泽熙美文Feng Jicai, born in Tianjin in 1942, is a highly accomplished writer, known for his depictions of intellectuals’ lives and the historical stories of Tianjin, where he has been living for more than 40 years. In recent years, while serving as executive chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and chairman of the Tianjin Writers Association, Feng has dedicated most of his time and energy to the preservation of China’s ethnic and folk culture, trying to save the country’s vanishing cultural memories.
Feng frequently published articles in newspapers, explaining his aims and beliefs to the local residents. He wrote, "Cultural relics are dead, but culture is living in the historical buildings. A city without culture is a city without root."
In December 1999, Guyi Street, one of the oldest streets in Tianjin, was in the process of being demolished. On this street, built during the Yuan Dynasty, there were many famous shops, such as Qianxiangyi, Ruifuxiang, Shanxi Guild House, and the General Chamber of Commerce of Tianjin. Again, Feng called for volunteers to record the street on videotapes, and collect oral history from local residents. In February 2000, a set of postcards was published with Guyi Street as the theme, attracting long lines of purchasers. With Feng’s efforts, the destruction plan for the street was finally changed, saving some of the buildings there.
Acting on Feng’s proposal, a nationwide heritage rescue program launched a general survey of China’s folk cultures in 2003, aiming to catalog village-level art, songs, legends, dress and folk customs before they die off with their practitioners. A wide range of methods were adopted, including text, audio and video recording as well as photography.
Two severe problems in the rescue program were the lack of cultural workers and funds. Feng sold his own paintings twice to raise funds for the foundation to support the investigation of fine arts folk legacies in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces. Besides, he also calls for help from NGOs (非政府组织，非营利性组织) everywhere.
Feng was hired as a consultant of the State Council in 2008 for his outstanding contributions to the work of protecting cultural relics.
某中学生英文报就“保护中国传统文化”为主题举行英语征文活动。你阅读了上述文章后，准备给该报投稿，稿件内容包括：
1.以约30个词概括以上短文内容。
2.然后以约120个词谈谈你的观点，并包括以下要点：
(1)保护中国传统文化的重要性;
(2)列举1-2个你所知道的国家或当地政府文化保护的事例;
(3)谈谈你对文化保护的建议。
The passage mainly tells us the importance of protecting traditional Chinese culture, which is challenged or facing extinction because of the developing society and changing lifestyle. Besides, China is nationwide sparing no efforts to do it.
The protection of national and folk culture is of great significance to Chinese cultural diversity and also to the harmonious development between local economic and social development. It is reported that the Guangdong government pays special attention to protecting Chaoju(潮剧)， a local drama born in Chaozhou in the eastern Guangdong province.
In my opinion, some measures should be taken to protect traditional culture effectively. To start with, we should make a law to regulate the society’s performance. Besides, we should draw more people’s attention to it, for the more they know about the importance of culture protection, the stronger the support we can get from the public.
In a word, it is high time for us to treasure and develop our own valuable culture.
