The originating of West China's Museum forum（as preface）
Curator of Gansu Provincial Museum
E Jun
The West China's Museum Forum is originated at the time when large numbers of recent archaeological discoveries are made， many new exhibition buildings are constructed， exhibitions of various kinds are opened to the public and many other developments in the field of museum are seen in China in the era of reform and opening-up-to-the-outside-world。 In particular， the policy of exploitation to the northwestern China enacted by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party provide a precious opportunity of development for museums in northwest China。We hope to serve the public， create the best social benefit and advertise ancient civilization in northwest China hand by hand with our colleagues from other museums in this region through this forum by getting our colleagues together， deepening our friendship， learning from each other， discussing the way to share our collections and museum resources。
1.“What a pleasure to have friends come afar！”
Although the time and distance are shorten greatly by the development of the science and technology in the information era， face-to-face communication is the mode which can not be substituted for people to get to know， establish friendship， enlarge intercourse。 Never get in touch with others is obvious a trite point of view of a narrow-sighted man。We， live on the neighboring pieces of land， share same historical and cultural continuity， corresponding origin of ethic groups and folk-customs， close economic and trade tie， should sit together discussing ourcommon concern in the field of museum， go out and tour the rivers and mountains on this piece of land， visit the cultural heritage which is somewhat familiar to us all。Now， we invite whole-heatedly the museum curators and experts from all parts of China to come to Lanzhou， to deepen our friendship， strengthen our contact， support each other and push forward the development of our career。The staff of Gansu Provincial Museum will give a warm welcome to our sincere friends and honored guests。
2.“The stones of other hills can be used to carve and polish the jade！”
“The stones of other hills can be used to carve and polish the jade”meaning learning from others， one can correct his own fault is an old Chinese proverb whose connotation correspond the key point of reform and opening-up-to-the-outside-world policy。 I quote this proverb in order to show our sincere wish to ask for advice from experts and learn new concept， new method， successful experience from our colleagues to do our work better and keep up with other museums in west China in the future。
We know that our colleagues in Shaanxi Provincial Museum， Sichuan Provincial Museum， Yunnan Provincial Museum， Museum of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture， Museum of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Prefecture and Qinghai Provincial Museum do very well in the aspect of collection conservation， exhibition design and manufacture， academic research。 Shanghai Muse um， Capital Museum in Beijing， Tianjin Municipal Museum， Fujian Provincial Museum， Nanjing Museum， Henan Museum， Hunan Provincial Museum， Shanxi Provincial Museum are celebrated ones in China for their abundant collection， or featured cultural heritage， or renowned experts， or outstanding management。We will treat all that we learn from you as treasure and reference， and do our best to improve the level of our work。
3.Cooperation turns a brook into a river
During the Warring States Period， Su Qin and Zhang Yi's idea ofuniting all the neighboring forces to fight against the enemy actually relies basically on their personal benefit and their country's existence。 Today， we use this word trying to express our wish of making a full use of rich cultural resources in west China so as to serve the society furthest。
If we consider the west China as a whole， and unite all advantages we have， do all we can， we can surely make a greater contribution to the society and thus recollect our ancestors better。 As every one knows， culture in west China share closed origin and relationship， for instance：the Neolithic cultures in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces， especially Yangshao Culture and Majiayao Culture；connection between the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Qin Dynasty， and that of Bashu Culture and the Longnan area in Gansu；cultures along the Silk Road within Shaanxi， Gansu， Qinghai provinces， Ningxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Prefecture；the relation between Majiayao Culture in Gansu， Qinghai Provinces and cultures of the Bronze Era；Western Xia Empire's governing in Gansu province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture；the migration of the ancient Di people， the Qiang people， the Rong people， the Huns， the Rouzhi people， and the Saka and amalgamation among them， and grottoes， the remains of the Great Wall， Buddhist temples， etc。The rich cultural heritage is the prerequisite of our cooperation。Cooperation is our best choice in this new era and we'd better take action as early as possible。
I want to present our gratitude to the museum curators， experts and our colleagues for your presence in this forum。 I hope this is only a start， and we will invite youto come to Gansu， to Lanzhou and to Gansu Provincial Museum again in the future。