Cultural Protection and Inheritance of Red Buildings from the Perspective of Rural Revitalization: A Case Study of the Former Site of "Third Line" Military Factory in Pengfang, Jiangxi Province

Jianjian HE, Xidi YANG, Yuanmin NING, Jie GAO, Zhaokang RAO

Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China

Abstract This paper makes an investigation and analysis of the existing red buildings in Pengfang Township, and puts forward the circular development model of "Red Building+Rural Tourism" after systematic arrangement. And through the dialectical perspective of the protection, inheritance, development and utilization of architectural culture under rural revitalization, this paper observes how the villages with red buildings help to boost the rural economy by integrating its own internal and external resources under the background of the great revival of the national rural traditional culture, so as to realize the protective development of rural red buildings.

Key words Rural revitalization, Red buildings, Tourism development

1 Introduction

In recent years, more and more experts and scholars have paid attention to the protection and inheritance of red buildings, as well as the development of the value of red buildings. From the public understanding of history, understanding of culture, inheritance of connotation and spirit, and then to the guidance of the government, it has been upgraded to red tourism culture for rural revitalization. In this process, problems such as inadequate implementation of measures and lack of funds are common, so that many rural red buildings scattered in remote areas can not be protected for a long time, so the inheritance and protection of rural red buildings need to be further studied.

Taking the former site of the "Third Line" military factory in Pengfang Township as an example, this paper analyzes the feasibility of the tourism development of rural red buildings in the view of rural revitalization. By reviewing and studying the relevant literature on the protection and inheritance of red buildings, we have obtained the inspiration in theory and practice. Through the relevant social practice questionnaire survey, this paper summarizes the new ideas and directions of the research. Based on the market investigation of local red tourism, this paper puts forward the tentative idea of the circular development model of "Red Building+Rural Tourism".

2 Value of red buildings and the related research on the protection of red buildings

2.1 Value of red buildingsRed buildings refer to those historical buildings that have experienced red events, contain certain cultural and research value, and convey the red spirit of patriotism and hard struggle[1]. The red building records the arduous process of the older generation of revolutionaries fighting day and night for national independence, and is an important carrier of the revolutionary spirit of the Chinese nation (show the utmost fortitude, never yield and forge ahead courageously). Red architecture plays a very important role in the education of red spirit, red culture and patriotism. At the same time, it also contains multiple values in history, aesthetics and emotion. We need to protect and inherit the red building.

2.2 Related research on the protection of red buildingsAt present, there is a lot of research on the protection and inheritance of historic buildings at home and abroad, and many conclusions and suggestions have been drawn, and relevant departments have also made efforts to protect historic buildings, but it has always been difficult to achieve results. In particular, the red buildings that carry the towering years are still facing the risk of extinction.

From a legal point of view, theRegulationsontheProtectionofFamousHistoricalandCulturalCitieshas a certain positive impact on the protection of red buildings, while the relevant local laws and regulations are often more effective. From an economic point of view, theOutlineoftheNationalRedTourismDevelopmentPlan2004-2010points out that red buildings must be fully explored for the development of red tourism. Based on these real red buildings, the revolutionary scenes such as red events, conferences, campaigns and so on are reproduced to the greatest extent. From a cultural point of view, theGuidanceoftheStateCouncilonFurtherStrengtheningtheWorkofCulturalRelicspoints out that in order to fully and effectively protect the red buildings, it is necessary to formulate relevant norms and give guidance when giving full play to the patriotic education function of the red buildings.

3 Basic general situation of the former site of "Third Line" military factory in Pengfang Township, Anfu County, Jiangxi Province

In the sixties and eighties after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in response to the national strategy of "Third Line" construction, Ji’an was selected as the main military and industrial construction base in Jiangxi Province at that time. In accordance with the principle of "relying on the mountain, scattered, and concealed" in the "Third Line" construction project, there are five national defense "Third Line" factories, including Liansheng, Gangsi, Liangju, Lixin, and Duanya, and a rear hospital in Pengfang Township. Banks, bus stations, post and telecommunications stations, police stations, industrial and commercial offices, local tax department and other units once flourished in Yangpi, where the township government is located. From 1979 to 1991, five "Third Line" factories moved out of the mountains one after another, leaving a large amount of red architectural heritage.

The "Third Line" military factory in Pengfang Township takes the local specialty, red-heart Chinese fir, as the main wood structure material. Red-heart Chinese fir has the reputation of "Guanmu" in Jiangxi Province. Once as a tribute to the court, it has excellent qualities such as perfect and straight appearance, beautiful texture, tough material quality, strong pressure resistance, and fast growth. At the beginning of the establishment of the "Third Line" military factory in Pengfang Township, red-heart Chinese fir was widely used as wood beam material, which has strong regional characteristics and is an important representative of the ancient architecture of red-heart Chinese fir.

4 Main problems in the protection and development of red buildings at the present stage

In recent years, with the introduction of theStrategicPlanforRuralRevitalization(2018-2022), China’s rural revitalization has been further developed. Under the strategy of rural revitalization, although some achievements have been made in the development and protection of red buildings all over the country in recent years, there are some objective difficulties in red buildings such as the destruction due to historical events and disrepair, as well as many other problems, such as the absence of government role, incomplete legal system, and weak awareness of protection.

4.1 Absence of government roleUnder the great tide of reform and opening up, local government officials are more concerned about economic development, which is understandable, but it is inappropriate to sacrifice red buildings for economic benefits. Lack of funds and single source has always been a major pain point in the protection of red buildings. The funding for the protection of red buildings mainly comes from the government, which undoubtedly increases the pressure on local finance, because it has to invest money to repair, protect and publicize, and hire a large number of staff to manage it. As a result, there are famous red buildings funded by the government and managed by commissioners, which are prone to over-protection, while many newly discovered or unknown red buildings are in an awkward position. Even the attitude of the government is vague, and the Planning Bureau blindly pursues the construction of various economic buildings, and regards the nameless red buildings as a "stumbling block" to the local economic development.

4.2 Incomplete legal systemUp to now, there is no scientific definition of red building in academic circles. Although theLawofthePeople’sRepublicofChinaontheProtectionofCulturalRelicsrevised in 2009 gives relevant legal explanations, it is still unclear and lacks feasibility, so it is inevitably fraught with difficulties in implementation. The specific protection regulations issued by the local government also mostly stay in the theoretical stage, and the specific implementation is also difficult, lacking practical effectiveness. At the same time, the red building has obvious institutional characteristics of the city, so it is different in the scope and refinement of the issues, which undoubtedly brings great challenges to the implementation of the policy. On the whole, the protection and inheritance of red buildings are in a situation that it is difficult to abide by the law, and it is difficult to rely on legislative measures alone, so there is an urgent need for a more complete legal system.

4.3 Weak awareness of protectionEmotional value is one of the multiple values of architectural heritage, and the national spirit with patriotism as the core carried by the red building is the cultural soul of the Chinese nation. However, the red culture and education in rural areas are generally inadequate, coupled with the limitations of the educational level, the public’s awareness of the protection of red buildings is weak, which makes the relevant policies lack mass foundation. Even the red gene inheritors themselves lack the awareness of protecting the red buildings, do not realize the inner spiritual symbols of the red buildings, and privately destroy the red buildings to demolish the old and build the new. Grass-roots cadres in rural areas do not have a strong awareness of red building protection, which leads to the omission of red buildings in previous cultural relics surveys, so they can not get timely investment of government cultural relics protection funds and the guidance of cultural relics protection experts. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, people’s awareness of the protection of red buildings needs to be enhanced, as detailed in Table 1.

Table 1 Survey data on red building protection awareness of different age groups

4.4 Lack of supporting red culture industryAs an important part of red culture, red building’s economic function can not be ignored.

The economic benefits of red buildings are diverse, including the provision of tourism, patriotic education, sale of red cultural relics souvenirs and view finding for red historical movies. However, due to the general lack of such awareness by local governments, the large government investment in the early development of red building tourism, and the immature domestic red cultural industry system, make the local government flinch from developing the red building tourism industry. As a result, many small and nameless red buildings are disappearing day by day. According to the results of the questionnaire survey, people’s attention to the red culture industry is obviously insufficient, as shown in Fig.1 below.

Fig.1 Survey data on the attention to red historic buildings

5 Protection and development strategy of the red building in Pengfang Township from the perspective of rural revitalization

With the optimization and upgrading of the national economic structure, rural tourism projects have become a hot topic of rural revitalization, and successful cases of red tourism have emerged in many areas. Pengfang Township takes the "Third Line" military industrial characteristic town as the development goal, explores the red building through scientific methods, develops its own value from many angles and ways, and activates the endogenous power of the red building.

5.1 Strong guarantee of the policy systemIn recent years, Ji’an City has vigorously implemented the development strategy of "panoramic Ji’an, comprehensive tourism". Since 2019, it has started with the "Five Ones" project as a starting point to carry out four special actions (optimizing the tourism product system, upgrading tourism supporting facilities, expanding the tourist market and improving the quality of tourism services). The main artery of Ji’an tourism economy lies in red tourism. Ji’an City has specially issued and implemented theRegulationsontheProtectionofRedCulturalRelicsinJi’anCity, paying attention to the repair and protection of red relics, and always aiming at the development goal of "national red tourism boutique city".

Not long ago, Anfu County issued theOpinionsontheImplementationoftheSpiritofthe2020ProvincialTourismIndustryDevelopmentConferenceand made detailed arrangements. The "Third Line" memory town of Pengfang Township was successfully identified as the 2019 industrial heritage tourism base of Jiangxi Province in 2020, and it is the only provincial industrial heritage tourism base in the province. The township regards the construction of the Third Line memory town as a breakthrough for the revitalization of the countryside and the implementation of comprehensive tourism, and has created some red education bases, such as theme education base, primary and secondary school research education base, patriotism education base, and art sketching base.

5.2 Fusion and cohesion of multi-partiesPengfang Township adheres to the guiding principle of "government guidance, market-oriented operation, and mass participation" to develop a red tourism model with the theme of military culture. Red tourism is a special tourism activity with the attribute of quasi-public goods, and it is obviously political, social and educational, so it is necessary to give full play to the leading role of the government. Pengfang township government has cooperated with other market forces to create theme education base, primary and secondary school research education base, patriotism education base, art sketching base and other red education bases. As early as 2018, Pengfang Township was rated as the "Provincial 3A Rural Tourism Spot" and received more than 10 000 tourists. A comprehensive "Third Line Memory Town" scenic spot, which integrates red research, revolutionary tradition and clean government education, and has the functions of "food, housing, entertainment, travel, nursing and medical care", appears in front of the public and has great market potential. At the same time, the local people actively responded to the government’s call and enthusiastically provided more than 800 "Third Line" cultural relics such as documents, production equipment and products, which is conducive to the full display of the red culture of the military industry.

5.3 Coordinated and integrated development of multi-industriesPengfang Township is not only rich in red building culture, but also has a huge market potential of red-heart Chinese fir industry. The local government issued theImplementationOpinionsonSpeedingUptheIndustrializationofRed-heartChineseFirto promote the construction of red-heart Chinese fir by developing the project of base construction, the brand-based germplasm cultivation, and the industrialization of production and management, and to carefully build a demonstration site for red-heart Chinese fir industry[4]. It has developed red tourism projects through ancient buildings such as military factories and beautiful red-heart Chinese fir ecological forest, to guide tourists to deeply understand red-heart Chinese fir, improve its popularity, broaden its sales market, and realize the integrated development of local characteristic red-heart Chinese fir industry and red tourism.

5.4 Formation of red tourism circular economyIn 2018, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, together with 17 departments, issued theGuidanceonPromotingtheSustainableDevelopmentofRuralTourism, focusing on the detailed arrangements for the sustainable development of rural tourism. Under the guidance of the central policy, the Pengfang township government has always been moving towards the planning and construction of experience scenic spots including red education area, valley ecological tourism area, health preservation area, shooting area, folk customs area,etc.; has improved the construction of basic transportation and vigorously improved the supply level of water, electricity and communications; has adhered to the principle of "repairing the old", and used red-heart Chinese fir as the material to renovate the military plants and facilities step by step, and restore the historical scene; has established a "Third Line" red tourism "brand" in a small town with military industry characteristics; has mobilized the enthusiasm of public participation, so as to increase farmers’ economic income and enrich their spiritual life, strive to build a red tourism circular economy, and achieve a win-win situation of economic and social benefits. The details of red tourism circular economy are shown in Fig.2.

Fig.2 Red tourism circular economy

6 Conclusion

Pengfang Township leads the development of red tourism with the mode of "Party building+" by integrating the old resources of the red building site of the "Third Line" military factory, combined with the beautiful ecological forest of red-heart Chinese fir and strong and simple folk custom. It strives to create a red brand of a small town with "Third Line" military characteristics, to achieve local economic revival, and to improve people’s sense of achievement and well-being. Tourism development will promote the protection and development of red building culture, and intact red building culture resources will further promote the sustainable development of tourism, finally realizing the virtuous circle of red building culture protection and tourism development[5]. The red building protection and development model of Pengfang Township provides a reference for other areas.

The circular development model of "Red Building+Rural Tourism" can protect and develop local red buildings, which can fully tap the contemporary economic value of red buildings and stimulate farmers’ awareness of protection while increasing farmers’ income, strengthening the belief in red culture and education to achieve the win-win goal of social and economic benefits.