Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) — The Archaeological Institute of North China’s Shanxi Province, the Shanxi Province Museum and Fergana State University (Uzbekistan) recently established a joint archaeological center in Uzbekistan.
The opening ceremony of the Fergana-Shanxi Archaeological Center and the Laboratory for the Protection and Restoration of Cultural Monuments was held at the Fergana State University in the city of Fergana. At the same time, a multimedia exhibition “The Age of Yu Hong /533-592/” was opened at the said university, according to the website of the Cultural Heritage Protection Department of Shanxi Province.
Yu Hong is a native of Central Asia. He was sent on a mission to the Celestial Empire and then stayed and held a high position.
The exhibition is said to allow visitors to deepen their understanding of the cultural landscape of the Silk Road and Central Asia.
The Great Silk Road, formed more than 2,000 years ago as a trans-Eurasian highway, facilitated economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West. The Sogdians, who inhabited the territory of Sogdiana from the middle of the 1st millennium BC, actively participated in trade along this route. One of the representatives of the Sogdians is considered to be Yu Hong, who came to the Celestial Empire more than 1,400 years ago and “established roots” in its territory, shared the director of the Archaeological Institute of Shanxi Province Fan Wenqian.
Both sides, according to him, will cooperate in the field of joint archaeological research, training of specialists, protection of cultural monuments and organization of exhibitions.
Rector of Fergana State University Bakhodirjon Shermukhammadov noted the ancient history of contacts between Central Asia and China. He expressed confidence that cooperation with China will contribute to the development of archaeological research at the university.
The interaction between the two sides clearly demonstrates the modern significance of the Great Silk Road. Fergana State University is trying to serve as an example of Uzbek-Chinese cultural exchanges and cooperation, he added.
Let us recall that in 1999, an ancient tomb was discovered in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province. According to the epitaph, a native of Central Asia was buried there, who bore the Chinese surname and name Yu Hong.
It became one of the sensational events in the archaeological community. Yu Hong’s tomb was listed as one of the top 10 archaeological discoveries in China that year. The white marble sarcophagus and other exquisite cultural relics unearthed during the excavation were displayed in many countries and regions around the world, including the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. -0-