Wang Yi: A “Translator” for Ancestors
Release Time: 2017-10-25
Among the "national model workers and advanced workers list" released on Apr. 28, 2015, Wang Yi, the Curator of Chengdu Museum and Director of Chengdu Institute of Archeology, has won the honor of the national advanced worker.
30 degrees north latitude is a magical line with the most abundant animal and plant resources on Earth and the most desolate desert on the planet. There are deep imprints left by many ancient civilizations (including ancient Egypt, ancient Babylon, ancient Indian civilization, ancient Greece, Sumeri, Maya, Boulder, Hemudu, Liangzhu, and Daxi), holy places for Buddhism, the hometown of Islam, the center of Christianity, the paradise of Taoism, and the highest peaks, the deepest trench, the most strange lakes, the most magnificent mountain, the most spectacular tide and the most turbulent currents, etc.. The ancient Shu civilization also prospered on this line.
“In fact, I refused to be interviewed in the beginning. After being told that this is a talk about the workers, I think I am different from other people and I should have a talk about it.”
At the awards ceremony in the Great Hall of the People, Wang Yi sat in the ninth row. “When others are busy with taking pictures, I am pondering. I want to think about labors and workers from another point of view.”
Hearing that he was an archaeologist, the other winners all felt it very mysterious. Wang Yi said delightedly: “I just tell them that in fact, we are also very common. But archeology is really different from the other industries from another point of view.”
In the more than 30 years, Baodun, Jinsha, Laoguan Mountain and other major sites have been excavated successively. It is the archaeologists’ efforts that the history of Chengdu is filled from the blank little by little, presenting a picture for Chengdu across a thousand years.
You may guess what is the most important to be an archeologist. Physical strength comes to the first. In the field of archaeological sites, the archaeologists have to bend over to dig and clean up. A project may last at least a few months or as many as several years. They have to bend over all day and consume more physical strength than the staff working in the office. In addition, they also need brain work. At night, they have to repair and make researches of the unearthed cultural relics, trying to trace their origins and inference people's life at that time.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the work is just like owning a sharp sword after ten years’ grinding. We made achievements in the Laoguan Mountain after several years. Wang Yi also laughed and ridiculed "the archaeological achievements are donated by the ancestors". The archaeological excavation process, in fact, is a dialogue between the archaeologists - the workers nowadays with the ancient workers. The longer they deal with the ancients, the more they are proud of the ancients.
"If the construction and planning of the ancient cities present the life from the macro level, then those involved in all aspects of daily life from the micro-level are more able to depict the life at that time. For example, the ancient Chengdu lacquer ware, Shu brocade, Shu embroidery, iron ware and salt all embody indirectly the status of the city. The weaving machine unearthed from the Laoguan Mountain not only supports the historical records of the literature, but also can help scholars to sort out the technology development.
The silk industry originated from and developed in the pre-Qin period, and gradually prospered in the Qin and Han Dynasties. It became the only national brocade center in the Three Kingdoms time, which had been kept to the Southern Song Dynasty. “Chengdu's silk was also exported to overseas, with all the materials coming to be customized and processed. Whether on the South Silk Road or the North Silk Road, Chengdu silk was bulk goods. If there was no Chengdu silk industry, then 'the Silk Road 'may have been renamed as ' porcelain road 'and the like. "
The archaeologists not only need to explore and do researches, but also need to think about the information passed by the ancient workers through these unearthed cultural relics.
“The archaeologists are translators and spokespersons for the ancient laborers. We translate what the ancients expressed to the present people.” At the same time, the archaeologists also play the “spokespersons” role.” “The ancients left their things to be guarded by us. They could not make a sound, so we have to help pass their values out.”
In the 1980s and 1990s, cultural relics’ protection has not been widely recognized. The protection for cultural relics and sites can be said to be “at the cost of life”. Wang Yi still remembered that for deciding to build the Jinsha Site Museum, 1/3 of the voters supported, 1/3 opposed, and the remaining 1/3 of people waited and saw. Gradually, the Jinsha Site Museum did better and Chengdu Museum made a success. Seeing that the Jinsha Site Museum is recognized widely and obtains a lot of honors, more people think that the opening of the Jinsha Site Museum is the right thing that has been done.
Wang Yi said that decades of efforts are not in vain.
