From the Readers

No business with relics, please

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-06 07:59

Comment on "Making relics goes against tradition" (Aug 30)

Relics tell us things that happened in the past. They are our valuable wealth and contribute to the development of the country, and it's our responsibility to preserve them.

Holding celebrations is a good way to preserve and promote traditional Chinese culture, but we have no right to make use of or "sell" a great man's belongings, material or spiritual, to make money. Most of the country's relics are well protected. But some local governments use the pretext of preserving culture heritage just to make money. The discovery of Cao Cao's tomb has attracted a lot of public attention, even though it has not been proved beyond doubt that it is genuine.

If the tomb is genuine, the local government should take steps to preserve it, instead of inviting people to buy 60-yuan tickets to "study" the allegedly man-made cave, which has some broken Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) bricks and a few Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) tiles, to enhance their knowledge of history. Anyone who wants to know about Cao Cao can buy a copy of The Romance of Three Kingdoms, or pick one up from a library, and read it. The book will give a million times more information and would be far more interesting than the broken bricks and tiles. And if the tomb is a fake, we should question not only those promoting it to make money, but also ourselves for falling prey to their ill designs. As for the money spent on rebuilding ancient houses and temples, I hold the same view. Ancient buildings such as pavilions, terraces and towers are representatives of traditional Chinese architecture and should not be replicated in this modern age.

Wang Yanping, via e-mail

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