The Magallanes World Study Tour (MWST) 2.0 arrived at Station 4 – Xi’an on 31 October 2022 via Zoom. It was jointly conducted with Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU), China, which presented the “Cultural Heritage of Xi’an Witnesses Splendid Civilisation”.

The session kick-started with an introduction to NPU by moderator and Admission Officer Li Mengchan and was continued by NPU lecturer Li Jing, who spoke on the intangible cultural heritage of Xi’an. Participants were enlightened by the history of Xi’an, and were later elucidated further on the intangible cultural heritage. Li Jing also explained the Xi’an Drum Music, which is a form of traditional music that is widely known throughout Xi’an and its surrounding areas. The Xi’an Drum Music was also successfully selected as the Representative Works of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on 30 September 2009.

The other intangible cultural heritage that participants learnt was the Qin Opera, which is one of the oldest operas of the Han nationality in China. It is popular in many places including Beijing, Shandong, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Sichuan, Qinghai, Xingjing, Tibet, and other provinces. “After a long period of development evolution, the costumes of the Qin Opera have gradually formed a conventional and regular pattern. The sizes, choices of patterns, and various colours have unique meanings. For instance, white symbolises justice and purity; black symbolises honesty and seriousness; red symbolises loyalty and joy; yellow symbolises dignity; green symbolises recklessness; pink symbolises intelligence and liveliness; blue symbolises youth and loyalty, and purple symbolises endurance and determination,” explained Li Jing.

She continued, “Shanxi Shadow Play is the oldest traditional folk art in China and the world. It is a clever combination of folk arts and traditional opera. In November 2019, Shanxi Shadow Play was included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage representative project protection units. The prototype of the shadow puppet was cut with paper, and later it was carved with sheep leather, cowhide, and donkey leather. The production of Shanxi shadow puppets is very complicated and delicate because it involves three processes, namely leather making, carving and painting. In the Yuan Dynasty, there were shadow play teams in the Mongolian army, which later spread to Central Asian countries.”

Additionally, participants also learnt that Chinese Paper-cuts are a kind of folk art that uses scissors or carving knives to cut and carve patterns on paper to decorate life and express other folk activities. Li Jing further said, “In China, paper-cuts blend into the social life of people of all ethnic groups, and it is an important part of various folk activities. Its continuous visual image and modelling format contains rich cultural and historical information, and expresses the broad masses’ social cognition, moral concepts, practical experiences, life ideals, and aesthetic tastes. Paper-cuts also have multiple social values, such as cognition, education, ideographics, expression, lyricism, entertainment, and communication. In October 2009, the Chinese paper-cut project declared by China was included in the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.”

The final intangible cultural heritage presented was the dough sculpture. Li Jing explained, “The dough sculpture refers to a handicraft that uses flour and glutinous rice flour as raw materials to make cooked dough. The craftsman then uses his hands and various sharing tools to shape the dough into specific figurines, such as animals, scenes, artefacts and people.”

The speaker then presented on “Material Cultural Heritage”, which saw the participants learning about the Terracotta Warriors and Horses. Li Jing explained, “It was the first batch of national key cultural relics protection unit and the first batch of Chinese world heritage site. The terracotta warriors and horses are a collection of 8060 life-size terra cotta figurines of warriors and horses located in the Mausoleum of the first Qin Emperor. The figurines were discovered in 1974 near Xi’an. They are also sometimes referred to as the Qin’s Army.”

The second material cultural heritage presented was the Great Wild Goose Pagoda. “The Great Wild Goose Pagoda is the oldest and largest square pavilion style brick tower in the Tang Dynasty. It is also typical material evidence that the pagoda, an ancient Indian Buddhist temple, was introduced into the Central Plains with Buddhism, and was integrated into Chinese culture. It is a landmark building that embodies the wisdom of ancient Chinese working people. In 2014, the Great Wild Goose Pagoda was successfully included in the World Heritage List as one of the sites in Silk Road, which was jointly applied for the World Heritage by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan,” said the speaker.

Participants were also exposed to the Site of Weiyang Palace in the Chang’an City of the Han Dynasty. The speaker elucidated, “For more than 200 years in the Western Han Dynasty, the Weiyang Palace has been the political, economic, and cultural centre of the country. In March 1961, Chang’an City Site of the Han Dynasty was listed as the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In June 2014, the site of Weiyang Palace was included in the World Heritage List as the starting point of the Silk Road.”

She continued, “The Site of Daming Palace is the palace site of the capital of the eastern starting point of the Silk Road from the seventh to the tenth century. It is a representative relic of Chang’an City of the Tang Dynasty, the eastern starting point of the Silk Road. It has also witnessed the civilisation level and etiquette and cultural characteristics of the empire during the heyday of the development of oriental agricultural civilisation, and has witnessed the important promotion of the heyday of Tang Road. In June 2014, the Daming Palace site was successfully included in the World Heritage List as one of the sites in the Silk Road, and in October 2021, the Daming Palace site was selected as one of the ‘Hundred Archaeological Discoveries in a Century’.”

The final lesson imparted by the speaker was about cultural tourism development. The speaker presented, “The Great Tang All Day Mall starts from the South Square of the Great Wild Goose Pagoda in the north and ends at the ruins of the Tang City Wall in the south. It covers three floors, combining the plot, characters and story background of the original “The Longest Day in Chang’an” TV show, and focuses on food, games, scene performances, cultural feasts, and other immersion places that citizens and tourists can fully experience. It is truly a place for one to experience the charms of the Tang Dynasty.”