Leadership Insights | Illustrated Lectures: Drawing Lessons from History to Inspire a Better Future

Museums have many precious cultural relics, including some dubbed “national treasures”. They provide tangible evidence of millions of years of humanity, ten thousand years of culture, and more than five thousand years of civilization in China. It is necessary to extensively carry out the project to trace the origins of Chinese civilization, and continue deepening the research of the history of Chinese civilization. 

Museums are sacred venues for human beings to collect historical memories and proofs and forge new cultures, which play an important role in protecting, researching and displaying the legacies of mankind and their living environments and advancing the development of human civilization, and serve as bridges connecting the past, present and future. At present, China ranks among the top in the world in the number of registered museums, and it has formed a museum system featuring diverse types and distinctive characteristics, and established a museum-based public cultural service system that benefits the whole people. Besides, China continues improving the policy of free admission to museums, with more than 90% of museums in the country opened for free, thus ensuring the achievements of cultural heritage protection benefit the general public.

In recent years, major museums in China have improved their management level through continuous innovation, making cultural relics “come to life”. For example, the Palace Museum has launched a large number of cultural and creative products with its distinctive characteristics, turning itself into a super IP. Through constantly promoting the integration of traditional culture and trendy culture, it reawakens the history and culture that have been dormant for thousands of years. Many museums promote the cross-sectoral integration of cultural relics and mass media products, and innovate narrative methods to bring new brilliance to ancient artifacts. For instance, the variety shows National Treasures and Masters in the Forbidden City, the documentary series If Cultural Relics Could Talk, and the dance dramas Night Banquet in Tang Dynasty Palace and Only Blue and Green are sought after by the audience.

Cultural relics are the artifacts that carry culture. The numerous cultural relics with Eastern features left by China’s 5,000-year-old civilization accumulate the wisdom of the Chinese nation, carry the excellent traditional Chinese culture, embody of the self-improvement spirit of the Chinese people, and contain the intellectual and moral essence of the Chinese nation. Museums allow people to draw lessons from history and help spread excellent traditional culture, providing us with a strong spiritual power.