Relics of many tales

2016-07-20 Source：Chinaculture.org

Rock art on the mountains along the Zuojiang River in Chongzuo in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. 

The Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape makes the UNESCO list after more than a decade of preparations. Wang Kaihao reports in Chongzuo.

On the cliffs, reddish shadows appear as blurs in the mist. Locals call the area Huashan, which means "mountains with paintings".

The Zuojiang River flows through Chongzuo, a city along China's border with Vietnam, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The picturesque karst topography of the area resembles Guilin in the region's north, but few visitors are seen here.

Nevertheless, things could begin to change.

After 13 years of work, on July 15, the Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape was added to the UNESCO's world heritage list at a meeting in Istanbul.

Thirty-eight rock art sites along the river, covering an area of 6,621.6 hectares, are now part of the list.

Last week, in Yaoda village, in Chongzuo's Ningming county, villagers were performing a ceremony at the base of the mountain. Dressed in traditional attire and facing the cliffs, they chanted hymns in the language of the Zhuang ethnic group backed by traditional musical instruments.

Ethnic Zhuang women perform a ceremony to worship the mountains. 

Lu Huanming, who has spent most of life in this village of 400-odd residents, says: "I grew up hearing about the rock paintings. The mountain is like a God to us. No one will dare to harm the paintings, or our village will be cursed."

"No one even dares to point at the paintings. Anyone who does that will fall ill," the 68-year-old says. "As long as there are weddings, funerals and festivals, we will hold ceremonies to seek the mountain's blessings."

The reverence of the local people is probably a reason why the rock art, which was created between the 5th century BC and 2nd century AD, is in relatively good condition more than 2,000 years later. Close to the village is the biggest rock art complex among the 38 sites. It contains 1,951 motifs, most of which are human figures performing ceremonies.

The paintings are spread over an area of 8,000 square meters on the cliff, which is considered the world's biggest single panel of rock art other than the Nazca Lines in Peru.

According to Zhu Qiuping, the director of the cultural relics custody office that has been studying Huashan rock art for nearly 30 years around Ningming, the motifs were drawn by the Luoyue people, who are considered to be the predecessors of today's Zhuang group.

The rock paintings mostly feature squatting human figures. 

Mysteries remain

The pigments in the paintings have been mixed with minerals and oxalic acid derived from local plants to protect the red color from fading.

Describing the paintings, Zhu says: "Squatting human figures are common in prehistoric rock art all over the world.

"But nowhere else do you see so many squatting human figures as in the Zuojiang art. This could mean that the Luoyue people were very devout."

But the other possible explanation for the squatting figures, he says, could be their resemblance to frogs, which is typically connected with virility in such art. Worshipping a "frog deity" was also common among communities that cultivated paddy.

Despite the studies, many mysteries still remain.

For instance, why the artists suddenly stopped doing rock art and what happened to the creators is unclear. Also, how the motifs were drawn so high up－some in spots 60 meters above the river－is still being studied. And, while the locals see the site as a forbidden territory, outdoor adventurers have been drawn to it.

Wang Yuguang, who used to patrol the rock art sites for 20 years, says: "People from outside may not see the site in the same way that we do.

"They used to come and climb the rocks. They did not aim to destroy the paintings, but if we did find fallen pieces of rock, we would glue them back."

Wang, who retired in 2008, says he used to patrol the site four to five times a day to check the cliffs.

In 2009, the biggest rock art site in Ningming was closed to visitors, and visitors were allowed to view it only from an observation deck.

Separately, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage allocated 7 million yuan ($1.04 million) to set up a monitoring and data analysis system in 2015 as a better way to manage the area.

Zuojiang Huashan rock painting in Guangxi, July 15, 2016. 

Getting recognized

Explaining the rationale behind seeking world heritage status for the site, Lan Riyong, the deputy director of the expert panel with the Guangxi office that sought the status, says: "When we sought UNESCO status, the rock art per se was not the only focus.

"The landscape, including the paintings, the cliffs, the river, and people's way of life on the terraces across the river, is seen as one entity: The cliffs are panels, and the river is like a string which connects these pearls. People hold their sacrifices and ceremonies on the terraces to show their reverence for the site."

A project to conserve the rocks in the Zuojiang area, which started in 2003, is ongoing.

The project is demanding when it comes to technique. The workers are not allowed to touch the paintings even when the scaffolding is being set up. Also, cage fishing, which was common in the area, is no longer allowed to avoid affecting the Zuojiang River within the heritage zone.

Gu Hang, the director of Guangxi Cultural Heritage Bureau, says despite the process to gain world heritage status for the area being fraught with difficulties, there was plenty of local support.

"When we stopped cage fishing or relocated their residences to provide a better view of the cliffs, they showed more understanding than we had expected.

"One fisherman told me, 'The rock art is what our ancestors left for us. ... We can move to somewhere else or switch to other professions'."

Zuojiang Huashan rock painting in Guangxi, July 15, 2016.  

It took only six months to complete the environment improvement program to prepare the site and make it ready for the UNESCO application.

But despite the sacrifices of the locals, Gu is concerned that the local folk culture could be endangered.

"Huashan's rock art site is an important part of Zhuang's culture," he says. "So, if we do not preserve the traditions in the villages, the rock art will lose its roots."

As of now, most young people from Yaoda have left the area to seek jobs in cities and seem lukewarm when it comes to preserving traditional rituals, says Gan Shaogeng, a local folk musician.

And for the village, which relies on sugarcane and rice and where the annual income per capita is less than 10,000 yuan, it is still a priority to get rich.

But Gan sees the recent developments, including the UNESCO status, as a sign that things could change soon.

"The village can now better showcase our cultural heritage and even offer accommodation to tourists."

And with the rock art becoming a world heritage site, tourism will develop further. That may bring back the young people who've left, he says.

According to the plan of Ningming county government, infrastructure will be improved to build the site into a national scenic spot in 2017. The village recently got its first bar, and visitors have also begun taking early-morning boat rides to Yaoda to view the rock art and watch the fascinating rituals.