Reconstruction plans are already underway to restore damaged Buddhist monasteries from a devastating earthquake earlier this month in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region as part of post-quake relief efforts.
The 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Dingri County on January 7, leaving 126 people dead, including two nuns, and 337 others injured. In total, six temples in the region suffered significant damage from the powerful earthquake.
A rite for the deceased took place in a makeshift sutra hall in Dingri County. For the mourning villagers, the monks with the Sengar Chode Monastery offer some consolation.
A short walk away is the monastery, now in ruins from the earthquake. Abbot Thubten recalls that fateful morning on January 7, when all the buildings collapsed except for the main hall, and that's where all 22 monks of the monastery happened to be.
"It's so fortunate we were in here for morning prayers. If we had been in the dormitory, we would have all been doomed," he said.
However, a more than 600-year-old nunnery was hit hard. Once Tserin Wangdui, party secretary of the Dingri County Sengar Chode Monastery management committee, spotted the damage from his office, he and a group of people rushed up the steep hill to the Dzongbu Temple. They were able to retrieve six nuns from the rubble, four of whom survived.
At the Sengar Chode Monastery, three thick walls, which embody 600-year-old murals, standing in the main hall have been assessed by experts to be important cultural relics that must be preserved. It will require special technicians to dismantle then rebuild the temple, all while leaving these ancient paintings intact.
Built in 1541, this Gelug monastery serves some 4,000 Buddhist believers in the region.
Standing amid the ruins, the abbot reflects on what transpired.
"Through this disaster, we should all realize that those who are alive must be even more united in the future," said Thubten.
Having gone through this ordeal together, the monastery's relationship with its government regulator is also said to have shifted.
"In the past, they sometimes thought we were here just to supervise them and had some opinions about it. But after we helped them with disaster relief this time, their perception of us has changed, and our perception of them has also shifted," said Tserin Wangdui.
Rebuilding an ancient monastery is, in many ways, even harder than constructing one from scratch. But it will be done because preserving culture and history matters. For the religious people in Xizang, seeing their treasured monasteries restored will be one more step towards healing.
Efforts underway to restore quake-damaged Buddhist temples in southwest China's Xizang
The top six archaeological findings across China in 2024 were announced at Wednesday's annual archaeology forum hosted by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The discoveries, covering from the Paleolithic Age to the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644), and Qing Dynasties (1636-1912), shed light on studies on the history and culture of ancient China.
The earliest of the six, the Dadong Site, is located in Jilin Province in northeast China. Discovered in the strata dating from 28,000 to 24,000 years ago, the site involves an artificial stone circle, which should be the remains of a primary shed of ancient humans, implying the archaeological importance of the Changbai Mountain area in the field of evolutionary anthropology studies.
The Xiatang Site in east China's Zhejiang Province, a Neolithic Age settlement site, reveals the structure and layout of the ancient village, providing new evidence for the study of the social structure of early-stage agricultural societies.
At the Siwa Site, another Neolithic Age site in northwest China's Gansu Province, the first prehistory large-scale near square-shaped moat was discovered, which might hint at the origin of the square-walled cities in China.
The Zhouyuan Site in Shaanxi Province of northwest China shows evidence of China's earliest dynasties, providing written materials for studying the history of Western Zhou Dynasty (about 1046 – 771 BC). With over 200 bone and tortoise shell pieces for divination rites being found, phrases totaling over 180 oracle scripts were recognized, covering documentations of astronomy, calendar, history, and geology.
At a Warring States period site in east China's Anhui Province, the Wuwangdun Site, researchers excavated over 10,000 pieces of cultural relics, including multiple Ding sets, or special cauldron sets, the representative ritual vessels that have long been used to represent social class and nobility, and symbols of China's traditional rites and ethnicity.
In east China's Jiangxi Province, the archaeological site of Jingdezhen City, the world-famous town of porcelain with a thousand-year history, welcomed new discoveries. The latest discoveries at the Jingdezhen Site revealed the sources of materials and fuels that supported the large-scale porcelain production, as well as the local traffic net in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties, giving people a perception to understand Jingdezhen's development history.
"These discoveries are not only about gathering ancient relics in the fields, but, more importantly, about their value for academic research. Every single result complements our understanding of Chinese history and culture," said Shi Jinsong, the deputy head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Science.
China unveils top archaeological findings of 2024
China unveils top archaeological findings of 2024