterday afternoon, Chen Chunsheng, Executive Deputy Secretary and Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University, was invited to "Guangzhou CPPCC Lecture" and talked about “New Lingnan Culture and World Renowned City of Culture” to over 400 CPPCC members. Chen Chunsheng said, in order to build Guangzhou into a world renowned city of culture, we need to take a new look at the value and significance of Guangzhou’s historical and cultural resources, and define Guangzhou’s cultural tradition from wider perspectives than Chinese civilization or Chinese-foreign cultural exchanges. A world renowned city of culture lies in its acceptance by local residents and its reputation among visitors.

It’s hard to become a “renowned city” with traditional labels

When it comes to the culture and history of Guangzhou, there are mainly four stereotypes in people’s minds, namely, “the center of Lingnan culture”, "the birthplace of the ancient Maritime Silk Road”, "the source of Chinese modern revolution” and “the forefront of China’s reform and opening up”. Chen Chunsheng said, “Different people have different habits of doing things and different tacit agreements, but the feeling is so elusive that it is hard to express it in precise and rational concepts. Once you try to summarize the feeling of daily life in rational and brief concepts, some counterexamples and errors will certainly appear.” He added that almost all features of Lingnan culture that were summarized by previous researchers were not unique to Guangdong.

Chen Chunsheng explained that there was nothing wrong with the saying that Guangzhou was the source of Chinese modern revolution, because both the first KMT-CPC cooperation and Sanyuanli anti-British struggle took place in Guangzhou. However, modern revolution started from other places as well, and the same was true for the saying of the forefront of China’s reform and opening up.

"Each sentence sounds right but is not unique,” said Chen Chunsheng. He suggested that we should emphasize more clearly on the importance of adhering to local positions and develop cultural construction in the category of local knowledge. The current practice of using various non-local knowledge and concepts to replace local concepts and knowledge system is no longer advisable. Especially in the planning of art festivals or cultural festivals, we should try not to blindly imitate and borrow non-local knowledge.

Construction of renowned city needs compliments from visitors

According to Chen Chunsheng, the construction of world renowned city of culture is a process of following natural principles. A city can be honored as a renowned city of culture not because of the approval from an authoritative institution, but because of its acceptance by local residents and its reputation among visitors. It is basically a construction of city image through “word of mouth”.

Chen Chunsheng said: “The so-called World Renowned City of Culture must first come from the recognition by visitors.” The acceptance and participation of local residents are crucial to the construction of city culture. To make Guangzhou the pride of local residents, her life and characters must be preserved integrally. Conserving the history and memory in the space and time of the city can make Guangzhou have special meaning for local residents and become a renowned city of history and culture in the world.

Guangzhou Museum should not give up Zhenhai Tower

Apart from museums, libraries, opera houses, TV towers and other grand architecture, the planning and construction of cultural facilities should present a cultural taste that a renowned city of culture should have in the daily life of the city and the details closely related to people’s clothing, food, housing and traveling.

Chen Chunsheng suggested that while large-scale museums are constructed, traditional small-scale and special museums should not be given up. For Guangzhou, particularly the Zhenhai Tower on Yuexiu Mountain should not be given up. Zhenhai Tower is the only existing ancient tower with very unique cultural symbolic meanings. Even though the new Guangzhou Museum has been built, Zhenhai Tower should not be given up.