By Wang Ping (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-28 08:03

China still lags behind in its development of the cultural industry. Looking at the cultural development paths of other countries we can find ways to advance our cultural industry with Chinese characteristics.

It would help us to better protect, develop, exploit, and pass on the value of our cultural heritage through rational and effective industrialization.

The industrialization of our cultural heritage is a good way to develop the industry. But it is also a difficult process that can easily lead to loss.

The Convention on Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris in 1972. It stressed that cultural heritage is the most telling witness and the milestone in the evolution of human civilization. Cultural heritage should be the fortune of a country, a nation, as well as mankind.

China has made obvious achievements in protecting its cultural heritage as the country's economic strength advances. Many of the country's historical sites have been listed on the world heritage list and applications are still being submitted. However, there are also many regrettable things behind these applications.

In some places much importance is attached to the application but insufficient attention is given to the protection of the sites. For example, Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province and Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province have both received warnings from the World Heritage Committee for serious pollution and damage to the environment.

In some places our heritage is protected but not properly utilized. Sites saved and protected have been abandoned because of the lack of an inheritor or market. In other places it is over-exploited by some near-sighted people who place profits first.

There are some useful experiences of other countries from which we can draw reference.

First, a unified management is needed to guide the development of our cultural heritage. Currently, the Ministry of Culture is the nominal manager. Under the ministry there is a Cultural Industry Department to execute the functions. But it is hardly possible for a small department to promote the development of the whole country's cultural industry.

Diversified management is also not effective. For example, a total of nine ministries and commissions have co-issued a document on the management and protection work of world heritage sites in China, stressing the responsibilities of governments at all levels, to address the serious pollution at some sites. But there is no leader in the group of nine, and no department supervises the enforcement of the document.

A series of regulations have been introduced, but they are not well enforced. The co-issued document will not produce any effective results at the grassroots level. The lack of enforcement and supervision is the major problem.

As we enter an era where the cultural industry has become a vital part of the international economic pattern, we need to adjust our management of the industry. A unified and powerful national organization should be established to guide overall planning and development. And supporting enforcement and supervision mechanisms should be introduced. This will be an effective measure to realize protection, and utilization in the short term.

Second, a non-government consulting organization should be set up with the support of the State. Innovative ideas and planning should be the core of its functions. The consulting organization should be practical and open, pooling the wisdom of the masses in making plans, targeting both domestic and international markets, and finding more ways to turn our cultural heritage into products.

Third, a national development fund for the industrialization of our cultural heritage should be established. Worthwhile projects should receive financial support. The fund can be financed through international, State, private and public-welfare capital.

Fourth, foresight, a broad mind, as well as a down-to-earth working style are needed in the industrialization process. Trickery and speculation are not desirable.

Fifth, to update our thinking and advance with the times is paramount. Our mainstream culture, for example, does not care or avoids talking about feng shui, let alone listing it. But it is reported that the Republic of Korea has started work on the preparation of an application for the listing of feng shui as World Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Last but not least, legislation is needed to protect the national spirit and economic value of our cultural heritage. An international vision is needed. The cartoon movie Mulan of Walt Disney was created on the basis of a Chinese legendary story. The blockbuster has made nearly $400 million for the company but China, where the legend originated, has gained very little.

Another case that deserves vigilance: a Japanese company has made a game based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi), one of China's four major classical novels, but depicts the Chinese heroes in an absurd and pornographic way. We should use our laws to protect our cultural heritage so that national pride will not be harmed.

The author is a legal scholar. The article was originally published in China Business News

(China Daily 12/28/2007 page10)