China's long history of 5,000 years has created many famous historical and cultural ancient cities. As an important part of human civilization, they belong not only to the Chinese nation, but also to the people of the world.
It is very worrying that most of these ancient cities, which can fully represent the long and splendid culture of the Chinese nation, have gone through vicissitudes of life and have been destroyed by natural and human factors, and are facing the threat of annihilation. It is our unshirkable historical mission to protect the historical and cultural values of these cities, so that they can still maintain their historical individuality and style in the era of scientific and technological progress and creatively pass them on to future generations. The State Council approved the publication of two batches of 62 national historical and cultural cities, 1982 and 1986, which is an important measure for the country to strengthen urban modernization and cultural relics protection in the new historical period, and will certainly have a far-reaching impact on the historical and cultural protection cause and the protection and development of historical and cultural cities in China.
First, the development of China's historical and cultural cities
(A brief history of development
According to documents, the appearance of ancient cities in China began in the legendary Xia Qi period. At that time, there was a saying that "the city was built for sanitation and the outline was built to protect the people." During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there were large-scale city-building activities, and capital cities such as shopping malls and Luoyi appeared. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the number and scale of cities have developed greatly, and there have been prosperous capitals such as Zhaohandan, Qilinzi, Chu Du Ying and Wei Daliang. Qin unified the world, zoned 4 1 county, and set more than 1000 counties, which further developed urban construction. During the Han, Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, the world famous names such as Chang 'an in the Western Han Dynasty, Luoyang in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Jiankang in the Southern Dynasty and Chang 'an in the Sui and Tang Dynasties were created. During the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the number of cities increased, the scale expanded, the types and functions became more complete, and a series of economically and culturally developed cities such as Kaifeng, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Chengdu and Guangzhou appeared. Administrative central cities such as Beijing have become more functional political, economic and cultural central cities. For example:
Cities with political centers as their main functions: Xi, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Beijing, etc.
Foreign trade ports: Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Chaozhou, Ningbo, Yangzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin, etc.
Transportation: Wuhan, Xuzhou, Shenyang, Zhangye, Wuwei, Kashgar, etc.
Attractions: Guilin, Chengde, etc.
Capital of ethnic minority areas: Lhasa, Hohhot, Yinchuan, Dali, etc.
Cultural attractions: Anyang, Shangqiu, Dunhuang, etc.
Hometowns of celebrities: Qufu, Bozhou, Huai 'an, etc.
Features: Jingdezhen, Zigong, Datong and so on.
Among the 62 famous historical and cultural cities, there are 3 municipalities directly under the central government and 5 provincial cities/kloc-0. Most of these cities are located in the Yellow River basin (accounting for 35.3% of the total number of famous cities), the Yangtze River basin (accounting for 37. 1%) and coastal areas (accounting for 8%).
(2) Overview of economic and social development of historical and cultural cities.
Due to the differences in natural environment and historical conditions, the economic and social development level of China's historical and cultural cities is very uneven. Generally speaking, the economic and social level of cities in the Yangtze River basin and coastal areas is relatively high, while the development level of the Yellow River basin and international remote areas is relatively low, and many cities are located in poverty-stricken areas. The task of urban protection and development is very severe.