Cultural Relics Protection Project of Three Gorges Reservoir

As a part of Three Gorges Project, Cultural Relics Protection Project of Three Gorges Reservoir has formally started as soon as the Resolution of the Construction of Three Gorges Dam passed. Archeological survey had been made in Three Gorges Reservoir Area since 1992. The Cultural Relics Protection Project falls into two phases: the first phase (1993-1996) is Planning for Cultural Relics Protection Project; the second phase (1997-2009) is Implementation of Cultural Relics Protection Project.

Cultural Relics Protection Project of Three Gorges Reservoir – Planning Stage

Construction Committee of Three Gorges Dam established a group to make a protection plan for cultural relics of Three Gorges Reservoir Area at the planning stage. There were more than 300 professional staffs from 30 universities and scientific institutions participated in the foundation work of the plan. They made out different protection plans for relics with different value and condition under the rules of "putting protection first, combining protection with rescue", "focus on protection and excavation" and "maximizing the rescue and minimizing the loss". They made out 30 plans about 2 million words, including overall planning, provincial planning, local planning and specific planning. There were 1087 plans were implemented after experts' verification and been approved by Construction Committee of Three Gorges Dam. Among which there were 723 plans about underground cultural relics and 364 plans about ground cultural relics.

Cultural Relics Protection Project of Three Gorges Reservoir – Implementation Stage

Cultural Relics Protection Project of Three Gorges Reservoir Area is the largest protection and rescue project in history. More than 600 kilometers between Chongqing and Yichang would be submerged and about 1087 cultural relics would be submerged. The protection and excavation work had been started since 1996. China invested more than one billion RMB in this project. There were 72 archaeological organizations participated in this work successively. There were more than 700 underground cultural relics been excavated and more than 300 ancient architectures and sculptures been removed or protected till 2008. There were some important cultural relics: White Crane Ridge in Fuling District, Shibaozhai (Shibao Stockade) in Zhongxian County, Zhang Fei Temple in Yunyang County, White Emperor City in Fengjie County, Dachang Ancient Town in Wushan County and so on.

White Crane Ridge (a State-level key protection unit of cultural relics) was protected at its original site. Visitors could admire the stone carvings of White Crane Ridge in the under-water museum. Chongqing Three Gorges Museum – a modern museum was built in the center of Chongqing City. It mainly collects, researches and displays a large number of cultural relics unearthed in Three Gorges Reservoir Area.