I. Overview of Heritage
The "Yuanshangdu Site" is a grassland capital site with exemplary value of cultural integration, which was formed in the13 ~14th century by the centuries-old collision and fusion of nomadic civilization and farming civilization in North Asia. Located on the southeast edge of the Mongolian Plateau, it was once the first capital of Kublai Khan (1263 ~ 1273) of the Mongolian empire and the emperor in the late Yuan Dynasty.
The site is located in Zhenglan Banner and Duolun County, Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which is the combination of traditional nomadic areas and agricultural areas. It consists of city sites (about 18 square kilometers), tombs (about 5 square kilometers) and natural and human environments distributed in the whole range of 1759 square kilometers. Among them, the city sites include Miyagi, Imperial City, Outer City, Guanxiang and Tiezangan Canal, and the types of remains include city walls, gates, roads, moats, flood control canals, and the base sites of palaces, temples, shops, houses and warehouses. Tombs are distributed around the city site, including Jianzishan tombs represented by Han family tombs and a tree tomb represented by ordinary Mongolian tombs. They are the physical evidence of the life of the Mongolian and Han nationalities in Shangdu. The natural environment includes natural elements such as Shangdu River, Longgang Mountain and Jinlianchuan Grassland, which are closely related to the characteristics of urban site selection, and special landscapes such as sandy land, wetland, forest grassland and typical grassland, which reflect the characteristics of urban geographical environment. The humanistic environment includes the well-preserved Mongolian traditional culture where the heritage is located, and the early mountain worship of grassland nomads embodied in Aobao, which is distributed on the top of the city site.
Second, comparative analysis.
As a guiding document for text compilation, Article 132 of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (hereinafter referred to as the Operational Guidelines) issued by the UNESCO World Heritage Center clearly stipulates that the application text needs to "provide a comparative analysis of this heritage and similar heritage, regardless of whether the similar heritage is on the World Heritage List, whether it is domestic or foreign heritage. Comparative analysis should explain the importance of declaring heritage at home and abroad. " Therefore, whether the comparative analysis is comprehensive and accurate, and whether all experts from different countries and different cultural backgrounds have recognized the outstanding universal value of "Yuanshangdu Site" (see: Chen, Yu Feng, Xu, Institute of Architectural History of China Architectural Design and Research Institute: On the Outstanding Universal Value of Yuanshangdu Site, Proceedings of the Second Academic Seminar of East Asian Cultural Heritage Protection Society, 2065438+).
In view of the value characteristics of the integration, collision and absorption of nomadic civilization and farming civilization, as well as the differences between Mongolian and Chinese cultural traditions, combined with the exchange value, witness value, model value and related value of Yuan Dynasty sites, the project team that compiled the application for World Heritage chose four directions for comparative analysis: First, the comparison of similar world heritage related to the Mongolian and Yuan Empire; The second is the comparison of world heritage related to nomadic civilization; The third is the comparison with other capital sites of the Mongolian and Yuan Empire. Fourthly, it compares with the capitals established by other northern nomads in China history. Among them, especially the ruins of Hala and Lincheng, the capital of the Mongolian Empire, most and all of the Mongolian Yuan Empire are the key points.
(1) Comparison of similar world heritages related to Mongolian and Yuan empires
Comparison between (1) and Erhungu Cultural Landscape
In the World Heritage List, the most comparable cultural heritage with Shangdu Site in Yuan Dynasty is "Erhungu Cultural Landscape". In addition to the similarity and historical origin in intangible cultural heritage, they have significant differences in site remains, temporal and spatial categories, value themes and characteristics, and natural environment.
First, compare heritage types and sites. "Erhungu Cultural Landscape" belongs to "A Work of Harmony between Man and Nature (quoted from the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of World Heritage Convention (2008 Edition) 1)", which embodies the interaction between human beings and their natural environment and takes nomadic production and lifestyle as the theme. Nomads use traditional techniques to engage in animal husbandry activities on grasslands suitable for grazing, thus establishing a unique spiritual connection between man and nature; At the same time, it also shows people all the ways of life that different nomadic people in Erhun River Basin adapt to the restrictions of natural environment and material conditions, as well as the nomadic culture formed from them (for details, see the text of "Cultural Landscape in Erhun River Basin Declares World Heritage").
The Ruins of Shangdu in Yuan Dynasty belongs to "the works of two civilized people under specific natural conditions, mainly under the background of human history", which reflects how different nationalities communicate and integrate their lifestyles and values, thus creating an urban model combining farming civilization and nomadic culture in North Asia, which is of great significance to the study of the social structure, lifestyle and cultural characteristics of the Mongolian Empire. At the same time, its heritage background environment provides clear and organic material evidence for the formation of this model, which is isomorphic with the site itself and forms a complete heritage value.
Second, compare from the space-time category. As far as geographical areas are concerned, their differences in spatial location and geographical characteristics lie in that the "Oroqen Valley Cultural Landscape" is located in the center of the Mongolian Plateau and the hinterland of the main activity areas of nomadic people in northern Asia. The "Yuanshangdu Site" is located on the southeast edge of the Mongolian Plateau, which is the adjacent zone of nomadic culture and farming culture in Asian history. This difference in geographical location leads to the difference in cultural values of the two heritages.
Historically, the age of "Erhungu Cultural Landscape" lasted for about 3,000 years from Paleolithic to17th century, and the historical age of five important sites was 6 ~17th century. This period spanned the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties in the history of China. The remains of the "Yuan Dynasty Capital Ruins" are limited to the Mongol Empire of China 100 years, that is,13 ~14th century.
Third, compare from the value characteristics. "Erhungu Cultural Landscape" mainly shows the various lifestyles of nomadic people for thousands of years from the value characteristics. Erhun River Basin is the cradle of nomadic civilization and a typical representative of nomadic culture in Central Asia. Its development and evolution clearly show people the firmness and durability of nomadic culture. For thousands of years, this nomadic culture has been the main cultural form in most parts of Asia. Through trade, military conquest and exchange of ideas, nomadic people have had a great influence on the deep-rooted farming culture in their neighboring areas, and have had an important impact on the national integration and civilization process of the whole world.
In terms of value characteristics, "Yuan Dadu Site" mainly embodies the combination mode of farming civilization and nomadic civilization in North Asia, and shows the exchange and integration of lifestyle and values between the two major civilization systems. It not only witnessed the important turning point of nomadic people from nomadic military conscription activities to the governance of agricultural civilization dynasty, but also witnessed the miraculous grand occasion of international multiculturalism initiated by the Mongolian Yuan Empire. As one of the important destinations of the Silk Road in the Eastern World, an important traffic artery across Eurasia, it has a far-reaching influence on the exchange and development of eastern and western civilizations, and it is still circulated in contemporary people's cultural and artistic life as a cultural symbol symbolizing the "magic garden".