A Tally of National Treasures

One of the world’s oldest civilizations with thousands of years of continuous history， China takes pride in its historical sites and cultural relics as numerous as stars in the sky. Popularly known as a “tally of national treasures，” the First National Census of State-owned Moveable Cultural Relics， which commenced in October 2012 and is expected to be completed by December 2016， is happening throughout the country.

Like a population census， the cultural relics census has a universally specific time for each entry’s status： 12 a.m. on January 1， 2014. Although the census will last for years， 2014 is especially important because in February， field surveys will begin to sweep the nation.

It’s been a long time since China began to survey and inventory its cultural heritage. In October 1916， the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Beiyang Government launched a nationwide survey of cultural relics， including those both publicly and privately owned. Later， the Law on the Preservation of Antiquities and the Implementing Rules on the Law on the Preservation of Antiquities were enacted in 1930 and 1931， respectively. After the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949， China carried out three nationwide surveys of unmovable cultural relics such as historical sites， ancient tombs， and old buildings in 1956， 1981， and 2007， respectively. However， due to China’s immense volume of moveable cultural relics scattered across the country， it never conducted such a census until 2012.

Internationally， it is common practice for a country to survey and register its cultural heritage. However， the job requires tre- mendous investment in terms of manpower， resources， and time. In 1947， Britain launched its first cultural heritage survey and registration， which stretched all the way to 1968. In 1975， Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities set up a national registration center to survey and protect its cultural relics. To date， the center has completed registration for only 15 percent of the country’s already-discovered cultural relics.

China’s moveable cultural relics census covers a wide range of heritage divided into three categories： The first group includes rare arts， crafts， books， documents， manuscripts， objects reflecting antiquated social systems， production methods， and lifestyles of various ethnic groups， as well as fossils of paleovertebrates and paleoanthropoids with scientific value， all of which are dated before 1949. The second category includes important objects， artifacts， and ethnic and folk cultural relics dated after 1949 which were collected by state-owned museums. The final group covers masterpieces by names on the State Administration of Cultural Heritage’s list of late calligraphers and painters， which are required to remain within China’s territory.

The moveable cultural relics census only involves items housed within one of about 1.5 million state-owned entities and excludes Chinese cultural treasures in private collections or lost abroad. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage （SACH） is responsible for the census. “Surveys show nearly 2 percent of state-owned entities own collectables that can be deemed cultural relics，” reveals Song Xinchao， deputy director of SACH. “Many have impressive collections， and some have amassed thousands of rare cultural relics.” Fourteen basic specifications related to each cultural relic， including category， class， date， size， and owner， will be recorded in an integrated census platform.

Due to their respective characteristics， the military system， Shaanxi Province， Qingdao City， and Beijing’s Chaoyang District were selected as four pilot programs for the census. In addition to military museums， the military system owns large quantities of contemporary cultural relics. A province noted for its abundant cultural heritage， Shaanxi has led the nation in building a cultural relics database. As a pilot location for the census， the province is expected to set the bar for others. The reason Qingdao， a city with history of only 120 years， was chosen as a pilot for the census is its rich contemporary cultural relics and industrial heritage， which form a sharp contrast to Shaanxi’s antiquities which often date back millennia. Chaoyang District was chosen not only due to its abundant relics of folk culture， but also because its experience will provide guidelines for district-level relics surveys in China’s many mega-cities.

The purpose of the census is more than just recording numbers and basic facts about state-owned moveable cultural relics. It has a bigger ambition： To form a moveable cultural relics registration and management mechanism and a state-owned cultural relics public service platform based on cloud computing and storage technology. The ultimate aim of the census is to build an “online museum，”through which internet users can not only easily check identities， numbers， and status of cultural relics， but museums can also exchange cultural relics in their respective collections for exhibitions.

Moreover， SACH hopes that the platform will inspire registration of newly-discovered cultural relics and greater information about known relics. “Eventually， I hope the platform will allow users to find any information they need from computers at home and even to enjoy online registration and authentication services for their private collections，” explains Song Xinchao. “This is the next step.”