The Yangtze River Water Resources Protection Science Research Institute has collected the data of key cultural relics protection units in various provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in the Yangtze River basin. According to the area involved in the basin, the importance of key cultural relics protection units and the availability of information, the distribution and categories of national and provincial key cultural relics protection units in the Yangtze River basin are counted. By 2007, the Yangtze River Basin involved 38 regions of 65,438+09 provinces (cities and autonomous regions), 65,438+04 autonomous prefectures, 70. It accounts for 26.4% of the whole country (except Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), including ancient ruins 104, 49 ancient tombs, 259 ancient buildings, 59 cave temples and stone carvings, 65,438 important historical sites and representative buildings in modern times, and others 1. Among all kinds of key cultural relics protection units, the proportion of important historical sites and representative buildings in modern times is the highest in China, accounting for 38.9%, followed by cave temples and stone carvings; There are 3062 key cultural relics protection units in provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government), accounting for 29. 1% of the whole country (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan), including 396 ancient sites, 290 ancient tombs, 263 ancient buildings126 cave temples and stone carvings, which are important historical sites and representative in modern times. They are numerous and rich in connotation, and occupy a decisive position in the history of the development of ancient civilization in China. Therefore, the protection, research and utilization of these cultural relics have important historical and practical significance. Looking at the cultural relics in the Yangtze River basin, there are mainly the following characteristics.

1. 1 Cultural relics are rich in variety, high in value and great in influence.

A large number of cultural relics and historic sites are distributed all over the Yangtze River Basin. On the land of 1/5, there are national and provincial-level (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) cultural relics with more than 1/4, which are very rich in variety and long in age, including stone artifacts, primitive clan society, tribal society, slavery society and feudal society. It is a vivid study and understanding of different social forms and cultures in the Yangtze River Basin. Among them, ancient cultural sites include ancient settlements, ancient cities, ancient kilns, iron smelting, mining, ancient workshops, ancient palaces and offices, ancient bridges and docks, ancient caves, ancient post stations, ancient temples, ancient battlefields, ancient military facilities, ancient sacrifices, ancient water conservancy facilities and other sites. These different sites have confirmed the origin and development of civilization in the Yangtze River basin, and provided the best evidence for studying the history and culture of the basin. For example, the ancient human site of Miaozhenlong Gupo in Wushan County, Chongqing confirmed that there were human footprints on the land of China 2 million years ago, which pushed forward the prehistoric civilization of China for nearly 6.5438+0 million years; Luojiaba Site in Jinhua Village, Puguang Township, Xuanhan County, Sichuan Province is the largest pre-Qin cultural site discovered at present, which is of great value for studying the mutual blending of Ba culture, Shu culture, Chu culture and Central Plains culture.

Ancient tombs include the tombs of emperors, celebrities or nobles, and ordinary tombs. The mound tomb of Liangzhu culture found in the anti-mountain site in Yuhang, Zhejiang Province is the earliest known large-scale mass grave with ground signs, which shows the dawn of ancient civilization in China. Ming Tombs, located at the southern foot of Zhongshan in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, as the head of the Ming Tombs in China, directly influenced the shape of imperial tombs in Ming and Qing Dynasties for more than 500 years. These underground archaeological achievements have written a new chapter for China's archaeological research, and are important physical materials to explore the funeral customs and social life conditions of different times, regions and social strata in the Yangtze River Basin.

Ancient buildings include city walls, palaces, mansions, temples, ancestral halls, official residences, academies, posthouse, shops and workshops, memorial archways, pavilions, pagodas, gardens, bridges and culverts, piers, dams, ponds and Jing Quan. They are not only the witness of the history and culture of the Yangtze River basin, but also the bridge connecting ancient and modern times. For example, the former site of the capital of Chu in jiangling county, Hubei Province, was the capital of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, representing the most dazzling stage in the development of Chu culture; Changsha Tongguan Kiln Site is a porcelain kiln site in the Tang and Five Dynasties, which was the first to open colored glaze. The Songping River Monument of Suzhou Confucian Temple in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province is recognized as the oldest astronomical map in the world. These precious cultural heritages truly reproduce the past glory of the Yangtze River Basin from different aspects.

Cave temples and stone carvings include cave temples, cliff stone carvings, inscriptions, stone carvings and rock paintings. With spectacular stone statues and precious art treasures, it reflects the artistic features of buildings in various periods in the history of the Yangtze River Basin. For example, Dazu Stone Carvings, a world cultural heritage in Dazu County, Chongqing, are a group of stone carvings that combine the artistic essence of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism in China. It is the representative of China's late grotto art and has irreplaceable historical, artistic and scientific value.

1.2 The distribution of cultural relics in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the basin is balanced and relatively concentrated.

All kinds of cultural relics in the Yangtze River basin are distributed in various provinces and cities, among which there are 336 national key cultural relics protection units in the upper reaches of Yichang, Hubei, accounting for 54.2% of the whole basin, and provincial key cultural relics protection units 1 175, accounting for 38.4% of the whole basin. There are 284 national key cultural relics protection units in the middle and lower reaches of Yichang, Hubei Province, accounting for 45.8% of the whole basin, and 1886 provincial key cultural relics protection units, accounting for 6 1.6% of the whole basin. The distribution of cultural relics in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the whole basin is basically balanced.

Among the key cultural relics protection units in various provinces and cities, Sichuan Province accounts for the majority, and its national and provincial key cultural relics protection units account for 2 1.8% and 18.7% of the whole basin respectively, which shows that Chengdu Plain in Sichuan is the center of ancient Bashu civilization in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Followed by Hubei, Jiangsu, Hunan, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, it is the birthplace, contact and development center of Jingchu culture and Wuyue culture.

1.3 There are many famous national historical and cultural cities (towns and villages) with a long history.

A famous historical and cultural city occupies an extremely important position in the history of China. At present, 34 provinces and cities in the Yangtze River Basin are listed as national historical and cultural cities, accounting for 31.2% of the national total; There are 46 national historical and cultural towns, accounting for 54.1%; 20 national historical and cultural villages, accounting for 27.8%; 7 world cultural heritages, accounting for 24.1%; China has two ancient capitals, Hangzhou and Nanjing. The development history of these famous historical and cultural cities (towns and villages) records the historical changes of the Yangtze River basin, which is a great carrier of basin culture and a concentration of basin history and culture. For example, Hangzhou, the capital of Qin Dynasty, wuyue in the Five Dynasties and Southern Song Dynasty, is known as the "first state in Southeast China", with a history of more than 2,200 years. Tanghe Town, Jiangjin City, Chongqing has a long history. As early as 2000 years ago, human beings have lived together. In the Ming Dynasty, houses were built into market towns. Sun Jia Ancestral Temple in the town is a typical example of the best-preserved ancestral temple building at present, which has important historical and cultural protection value.

1.4 There are many representative historical sites of modern revolution.

As one of the important cradles of China's modern revolutionary struggle, the Yangtze River basin occupies a decisive position in the history of modern revolution, which makes the Yangtze River basin rich in modern revolutionary historical sites and profound historical and cultural heritage, among which the national key cultural relics protection unit 148 accounts for the highest proportion of all kinds of cultural relics in the basin. These important historical sites and representative buildings in modern times cover the former sites of important historical events and institutions, memorial sites of important historical events and people's activities, former residences of celebrities, traditional houses, religious buildings, tombs of celebrities, tombs of martyrs and memorial facilities, industrial buildings and accessories, financial and commercial buildings, time-honored Chinese brands, typical style buildings or structures, etc. For example, the Tianwangfu site of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, east of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, was the residence of Hong Xiuquan, the king of Tianjing, which was renamed in 1853 after the Taiping Army captured Nanjing. Wuchang Cavalry Training Ground in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, the former site of Wuchang Rebel Government in the Northern Revolution of 1911, is the Hubei Army Governor's Office established by revolutionaries after the Wuchang Uprising. Located in Lane 374, Beiyu Road, Shanghai, the site of the first national congress of the China * * * Production Party recorded an epoch-making event in China-the formal establishment of the China * * * Production Party. These revolutionary relics in the Yangtze River basin are of great value and strong representativeness, which have witnessed the historical process of China's national democratic revolution from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Revolution of 1911, the Northern Expedition, the Sino-Japanese cooperation with War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression to the War of Liberation in modern times.