On the morning of August 14, the launching ceremony of the "Key Projects in the Series of Shijiazhuang Historical and Cultural Studies" was held at the Converged Media Center of our university. Yu Yanhong, President of Shijiazhuang Academy of Social Sciences, and Feng Baoqiang, Vice President of our university, attended the event and delivered speeches. Experts from municipal and provincial academies of social sciences, universities and research institutions, as well as representatives of core researchers of the projects, jointly participated in the launching ceremony and the expert symposium.

At the launching ceremony, Feng Baoqiang pointed out in his speech that Shijiazhuang is a city with profound cultural heritage. As the only municipal undergraduate university in Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang University shoulders the mission of spreading and promoting Shijiazhuang's culture. The university has already launched achievements such as A General History of Shijiazhuang Culture and built the Shijiazhuang Regional Culture Museum. This time, the projects will form an interdisciplinary team to conduct in-depth research on the historical context of Shijiazhuang, systematically interpret the contemporary value of Shijiazhuang's culture, and help Shijiazhuang upgrade from a "geographical hub" to a "civilization hub".

 

Wang Feng, Chief Principal of the projects and Dean of the School of Literature and History of our university, gave a detailed introduction to the overall concept and implementation plan of the projects. The projects innovatively adopt a "1+8+N" team structure, bringing together the strengths of three generations (the elderly, middle-aged and young), and forming a scientific inheritance chain. The eight sub-projects and fifty special topics will vertically connect the 8,000-year civilization history of Shijiazhuang and horizontally integrate the three-dimensional spaces of the Hutuo River Basin, Taihang Mountain Passage and Railway Hub, constructing a complete logical chain of "civilization origin tracing → cultural integration → spiritual inheritance → contemporary empowerment". Through systematic research, the three-fold urban positioning of Shijiazhuang as "a key node of Chinese civilization, a typical sample of modern transformation, and a spiritual highland in the new era" will be established.

Yan Hong highly affirmed the significance of the projects, emphasizing that this is a key measure to practice the concept of "using history to provide reference for governance and cultivating people with culture" and enhance cultural soft power. On behalf of the Academy of Social Sciences, she promised to fully support the smooth progress of the projects and put forward four core requirements for the research: adhering to the correct direction and applying the materialist view of history; establishing the people-centered concept and making the research results serve the citizens; conducting in-depth exploration and refinement to pursue landmark achievements; and strictly abiding by academic ethics and focusing on practical results. She then announced the official launch of the Key Projects in the Series of Shijiazhuang Historical and Cultural Studies.

After the launching ceremony, the expert symposium themed Digging Deep into Historical and Cultural Contexts · Empowering Urban Development was held. Experts and scholars from universities, cultural and museum institutions, and research associations in the province conducted in-depth discussions and exchanges with members of the project team on issues such as deepening the research direction, early warning of potential risks, establishing a cooperation mechanism, and promoting the transformation of research results. All participants agreed that the launch of this major project marks a key step for Shijiazhuang in systematically sorting out and deeply exploring local historical and cultural resources, aiming to inject profound cultural momentum into the construction of a modern, international and beautiful provincial capital city. Members of the project team stated that they will adhere to the correct direction of historical research, take the initiative to assume the responsibility of historical research, strengthen team cooperation, and complete the research work with high quality.

The successful holding of the launching ceremony marks that the "Shijiazhuang Historical and Cultural Research" of our university has entered a new stage. Taking this as an opportunity, the School of Literature and History will systematically sort out the local historical and cultural contexts, explore their contemporary value, and contribute more solid intellectual support to further deepening the research on regional historical culture, building a city with strong culture, and promoting the construction and development of the provincial capital.

(Contributed by: School of Literature and History; Written by: Zhang Jingyi)