举世闻名的万里长城和京杭大运河，是古代中国人民创造的两项伟大工程，是中华民族的历史丰碑和永远的骄傲，也是中国人民对人类文明的重大贡献。保护好万里长城和京杭大运河，是当代中华儿女光荣使命和义不容辞的职责。
　　长城是凝固的历史，运河是流动的文化。在长城已成为世界文化遗产并得到初步有效保护的今天，我们要加倍重视京杭大运河的保护和申遗工作。京杭大运河不仅是一条积淀丰厚的文化遗产长廊，更是一条活着的、流动的、发展的文化经济黄金通道。切实保护好京杭大运河，不仅具有丰硕的历史文化价值，而且具有巨大的经济社会价值。
　　京杭大运河自开凿至今，虽经千百年历史沧桑和社会演变，但其集航运、灌溉、防洪于一体的功能，仍然发挥着积极的作用。京杭大运河是南北物资运输和长三角经济的水上重要通道，有10万多艘船舶长年在运河上航行，年运输量相当于3条京沪铁路。京杭大运河是南水北调东线工程的部分水道，借道运河，稍加整修，可以节约大量的人力物力财力和土地。京杭大运河文化遗存众多，沿岸风光无限，景观独具魅力，旅游资源十分丰富。运河犹如一条晶莹璀璨的项链，沿河各城市就是这条项链上的颗颗明珠，熠熠生辉，光彩夺目。京杭大运河是一条历史的和现实的“经济走廊”、“文化走廊”，成为沿河经济的“孵化器”、城市发展的“助推器”、旅游开发的“金名片”。
　　历史文化和经济社会的双重价值，召唤着国内外对这条流金淌银的京杭大运河的高度关注。2006年5月，由陈奎元副主席带队，全国政协文史和学习委员会组织全国政协委员，并邀请文物、历史、考古、水利、建设、规划、南水北调等领域专家学者参加，全程考察了京杭大运河的保护和利用情况，在杭州召开了京杭大运河保护与申遗研讨会，通过了《京杭大运河保护与申遗杭州宣言》，对京杭大运河的保护和申遗工作起到了扬旗擂鼓的作用。
　　当前，京杭大运河的保护和申遗工作有了一个良好的开头，国务院已将京杭大运河公布为第六批全国重点文物保护单位，国家文物局也已将大运河列入重设的《中国世界文化遗产预备名单》，沿河不少地方也正在对运河实施保护和利用的综合整治工程。但是，保护和申遗工作任务十分繁重，面临问题也不少，如对保护和申遗工作的重要意义认识不足，尚未引起国家层面和沿河各地的足够重视；长期以来，大运河的保护和整治，存在条块分割、多头并管的局面，缺乏整体保护规划和统一管理协调机制；是整体风貌日遭毁坏，山东济宁以北河段断流已有时日，一些河段污染严重，堵航现象时有发生，部分古河道频遭破坏，运河上的古代水工建筑以及与运河相关的重要古建筑“建设性破坏”不止，沿河民俗风情、民间艺术等非物质文化遗产日趋消亡。
　　我们忧虑地感到，如果对这些问题再不引起高度重视，那么这条流淌千年的“历史之河、文化之河”，将继续遭受自然退化、人为毁坏，直至消亡，那将是中华民族不可挽回的巨大损失。我们将愧对先人，愧对今人，愧对后人。为此建议：
　　
　　建立统一协调机制，切实加强组织领导
　　成立以国务院领导同志牵头的京杭大运河管理委员会，加强组织领导，统一协调保护、申遗和开发利用工作、避免条块分割，政出多门；要尽快编制《京杭大运河保护总体规划》，明确保护标准和重点；全国政协牵头，成立由国家相关部门、有关专家、沿河政府和政协参加的京杭大运河研究机构，对京杭大运河及沿线开展全面调查，摸清文化遗产家底，协调和督促有关保护和申遗工作；按照《保护世界文化和自然遗产公约》的要求，尽快制定申报世界遗产的工作方案，积极推进申遗工作。
　　
　　制定保护条例，依法推进保护
　　加大保护工作力度，必须有相应的法律保障。鉴于京杭大运河保护的紧迫性、严峻性，建议国务院尽早制定出台类似《长城保护条例》一样的《京杭大运河保护条例》，对京杭大运河保护的基本指导思想、原则、保护规划编制、专项保护资金设立、保护工作监督检查以及相应法律责任等作出明确规定，推动大运河的保护与管理工作，尽快走上法制化、科学化、规范化轨道。
　　
　　
　　统筹考虑保护利用，科学实施南水北调工程
　　进一步完善南水北调东线工程与京杭大运河古河道相衔接的设计方案，充分利用运河古河道，通过南水北调东线工程，实现京杭大运河全程通水，促进沿河各地经济社会加快发展；在充分利用古河道的过程中，必须最大限度地减少或降低对运河历史遗存和风貌的破坏，切实保护好运河的物质或非物质文化遗产，延续运河文脉，使今日造福社会的国家重点建设工程，成为明天珍贵的世界文化遗产的重要组成部分；结合南水北调工程，加大治污力度，全面修复运河生态环境，促进“人水和谐”，再现千年古运河的整体风貌。
　　
　　广泛动员各方力量，共同参与保护和申遗工作
　　设立京杭大运河文化遗产保护基金，鼓励和支持社会力量参与京杭大运河的保护；充分发挥新闻媒体和互联网的作用，加大京杭大运河保护和申遗工作的宣传力度。建议中央电视台筹拍《京杭大运河》专题纪录片，向海内外宣传京杭大运河的深厚文化内涵和独特遗产价值；在第二个“文化遗产日”到来之际，在全国开展“爱我中华，护我运河”大型主题宣传活动，赋予大运河以新的民族时代精神内涵，让古老的大运河绽放出更加绚丽的光彩。
　　（本文作者为全国政协文史和学习委员会副主任）
　　
　　The Great Wall and the Grand Canal, two great engineering miracles of ancient China, are historical monuments and everlasting pride of the Chinese nation. They are two great Chinese contributions to the world civilization. It is our glorious mission and obligation to well preserve them.
　　The Great Wall, which has been recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site and successfully placed under essential state protection, can be compared to a standstill history while the Grand Canal showcases a flowing culture. We need to double our endeavors to protect the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and make all the appropriate preparations for successfully getting the World Cultural Heritage status for the canal. The canal is more than a long corridor of great cultural heritage. It has been a golden waterway for dynamic cultural and social progress for neighboring regions over centuries. Protecting the canal is vitally important not only for maintaining its great historical and cultural values but also for promoting its great economic and social values.
　　
　　The Grand Canal still plays a dynamic role in regional transportation, irrigation and flood control despite the great vicissitudes it has experienced over a millennium. An important waterway between Beijing and Hangzhou and within the Yangtze River Delta where goods are transported to and fro, the canal sees more than 100,000 ships navigate through it every year, carrying the freight 3 times than that carried by Beijing-Hangzhou railway. It also functions as part of a huge project of water diversion from the south to the north. By using the canal, the project can save a great deal of investment, labor and land. Teeming with scenes of natural beauty and cultural and historical interests, the canal strings all the cities along it like pearls on a glistening necklace. It has served as “an incubator”for economic and social prosperity and as a name card for tourism for cities along the canal.
　　The historical, cultural, economic and social significance of the canal has caught the great attention both at home and abroad. Led by Vice Chairperson Chen Kuiyuan and organized by the CPPCC Culture & History Study Committee, a group of CPPCC members toured the Grand Canal from end to end in May 2006 in a field study of the canal’s preservation and utilization. At the invitation of the committee, a team of experts in various fields participated in the field study. A seminar was held in Hangzhou on the subject of preservation of the canal and application for the world cultural heritage site for the canal. At the seminar, a declaration was adopted to promote the preservation and application efforts.
　　
　　A great headway has been made in the canal preservation and application for its world cultural heritage status. The State Council has included the canal in the sixth batch of key cultural heritage sites for state protection. The State Administration for the Preservation of Cultural Relics has also placed it on a revised list of the country’s candidates for world cultural heritage statuses. Comprehensive improvement projects have been initiated in some cities along the canal for the purpose of better preservation and utilization. However, the preservation and application task is arduous and there exist some thorny problems due to inadequate attention paid to the importance of the task. Consequently, over a long time, separate projects of preservation and maintenance have been conducted under different regional administration without integrated efforts and results; there has been no unified plan for preservation or mechanism for overall coordination and management; the canal as a whole has been on the serious decline; the section north of Jining, Shandong Province has been dry for a while; some sections have been seriously polluted; traffic congestion on the canal occurs here and there frequently; some sections of the ancient waterway have been vandalized repeatedly; some ancient water control projects on the canal and important ancient architectures related to the canal have been dismantled to make room for new urban projects; intangible cultural heritages along the canal such as folk lifestyles and arts have been deteriorating.
　　
　　We are highly concerned that the millennium-old canal of history and culture would be continuously wrecked by nature and man until it dies if no urgent measures are taken to solve the above-mentioned problems. If the canal died on us, that could be too great a loss to the Chinese nation and we would be shamed to face our ancestors, ourselves, and our children. Therefore we make the following suggestions:
　　1. Set up an integrated coordination mechanism and strengthen organization and administration. A committee for the administration of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal should be set up, which should be headed by the State Council leaders for the purpose of overall preservation, utilization, development, and application for the canal’s world cultural heritage status. Measures should be taken to avoid the situation in which each region manages its own canal preservation and utilization work in its own way. A research institute should be set up to engage national and local governments and CPPCC local branches, and experts in conducting an overall survey of the cultural heritage of the canal. The application plan for the world cultural heritage site should be completed as soon as possible in conformity with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
　　2. Formulate preservation regulations and promote preservation in accordance with the law. The law should be in place to ensure effective preservation. Given the serious and urgent situation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, it is suggested that the State Council issue regulations on the protection of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in the pattern of the Regulations on the Protection of the Great Wall, specifying the guideline, principle, responsibility, formulation of action plans, fund sources, and supervision.
　　3. Make an overall planning for comprehensive utilization and protection and scientifically carry out the south-north water diversion project. Measures should be taken to improve the design plan to incorporate the canal into the south-north water diversion project for the purpose of fully utilizing the ancient waterway and reintroducing water into the whole canal, and speed up social and economic development along the canal. In fully tapping into the advantages of the canal, destruction to its historical heritage and appearance should be minimized. Effective measures should be taken to protect tangible and intangible cultural heritage along the canal. More actions should be taken to minimize pollution and restore the canal’s ecology.
　　4. Mobilize the people of all quarters to participate in the protection and application for the world cultural heritage status. A protection fund should be set up and the public be encouraged to engage in protection tasks. News media and internet should be brought into full play to publicize the protection and application campaigns. It is suggested that CCTV make a full-length documentary on the canal to publicize the cultural content and unique value of the canal as a cultural heritage. Activities should be held before the second Cultural Heritage Day by June 10th this year for a nationwide campaign for the love and protection of the canal.
　　(Translated by David)