10.6092/issn.1973-9494/5451
Gu Pan Pool neighborhood got its name because of Gu Pan Chi, (古泮池，the ancient Pan Pool), located in the southeastern part of Confucius’ birthplace, Qufu, the birth place of Confucius with a history of 3000 year. Gu Pan Pool has been recently under preservation with the joint efforts of World Bank cultural heritage conservation project and the local municipal government. With disparate interests in mind, the three stakeholders of heritage, the world bank, Qufu municipal government and local residents are contradictory with each other in the regeneration process, in which the local voices are often ignored. The purpose of this paper is to rethink heritage making from a historical and indigenous perspective in the contemporary Chinese urban historic landscape planning process. The author contends that the cultural value and pluralism embedded in the ritual way of thinking in Chinese Classics inherited and transmitted for thousands of years could be an alternative way of thinking for the landscape planning practices in the homogenizing culture of global capitalism. This research aims to reinterpret and re-activate Confucianism as cultural heritage to enrich the understanding and hence the sustainability related to human action in urban spaces with emphasis on planning processes in contemporary China.
application/pdf
1973-9494
5451
2
en
Zongjie Wu
Conservation Science in Cultural Heritage
Gu Pan Pool
Heritage Conservation and Urban Landscaping of Ancient Pan Pool Neighborhood, Qufu: a Historical and Indigenous Perspective
Text.Serial.Journal
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/
14
Articles
2014-12-30
2015-09-24
2014-12-30
2016-06-14
175-189
CSCH
Zongjie Wu
2014/12/30
10.6092/issn.1973-9494/5451
175
Institute of Cross-cultural and Regional Studies, Zhejiang University, China
1973-9494
2
Gu Pan Pool
en
189
候松，吴宗杰：《批判话语研究的超学科与跨文化转向》《广东外语外贸大学学报》, 2012年11 月。Hou & Wu: Transdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Turn of Critical Studies: A Case of Remaking Chinese Cultural Heritage Discourse. Journal of Guandong University of Foreign Studies, 2012(11)
Heritage Conservation and Urban Landscaping of Ancient Pan Pool Neighborhood, Qufu: a Historical and Indigenous Perspective
https://conservation-science.unibo.it/article/download/5451/5164
14
H    ERITAGE CONSERVATION AND URBAN LANDSCAPING
     OF ANCIENT PAN POOL NEIGHBORHOOD, QUFU: A
     HISTORICAL AND INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVE

   Zhang Yingchun & Wu Zongjie
   Institute of Cross-cultural and Regional Studies,
   Zhejiang University, China




  Keywords: heritage landscape, historic city regeneration, Jingyi, Gu Pan Pool

    In recent years, the urban city regeneration programs have been conducted in many
historic cities in China under the general goal of economic development. Cities appear
as important locations for setting up actions to help the goals of sustainable develop-
ment (Jenks et al, 1996). Developed countries have elaborated regeneration policies
to tackle the decline of their inner city areas. These policies may include tax and finan-
cial incentives, loans, grants and land use regulations to promote development and
attract new economic activities or to reinforce existing ones; new housing schemes
and the rehabilitation of existing ones; environmental improvements and policies to
promote the conservation of historic buildings. During the process, the conservation of
heritage becomes subservient to the market economy(Xie, 2001) and is utilized as the
resources of tourism spotlight and economic development .
    Gu Pan Pool neighborhood is to be constructed into a visually represented tourism
destination. Whereas the local heritage passed from the ancient times and the voices




                                                                                                   CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
of local residents are nearly ignored. The carriers of heritage and people in the commu-
nity have been alienated by dislocating them from the area and the indigenous mean-
ings and values are lost (Peng, 2009). As a result, the communities remain hostile to
these top-down approaches to conservation and preservation, resulting in conflicts
between the local government and the community people.
    This article presents the regeneration of Gu Pan Pool neighborhood as a case study
in exploring the issue of urban landscape planning and heritage preservation, as well
as representation of tradition and locale in the context of globalization. The author
contends that the local government’s efforts to regenerate the city neighborhood and
protect historic sites cannot afford to neglect the needs of local communities, further,
discussing how heritage preservation and urban city planning could be promoted mu-
tually. The key issue is to rethink the values and meanings of local (indigenous) cultural
heritage (heritage-making) from a historical and indigenous perspective in the contem-
porary Chinese urban historic landscape planning process. The author contends that
the cultural value and pluralism embedded in the ritual and moral way of thinking in
Chinese Classics inherited and transmitted for thousands of years could be an alterna-
tive way of thinking for the landscape planning practices in the homogenizing culture
of global capitalism, while the locals’ memories should also be cherished in making
sense of heritage. This perspective may also orient us to rethink the meaning of herit-
age landscape in urban area not only to commemorate the past but contribute to the
present and future community members.

                                                                                             175
                                                                                                                      The Regeneration of Gu Pan Pool Neighborhood

                                                                                                                      Gu Pan Pool neighborhood got its name because of the 3000- year- Gu Pan Chi, (古
                                                                                                                   泮池，the ancient Pan Pool), located in the southeastern area of Ming Old City in Qufu,
                                                                                                                   Confucius’ birthplace. The ancient Pan Pool was recorded in the “Pan River, Hymns of Lu”
                                                                                                                   in Book of Poetry1, one of the five Chinese orthodoxy Classics. Historical data reveals that
                                                                                                                   Confucius frequented the place and lectured at the poolside. Until the 1950s, Gu Pan Pool
Zhang Yingchun & Wu Zongjie - Heritage conservation and urban landscaping of Ancient Pan Pool Neighborhood, Qufu




                                                                                                                   remained blue-watered and lined with luxuriantly green trees. During the past years, Con-
                                                                                                                   fucius Temple, Confucius Residence and several other historical sites have been restored
                                                                                                                   while the Gu Pan Pool has long been neglected. The present Pool has been sludged and
                                                                                                                   the water area turns much smaller. Currently, it covers a water area of 14,000 sq meters,
                                                                                                                   with a length of 196 meters and width of 73.4 meters. The environment around Gu Pan Pool
                                                                                                                   neighborhood is in poor condition. The Pool is surrounded by bungalows on its four sides,
                                                                                                                   which are mostly old and disorderly. The surrounding area was in a disorganized situation,
                                                                                                                   with polluted water, overspreading weeds and dumping trash.

                                                                                                                      Under the big picture of historic city conservation project in Qufu, the neighborhood of
                                                                                                                   Gu Pan Pool is aimed to be regenerated with joint efforts of Qufu Municipal Government
                                                                                                                   and the World Bank’s Shandong Confucius and Mencius Cultural Heritage Conservation
                                                                                                                   Project. Qufu municipal government takes charge of the overall scheming and regenera-
                                                                                                                   tion of the landscaping in the neighborhood, while the World Bank is mainly responsible
                                                                                                                   for Gu Pan Pool water system rehabilitation. Gu Pan Pool water system rehabilitation
                                                                                                                   includes Ming Old City moat dredging or clean up, and expansion of the Gu Pan Pool
                                                                                                                   area, including landscaping, creating a water-filled moat and Gu Pan Pool.
                                                                                                                      A detailed scheme of Gu Pan Pool Neighborhood Landscaping Regeneration has
                                                                                                                   been drafted since 2009 and completed in 2013. This comprehensive scheme includes
                                                                                                                   scheming specifications including the basis, goal, principle, area, infrastructure, architec-
                                                                                                                   tural style and project designing. This neighborhood site has the four boundaries, Dong
                                                                                                                   Ma Road to the east, Dong Nan Men Street to the west, Dong Nan Ma Road to the south
                                                                                                                   and Wu Ma Ci Street to the north, covering an area of 13.47ha as in the map below:




                                                                                                                                                 The Gu Pan Pool Neighborhood



                                                                                                                   1         The book of poetry includes 305 poems composed from early stage of the Western
                                                                                                                   Zhou Dynasty (the 11th century B.C.) to the middle stage of the Spring and Autumn Period(the
                                                                                                                   6th century B.C.)

                                                                                                             176
   Gu Pan Pool Neighborhood is be constructed into six blocs or function areas, includ-
ing Gu Pan Pool Heritage Sites Park, Emperor’s Temporary Dwelling Place Hotel, Pan
Pool Residential Area, Family Hotel Districts, Catering Block in Eastern Part of Pool
and Dongnanmen Business Street. The Hotel is to be built on the adjacency of previ-
ous Emperor’s Temporary Dwelling Place since 1756, which had been abandoned
later on. The hotel is oriented at a super-five-star Hotel for holidays and conferences.
Pan Pool Residence is located to the northeastern part of the planned area, covering
one fourth of the total area, oriented as a high-end residential area in Ming Old City.
   As stated in Gu Pan Pool Neighborhood Landscaping Regeneration Scheme, the
general goal of scheming is to improve the overall quality of the Neighborhood, in-
cluding the improvement of the ecological environment, promoting Confucianism and
promote tourism economy. The restoration and construction of Gu Pan Pool Neighbor-
hood shall further improve the tourism structure pivoting around the “Three Kongs”
(Confucius Temple, Confucius Former Residence and Confucius Tomb Area) which
are the hottest tourist attractions and source of revenue.
   As indicated in the scheming plan in the above, the heritage practices of the lo-
cal government have been constructed under the official discourse of ‘tourism econ-
omy’: heritage site park, tourism, entertainment and business spotlight, aiming at im-
proving the economic development. These dominant heritage discourses of China’s
heritage conservation practices obscure the multi-vocality of heritage values and
meanings(Smith, 2006). Moreover, the locals are asked to moved outside the Ming
Old City to a suburban residential apartment buildings. The dislocation of the local
residents not only moves them physically but also their long-established ethics formed
under the emersion of Confucian tradition. Gu Pan Pool is located at the city of Qufu,
the birthplace of Confucius, and was the place where Confucius had visited and rested
with his students and enlightened them also. In the next part, I will discuss the issue
of heritage ethics as moral dimension of narrating and the “profound meaning” in “liv-




                                                                                                    CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
ing and doing”(Wu, 2012). In the ancient Chinese perspective, what constitute the
“meaning” of heritage are historical activities tied to the site, describable in the subtle
textualization of “living and doing” which cannot be conceptualized in forms of abstract
terms, either metaphysical or scientific. (Wu, 2012). I aim to recover the deeply lay-
ered and nuanced historic cultural meanings and values that Gu Pan Pool carried on
and transmitted for thousands of years only to be discontinued since the last century
through interpretations of historical documents and Chinese Classics.


  Rethinking heritage ethics by recovering the historical meanings (Jingyi) of
Gu Pan Pool

    The source of meanings of Gu Pan Pool could be traced back to the Poem of Pan
River in Book of Poetry, one of the five canonical Classic and a collection of 305 poems
and songs dating from the tenth to the seventh century BC compiled by Confucius. The
five canonical Classics, were later enlarged to thirteen classics in Song Dynasties and
considered as the core carriers of Chinese traditional culture as well as the nation’s
cultural roots. The exegetical meanings (Jing Yi 经义 , Jing is classics, or the canoni-
cal texts; Yi is meaning) in the five Classics are the sources based on which the later
Confucian scholars formed a textual exegetical tradition(hermeneutical tradition训诂)
in the form of annotations (注), commentaries (疏），正义(further commentaries), 集


                                                                                              177
                                                                                                                   解 (a collections of commentaries), 章句( notes by verses ). The commentary mode of
                                                                                                                   thinking was not only existing in traditional China, but “dominated the intellectual his-
                                                                                                                   tory of most pre-modern civilizations”, “framed the great philosophers’ cognitions” and
                                                                                                                   “not system but commentary is the legitimate form through which truth is approached
                                                                                                                   (Henderson, 1991). However, this mode of thinking and tradition was discontinued at
                                                                                                                   the beginning of 20th century when the imperial civil examination system was abolished
                                                                                                                   in 1905, which was followed by New Culture Movement, Cultural Revolution and later
Zhang Yingchun & Wu Zongjie - Heritage conservation and urban landscaping of Ancient Pan Pool Neighborhood, Qufu




                                                                                                                   on the Reform and Open Policy. These discourse transformations tend to alienate the
                                                                                                                   past from the present, bring the consequence that the meanings of the past could be
                                                                                                                   weakly heard by the present heritage policy makers.
                                                                                                                      Jingyi in Gu Pan Pool could be interpreted from the shape of the Pool and from the
                                                                                                                   poem of Pan River, Hymns of Lu, Book of Poetry.


                                                                                                                     1. Guan (observing) as educating and transforming

                                                                                                                       The Chinese character “gu” means ancient. In a Han Dynasty Confucian scholar
                                                                                                                   Zheng Xuan’s commentary: “ Pan Shui (River) means river of Pan Palace. The King
                                                                                                                   built Bi Yong Palace while the prince Pan Palace2.” Zheng Xuan further commented:
                                                                                                                   “Bi Yong means piling the mud in a round shape with water surrounding it like Chinese
                                                                                                                   Jade Bi (a round flat piece of jade with a hole in its centre). The round- shape enables
                                                                                                                   people gather around the palace from all sides in an equal manner to observing (the
                                                                                                                   ritual performance) (Guan Li, 观礼). ‘Pan’ means half or semi-circular. Pan River liter-
                                                                                                                   ally means a semi-circular pool with water in three sides: the east, the south and the
                                                                                                                   west. The shape of the palace is decided by the ritual. Only the king could build Bi Yong
                                                                                                                   Palace because the king is ritually superior to prince3.”
                                                                                                                       Pi Yong Palace, and Pan Palace were colleges in the ancient China. As recorded
                                                                                                                   in the Book of Rites4: “When the son of Heaven(the king)ordered a prince to institute
                                                                                                                   instruction, he proceeded to build his schools; the children’s, to the south of his place,
                                                                                                                   on the left of it; that for adults, in the suburbs. (The college of) the son of Heaven(the
                                                                                                                   king) was called the place of Bright Harmony(Pi Yong Palace), and had a circlet of wa-
                                                                                                                   ter. (That of) the prince were called the Palace with its semicircle of water.”5




                                                                                                                   2         郑玄《毛诗传笺》：泮水，泮宫之水也，天子辟廱，諸侯泮宫。
                                                                                                                   3         郑玄《毛诗传笺》：辟廱者, 筑土雝水, 圆如璧, 四方来观者均也。泮之，言半也。半水
                                                                                                                   者 , 盖东西门以南通水, 北无也。天子诸侯宫异制, 因形然。
                                                                                                                   4         《礼记 王制》：“天子命之教，然后为学。小学在公宫南之左，大学在郊。天子曰辟
                                                                                                                   廱，诸侯曰頖宫。”
                                                                                                                   5         James Legges’ translation of Book of Rites in Sacred Book of East edited by Max
                                                                                                                   Muller, pp219

                                                                                                             178
                              Pan Pool and Pan Palace (College)6



   The meaning of Guan(observing) originates in the Hexagram Guan, the 20th hexa-
gram in I-Jing(the Book of Changes). The Hexagram of Guan is to describe scenes
of ancient sacrifices offering. The actions and steps of movements in the sacrificial
events require great moral cultivation of the subjects involved. The Judgment of Guan
(卦辞) informs that the subject of Viewing is rendered in all its dignity and grandeur, so
those below who do the Viewing are morally transformed. In Wang Bi’s7 commentary
on the image of Guan, “the wind moves above the earth: this constitutes the image
of Guan (Viewing). In the same way, the former kings made tours of inspection every-
where and established their teachings in conformity with their Viewing of the People”.
   The philosophical interpretation on Guan by the later Confucian scholars through dy-
nasty of Zhou to Dynasty of Song, has developed into one of the core value of Mean(中).
The moral transformation of people is acquired through ritual performances, and thus the




                                                                                                           CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
pedagogy takes place “in bodily movement of ritual interpretation rather than by mean
reading or speaking of texts”(Wu,2011). This idea is later developed by Wang Yingming,
a Confucian scholar in Ming Dynasty as “True knowledge is what constitutes action (
知行合一). Viewing is kind of educating and transforming the mass (教化). This kind
of educating is not an indoctrination, but is concerned with people’s experiencing and
understanding of the world which could only happen in a space “open up by virtue of the
dwelling of humanity or the staying with things that cannot be separated: the earth, the
sky and the constellations, the divinities, birth and death.” (Heidegger, 1962). It is a phe-
nomenological horizon that includes everything that can be seen, or in Gadamer’s notion
a “fusion of horizons” to let linguistically effected consciousness be tested.(Wu, 2012).

   The poem of Pan River describes Prince Lu Xi coming to Pan Pool and performed
sacrificial rituals in Pan Palace built inside the Pan Pool. Kong Yingda commented on
the poem of Pan River in his Commentaries8 to the Book of Poetry, he wrote: “Pan


6           Excerpted from《钦定礼记义疏》Commentaries on Book of Rites Mandated by Emperor
7           王弼（226-249):《周易注》
8           In the canonical text, in addition to the poem that was printed in big font, layers of
historical fragments generated at different epochs of time were recorded and woven together
to show the textural meaning of the poem. These historical fragments were organized in four
strands: canonical text (Jing ,经 ) first selected by Confucius from originally some 3,000 songs
and poems, zhuan (传 , Mao’s commentaries) by Mao Heng in Handynasty (206 BC – AD 220),

                                                                                                     179
                                                                                                                   Palace was the name of college. Prince Lu Xi built the college, cultivated his moral
                                                                                                                   character, and to educate and transform the people. The eight stanzas told that the
                                                                                                                   people were eager to go to Pan River, enchanting to meet Prince Lu Xi”.9
                                                                                                                     Prince Lu Xi was extolled in this poem for his virtues.

                                                                                                                          “Very admirable is the marquis of Lu, Reverently displaying his virtue; Very intel-
                                                                                                                       ligent is the marquis of Lu, Making his virtue illustrious; His numerous officers, Men
Zhang Yingchun & Wu Zongjie - Heritage conservation and urban landscaping of Ancient Pan Pool Neighborhood, Qufu




                                                                                                                       who have enlarged their virtuous minds;”

                                                                                                                      A virtuous and moral person like Prince Lu Xi could be called a sage. His behaviors
                                                                                                                   were watched, felt and modeled by the people. The way sage lived and acted became
                                                                                                                   the source of educating and way of governance. Jiao (教), the literal translation for
                                                                                                                   educating does not have the present meaning of education, which is propositionalized
                                                                                                                   and institutionalized in a separate environment for the learners. As Shuōwén Jiězì (說
                                                                                                                   文解字, literally “Explaining and Analyzing Characters”) explains Jiao (教,education)
                                                                                                                   means 上所施下所效也), that is, the learners could follow those who are capable of
                                                                                                                   being modeled, such as the moral king, the officials and the moral persons. Therefore,
                                                                                                                   Jiao is to learn the good behaviors of those moral persons. Only morally righteous
                                                                                                                   persons could lead their people, hence governance is based on morality in this sense.
                                                                                                                      Water in Pan Pool flows through underground drainage ditch in its west to the ditch
                                                                                                                   in front of the Confucius Temple. From the Ming Dynasty, every Confucius Temple in
                                                                                                                   county, district or prefecture built a Pan River in front of the main gate with its cultural
                                                                                                                   and educational meaning originated from Pan Pool and Pan College(Li, 2010). Later on,
                                                                                                                   when the students went to the official school, it was called “entering the Pan”, Pan River
                                                                                                                   and Pan Pool together with the Pan Palace become the symbol of education in China.


                                                                                                                      2. Gu Pan Pool and Pan Palace as the ritual space: Drinking Rituals (乡饮酒礼)

                                                                                                                       Pi Yong Palace and Pan Palace were places for ritual ceremonies. Before and after
                                                                                                                   King and the princes go on expeditions, they would perform sacrificial ceremonies in Pi
                                                                                                                   Yong or Pan Palaces. In Stanza three, “And in the college he is drinking. He is drinking
                                                                                                                   the good spirits; And may there be given him the old age that is seldom enjoyed!” The
                                                                                                                   ritual of drinking in Pan Palace, Gu Pan Pool is closely examined as a form of ritual ac-
                                                                                                                   tivity deeply embedded in Chinese culture, but long lost for a century. The meanings of
                                                                                                                   the ritual of drinking are deeply reflected in the detailed description of the procedures
                                                                                                                   of the actions. Through ritual performance, one gradually understands what he should
                                                                                                                   do and what he should not do to realize a harmonious relationship with the people and
                                                                                                                   the environment. (Yu, 2013).
                                                                                                                       As with all ritualized action, ritual of drinking is a form of “non-intentional” activity
                                                                                                                   whose performance is stipulated by an ontology defined by a set of constitutive rules


                                                                                                                   qian (notes) noted by Zheng Xuan ( AD127–200), and shu (疏 , further commentaries) noted and
                                                                                                                   compiled by Kong Yingda in AD 642. These fragments were mostly authentically recorded from
                                                                                                                   various sources by editors of different generations to show the traces of doing and living in the
                                                                                                                   past.(Wu, 2013)
                                                                                                                   9         孔颖达: “泮宫，学名。能修其宫，又修其化。经八章, 言民思往洋水，乐见禧公。至于
                                                                                                                   克服淮夷,恶人感化，皆修浮宫所致。” 毛亨传, 郑玄笺, 孔颖达等正义. 毛诗正义[ A ] . 十三经注疏[
                                                                                                                   C] . 上海: 上海古籍出版社, 1997.

                                                                                                             180
and which is seen as a discrete separate entity independent of actors with its own
particular nomenclature and history (Humphrey and Laidlaw,1994). A complete set of
procedures of drinking is recorded in I-Li and Li Ji10. Before the ritual is performed, the
first and most important is to search for the guests, who could be only persons with tal-
ents and virtues or aged persons. Therefore, the meanings of drinking as Zhen Xuan’s
commentaries indicate is “to respect the virtuous and talented persons and revere the
old-aged persons (尊贤齿让).”
    These procedures contains receiving the guests, toasting to the guests, performing
music to the guests, proposing a toast in an order11, host and guests toasting to each
other(Peng Lin, 2002). The details in the procedures include, for example, the times of
bowing before ascending to the steps, the times of bowing when the cup is received,
when the cup is presented(in return), when the drinking is over, as well as the seats
order of the host, the guest, the sub-guest, and the Jie (介, person invited by host to
accompany the guests) and etc.. Every detail should be strictly conformed and has its
profound meanings.
    Confucius said, ‘ When I look on at the festivity (Drinking Festivity in the District 乡饮
酒礼) in the country districts, I know how easily the Royal way may obtain free course.”
(chapter 68, Book of Rites).Why would Confucius value drinking ritual so much that he
believed the Dao of King’s Ray Way (governance of country 王道) was so easy when
the ritual of drinking was performed rightly? Ritual is a mode of thinking which is analo-
gous to the notion of reason or rationality (li 理) in the West and should be understood
by way of bodily and situated interpretations in Chinese tradition(Wu & Hu 2010). The
bodily actions are beyond the educational knowledge and propositional indoctrination
in the reasoning language.

   The meanings the actions performed in Drinking Festivity are stated in Book of Rites:




                                                                                                              CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
        “The president on the occasion bows to the (coming) guest as he receives him
    outside the college gate. They enter and thrice salute each other till they come to the
    steps. There each thrice yields the precedence to the other, and then they ascend. In
    this way they carry to the utmost their mutual demonstrations of honour and humility.
    (The host) washes his hands, rinses the cup, and raises it,Rto give the highest idea
    of purity. They bow on the guest’s arrival; they bow as (the cup) is washed; they bow
    when the cup is received, and when it is presented (in return); they bow when the
    drinking it is over :-in this way carrying to the utmost their mutual respect.
        Such giving of honour, such humility, such purity, and such respect belonged to
    the intercourse of superior men with others. When they gave honour and showed
    humility, no contentions arose. When they maintained purity and respect, no in-
    difference or rudeness arose. When there was no rudeness or contention, quarrels
    and disputations were kept at a distance. When men did not quarrel nor dispute,
    there came no evils of violence or disorder. It was thus that superior men escaped


10         The I-Ii provides descriptions of the steps to be taken in various rituals, with little or
no explanation of why these steps were the appropriate ones. The basic structure and symbolic
content of the rites, however, can be discerned, especially when supplemented with relevant pas-
sages in the Li-chi [Record of ritual], another classic on ritual .
11         The (principal) guest pledges the host, the host pledges the attendants, the attendants
pledge all the guests. Young and old pledge one another according to their age, and the cup cir-
culates on to the keepers of the vases and the cup-washers.

                                                                                                        181
                                                                                                                      suffering calamity from other men; and therefore the sages instituted the obser-
                                                                                                                      vances in this ceremony to secure such a result.”

                                                                                                                       						Legge’s translation
                                                                                                                       In the ceremony of drinking in the country districts, those who were over sixty years
                                                                                                                   old sat, and those who were (only fifty) stood, and were in waiting to receive any orders
                                                                                                                   and perform any services ;--thus illustrating the honour which should be paid to elders.
Zhang Yingchun & Wu Zongjie - Heritage conservation and urban landscaping of Ancient Pan Pool Neighborhood, Qufu




                                                                                                                   Before those who were sixty, three dishes were placed ; before those of seventy, four
                                                                                                                   ; before those of eighty, five; before those of ninety, six :-- When the people knew to
                                                                                                                   honour their elders and nourish their aged, then at home they could practice filial pi-
                                                                                                                   ety and fraternal duty. Filial and fraternal at home and abroad, honouring elders and
                                                                                                                   nourish-ing the aged, then their education was complete, and this led to the peace and
                                                                                                                   tranquillity of the state. What the superior man calls filial piety.
                                                                                                                       As mentioned, the Five Classics are the source of meanings; nevertheless, it is
                                                                                                                   not fixed meaning. The original texts of Classics have been constantly interpreted by
                                                                                                                   generations of scholars to “make the past speak again in order to shed light on the
                                                                                                                   present”( Wu, 2013). The ritual way of thinking is deeply embedded in the living fabrics
                                                                                                                   in the locals’ lives. A middle aged male local resident, a slap-bang shop owner, whose
                                                                                                                   shop is several streets away from Gu Pan Pool and facing the memorial archway in the
                                                                                                                   west door of Confucius Temple, told me his understanding of the title of memorial arch-
                                                                                                                   way, Dao Guan Gu Jin (道冠古今, literally means, the Dao(way)Flowing from Ancient
                                                                                                                   to the Present) . He talked about the meaning of each character in great detail, even
                                                                                                                   the style of the writing. When I expressed my great surprise that he knows so much,
                                                                                                                   he cited a poem by Su Dongpo, a famous poem in Song Dynasty “A custom left over
                                                                                                                   since ancient States of Qi and Lu, tens of thousands of households reading books”.
                                                                                                                   (“自古齐鲁遗风在，十万人家尽读书”). In this shop owner’s understanding, Li(ritual) is:
                                                                                                                   “A human being should follow the rules.. to be friendly, to speak politely, to respect the
                                                                                                                   old and care for the young…. It is like what the statue of Confucius postures.”
                                                                                                                       The statue of Confucius postures a Yi Li (揖礼), which is to clench the right fist and
                                                                                                                   cover it with the left palm. Its meaning is to show respect to the other part. The right
                                                                                                                   hand is clenched to fist as the right hand is usually used to attack the enemy. To show
                                                                                                                   the left hand and use land hand to cover the right hand is to show sincerity and respect.
                                                                                                                   Yi Li could be traced back to the three Classics of Rites as early as Zhou Dynasty. A
                                                                                                                   tri-cyclist shows his understanding of Li when three of us need to take two tricycles,
                                                                                                                   he insists on two in his tricycle and one in the other one. He explains that the other tri-
                                                                                                                   cyclist is older than him and it is his natural responsibility to take care of him through
                                                                                                                   they take the same charges for each tricycle.
                                                                                                                       Kong Fanjin, a sixty-year old man, who owns a family hotel in the neighborhood
                                                                                                                   where I have made short stays in the field trips. His family has lived here for genera-
                                                                                                                   tions and now he has two grownup children, with a son getting married having kid and
                                                                                                                   a daughter who is about to get married. Upon my interview when he was free after
                                                                                                                   supper, rather informal, free talk actually, he talked a lot about his life history. What
                                                                                                                   impressed me most are all the details in performing ancestor worshipping upon the
                                                                                                                   arrival of the Spring Festival, including three major periods. Before the new year’s
                                                                                                                   eve(the 30th of December in Lunar Year), the god of kitchen will be sent to the heaven
                                                                                                                   on 23rd , followed by cleaning the entire house, preparing the food(oil frying bean
                                                                                                                   curd, meat ball, etc.), and offering the prepared food in the courtyard to the Heaven in
                                                                                                                   the next couple of days. When it comes to New Year’s Eve, the darkness of the day


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arrives, the ancestral spirit tablets are put in a pan used for grains with the front side
facing down. The spirits tablets are erected upon stepping to the outside facing the
directions of the tombs, inviting the ancestors to come home. The spirit tablets are
put in the long alter in the Tang (堂), with the spirit tablet inscribed with San Dai Zong
Qing (三代宗亲, relatives of three generations representing the ancestors) in the east,
and followed by spirit tablets of grandfather and grandmother, and then those of father
and mother. When the ancestors are invited home, making them a cup of new tea and
light a cigarette for them like they are alive. They could eat nothing though, the aris-
ing steam from the offerings means they are eating. Sacrificial offerings are offered
such as fruits, vegetables, a whole chicken, a whole fish and so on. The incenses are
lit, and everybody in the family will make kowtow. “What does everyone come home
during the Spring Festival for? It is to invite the old, the diseased ancestors to come
home to spend the New Year.” The shoe-shaped gold ingots are folded with tin paper.
At 12 o’clock in the Eve of the Spring Festival, the ingots are burnt to offer to all the
gods, the door god, Guanyin (a Bodhisattva), the god protecting hometown, the god
of fortune and etc. On the 15th day of the Spring Festival, the ancestors are invited out
and spirit tablets are collected. In his words, the meanings of the Spring Festival are
to educate the lived, the children, the next generation, do not forget the past ancestors
when one grows up. How one survives in the living world depends on how one treats
the dead. The children watch these rituals and perform with their elders year by year;
they naturally learn how to do it and always hold in awe and revelation in their hearts.
When I inform him that these rituals are recorded in the Book of Rites which was com-
piled by Confucius, he said we did not learn it from the book and it is just passed down
generation by generation from the ancient time. The ritual texture of the lived tradition
is similar to that described in Yili (complied around 484 B.C.), an ancient classic on
Chinese ritual life collected and edited by Confucius.(Wu, 2012).
     To me, the people I mentioned above and other local residents seem to live in the




                                                                                                   CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
meanings of Classics. The past is not recorded in the texts of Classics, and fixed as only
textual meanings, but deeply weaved itself into the living memories and behaving of the
local residents. As the material pasts were gone, the meanings of the pasts could only be
felt in the place/space though the way people live, feel and behave in that place. Ritual
does not only exist in Classics but is a mode of thinking deeply embedded in the living
fabrics of local people, becoming the source of moral living. I have been constantly feel-
ing the atmosphere, or the “aura” of that past, driving me to think about in what way the
heritage policy makers could draw clues from the meanings interpreted above.


   Heritage narratives in Gu Pan Pool Neighborhood

    The “cultural process of meaning and memory making and remaking”(Smith, 2006)
of the heritage of Gu Pan Pool on the part of local residents will be discussed. The
senior local residents around Gu Pan Pool may not have read much about the history
of the place, but the stories passing down generation by generation make sense of the
place and its past, becoming their “collective memory” ( Kansteiner, 2002). Though not
having formal school education, a grandpa aged 76, the 74th descendant of Confucius
according to him, whose bungalow locates at the north bank of the Pool said:
    “I know something about Gu Pan Pool. Pan means half circled water, which could
date back to the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2000 thousand years ago. The


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                                                                                                                   Pool was connected to the Wen Xian Spring(Literature and People Spring) in the east
                                                                                                                   and the water flew to the moat. There was a Ling Guan Palace built in Han Dynasty,
                                                                                                                   and it was said located just at the back of Gu Pan Pool Primary School whose site was
                                                                                                                   in Wen Chang Temple just there.” The building of Wen Chang Temple was a history of
                                                                                                                   the locals’ negotiation of their identity when the western countries entered China in late
                                                                                                                   Qing Dynasty. In the 24th year of Guanxu(1898AD), the western missionaries intended
                                                                                                                   to build a Church and a Church school on the north bank of Gu Pan Pool. However, the
Zhang Yingchun & Wu Zongjie - Heritage conservation and urban landscaping of Ancient Pan Pool Neighborhood, Qufu




                                                                                                                   local people were agitated greatly. Finally, the 74th direct line of descent of Confucius,
                                                                                                                   Kong Linyi talked with the county magistrate to build Wen Chang Temple at that place.
                                                                                                                       While complaining the deteriorating situation, the local people kept a nice memory
                                                                                                                   of the Pool. In my various interviews ( 2012.12, 2013.1 &3) with local residents in the
                                                                                                                   Gu Pan Pool neighborhood, I was informed that until the 50s in last century Gu Pan
                                                                                                                   Pool was clear with many fishes and lotus flowers grew in it. A woman aged sixty who
                                                                                                                   grew up in the place remembered the lotus flowers in the Pool and playing with her kid
                                                                                                                   companions at the edge of the pool. Other old-aged men told us that ducks laid eggs on
                                                                                                                   the bushes and they had to swim across to fetch the eggs. There were pavilions, stone
                                                                                                                   tablets, huge rockery and etc. However, all of these were destroyed by the Red Guards
                                                                                                                   during Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) as they were condemned as “feudal objects”.
                                                                                                                       The locals expressed their complex feelings towards the regeneration of the area.
                                                                                                                   Most of the current residents have lived here since they were born; many of them are
                                                                                                                   the descendants of Confucius, in their words: “Our fathers, grandfathers and grand-
                                                                                                                   grandfathers had lived here. We have lived here for 150 years”. They are not ignorant
                                                                                                                   of the place they have lived for generations. “My grandfather was a Xiu Cai(budding
                                                                                                                   scholar who passed the county test in civil examinations) once wrote a couplet hung on
                                                                                                                   the door like “ Adjacent to the Ling Guan Palace, Facing the Gu Pan Pool”.
                                                                                                                       This sense of belonging to this place represents its cultural characteristics and ena-
                                                                                                                   bles him say something about who he is and where he lives. Spring couplets, stuck
                                                                                                                   on door sides before the New Year eve, are Chinese traditional customs, expressing
                                                                                                                   good wishes. In Gu Pan Pool Neighborhood, couplets could be seen on door sides in
                                                                                                                   every house no matter how shabby the house is. The red couplet in this place is “a
                                                                                                                   physical demonstration of continuity over time” and carries the thousands of years of
                                                                                                                   history and tradition. As Confucius compiled the Six Classics, aiming at preserving the
                                                                                                                   rituals in the three dynasties, his birth place was cherished by the local residents as
                                                                                                                   a place as the couplet “The poems and books inherited for generations, sincerity and
                                                                                                                   kindness hand down from generation to generation in a family” (诗书继世长，忠厚传
                                                                                                                   家久). The meaning of ritual is indicated in the couplet “Spring and autumn having fine
                                                                                                                   days, Ritual and righteousness enabling abundant years” (春秋多佳日, 礼义多丰年) .
                                                                                                                   Though the environment of Gu Pan Pool was in bad situation, they harbor the good
                                                                                                                   wish and call it a valued place in the couplet “Our homes in the golden place; enjoy-
                                                                                                                   ing the happiness” (家居黄金地，人在幸福中) and “the fortune accumulated inside the
                                                                                                                   door; good luck and longevity filled the treasure place” (财源盈贵门，福寿聚宝地).
                                                                                                                       He also expressed his opinions on the regeneration of the Neighborhood:
                                                                                                                       “It is a good thing to develop the area, however, the notion of development is very
                                                                                                                   important. I agree to developing it as historic site and enhaning social civilization (增加社
                                                                                                                   会文明) but not to developing for gaining profits by the merchant, I mean ,the real estate
                                                                                                                   developer may only pursue the profits….” He has his own historical consciousness: “The
                                                                                                                   history changes when the ruling class changes. There is no truth of history.”



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   Historical footprints and voices around Gu Pan Pool

    Heritage is about past, but more than past, it is about the remembering of the past.
The “gu ji” (literally ancient relics) thinking, as “a cultural otherness” to the concept of
heritage, is a cultural way of historical memory in traditional China (Hou &Wu, 2012).
The term palimpsest, in “I would describe place as a palimpsest—a parchment where
successive generations have inscribed and re-inscribed the process of history”, (quoted
from Van Ijiak and Roth, 2010), provides a clue for us to seek the cultural meanings
constantly generated in history. Gu Pan Pool as ancient relics and the City of Qufu, were
frequented in various historic periods by scholars who were to trace the footprints of the
sages and interpret the meanings for the day, left over their meaning seeking traces in
articles and poems, upon which we are able to reflect on their concept of use of heritage.
    An official scholar in Yuan Dynasty, named Yang Huan (杨奂), having visited the
city of Qufu in 1251AD, he described the places where he set on his feet, and left
over his contemplations in the travelogue Dong You Ji (东游记, A travelogue to the
East?). Upon mounting on the Pan Palace Terrace, he wrote 12“A prince like Lu Xi
Gong could promote education and foster talents! I then chant the stanza of picking up
the celery(of the poem of Pan River) for three times and get down. To the west of Pan
Palace, the broken tiles laid on the destroyed foundation of Lin Guan Palace, so sad
and dreary upon the sight. I keep on asking where the meaning of Ling Guan Palace
has gone, which was in the famous Prose about Ling Guan Palace composed by Wang
Yanshou in Eastern Han Dynasty (王延寿, around 140-165).
    Yu Yue (1821-1907), a prestigious scholar in Qing Dynasty wrote about the custom
of “Returning to Pan Shui(Pan River) sixty years after passing the first level in Civil
Examinations” in a prolegomena for his friend’s book in his 500-rolls Collection of Chun
Zai Tang (春在堂全集). Later on, Yu Yue himself had revisited Pan River sixty years
after he entered the school This event was recorded by his grandson, Yu Biyun, in




                                                                                                     CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
his own imperial examination paper. Both Yu Yue and Yu Biyun had passed the met-
ropolitan examinations held in capital, the highest level of the Chinese imperial civil
examinations, being awarded the title of Jinshi, the most advanced scholar and eligible
for officialdom. This information was recorded “Revisiting Pan Shui” in the first part of
the examination paper, where the candidate recorded information on his lineage’s first
known ancestor and six generations above him. In the limited space of examination
paper, Yu Biyun clearly recorded “Revisiting Pan Shui” when he wrote about his grand-
father. This aroused my interest and drove me to ask a question “what is particular
about the place and what the meaning of the custom of revisiting the place is? What
impresses me is that Yu Yue saw this custom as a grant ceremony “to complete the
transformation of the nation’s continuing Dao” (國家久道化成). He asked, “Who knows
this would not become a decree and pass on to the future?




12  元 楊奐 《東遊闕里記》“登泮宮臺，臺之下水自西而南，深丈許而無源。吁！僖公一諸
侯，能興學養士如此，三詠采芹之章而後下。其西靈光殿基也，破礎斷瓦，觸目悲凉，而王延壽
所謂“俯仰顧瞻，東西周章”者今安在哉？

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                                                                                                                         Conclusion

                                                                                                                       Gu Pan Pool, as the source of Chinese traditional education and widely influential in
                                                                                                                   China, has once carried the core values of Chinese Classics. As in the above discus-
                                                                                                                   sion, the author has attempted to interpret the Jingyi of Classics, arguing that the ritual
                                                                                                                   and moral thinking imbued in the Jingyi could be used in the regeneration process of
                                                                                                                   Gu Pan Pool Neighborhood, not only focusing on the economic development gener-
Zhang Yingchun & Wu Zongjie - Heritage conservation and urban landscaping of Ancient Pan Pool Neighborhood, Qufu




                                                                                                                   ated by heritage tourism.
                                                                                                                       By presenting the living fabrics of the local residents and the meaning interpre-
                                                                                                                   tation of Confucian scholars in different historic moment, I argue that the local gov-
                                                                                                                   ernment and international efforts to the regeneration of city landscaping and protect
                                                                                                                   endangered cultural property cannot afford to neglect the needs of local communities,
                                                                                                                   who remain alienated from the historic environment. The regeneration of Gu Pan Pool
                                                                                                                   Neighborhood partnership projects shall draw on local skills and understandings, and
                                                                                                                   work towards sustainable approaches to both development and conservation. Jingyi
                                                                                                                   from Classics, and locals’ cultural understandings could be the source of meaning
                                                                                                                   for heritage-making just as the source for clear running water as Zhu Xi, the founder
                                                                                                                   New Confucianism in Southern Song Dynasty wrote “Upon being asked why the water
                                                                                                                   channel could remain clear? For the running water coming from the source” in his
                                                                                                                   poem written after he visited Gu Pan Pool.


                                                                                                                         References

                                                                                                                     Acknowledgement
                                                                                                                     This research was supported by“the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central
                                                                                                                   Universities” (Grant NO. 13RWBS06)

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   Summary

    Gu Pan Pool neighborhood got its name because of Gu Pan Chi, (古泮池，the
ancient Pan Pool), located in the southeastern part of Confucius’ birthplace, Qufu, the
birth place of Confucius with a history of 3000 year. Gu Pan Pool has been recently
under preservation with the joint efforts of World Bank cultural heritage conservation
project and the local municipal government. With disparate interests in mind, the three
stakeholders of heritage, the world bank, Qufu municipal government and local resi-
dents are contradictory with each other in the regeneration process, in which the local




                                                                                                 CONSERVATION SCIENCE IN CULTURAL HERITAGE
voices are often ignored.
    The purpose of this paper is to rethink heritage making from a historical and indig-
enous perspective in the contemporary Chinese urban historic landscape planning
process. The author contends that the cultural value and pluralism embedded in the
ritual way of thinking in Chinese Classics inherited and transmitted for thousands of
years could be an alternative way of thinking for the landscape planning practices in
the homogenizing culture of global capitalism. This research aims to reinterpret and
re-activate Confucianism as cultural heritage to enrich the understanding and hence
the sustainability related to human action in urban spaces with emphasis on planning
processes in contemporary China.




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