The Xianyang Textile Museum in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, has been added to the list of National Pilot Projects for Relocation and Transformation of Old Industrial Bases, Chinese Social Sciences Today (CSST) reported.

The projects reflect China’s push to exploit its abundant industrial legacies amid accelerated urbanization.

In recent years, attention has been growing in academia concerning the protection and exploitation of industrial heritage.

“Industrial heritage is of significant collection, exhibition and educational value. It records the ups and downs of industry in human society, mirrors workers’ enterprising and courageous spirits, embodies the respect to national progress, and inherits world civilization,” said Liu Junmin, an associate professor at the School of Cultural Heritage at Northwest University in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province.

Zhang Tinghao, former president of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, said China has a lot to offer the world in industrial heritage. “Although China was industrialized just over a century ago, industrial plants, blast furnaces, head-frames and shipyards have witnessed the vicissitudes China has endured since the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) when the country experienced the historic abolition of feudalism and establishment of socialism,” Zhang said.

He also warned that the historical and cultural weights carried by these industrial legacies are far heavier than the value of land. It will be a big loss if they are not properly protected or blindly demolished, added Zhang.

Li Juanjuan, an associate professor from the Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, pointed out the features of industrial heritage, saying that most plants, workshops and warehouses are vast in span, firm in structure and flexible in space, which meets requirements for exhibition of museums.

Reasonable reconstruction and utilization of them will save construction costs and avoid the unnecessary waste of energy and materials, thus contributing to the sustainable development of the environment, she added.

The Xianyang Textile Museum will represent the development courses and achievements of the local textile industry and showcase the culture of textiles in the city through historic photos, literature and documents, products, scene replicas, and multi-media presentations.

After completion, the museum will become one of the largest textile museums in China.

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 615, July 2, 2014.

The Chinese link: http://sscp.cssn.cn/xkpd/xszx/gn/201407/t20140702_1237264.html

Translated by Chen Mirong

　　Revised by Tom Fearon