Study Of Cultural Relics Laws And Regulations In The Period Of Nanjing Nationalist Government (1928-1937)

During the period of Nanjing Nationalist Government, domestic cultural relics were ravaged seriously and shipped overseas. Western archaeological expeditions looted cultural relics, as the civil war constantly lasted and domestic army tomb-raided rampantly. Due to the weak awareness of ordinary people for protecting the cultural relic, tomb-raiding activities even developed industrial chain. In this context, the government formulated regulations and protect cultural heritage.Regulations on cultural relics constituted the relics jurisprudence, which divided into Administrative Organic Law and Administrative Practices Law. Administrative Organization Law was related with competent authorities, preservation authorities, local authorities and other subjective authorities. Administrative Practices Law covered the conduct of cultural content and statistical survey, mining and distribution, management and preservation and other aspects.Although the implementing was affected by the war, funding and other factors, the achievements were still recognized. There were three major achievements: firstly, the statistical and cultural relics situation of the country were investigated thoroughly; secondly, the behavior of foreign archaeological expedition was regulated, including the stealing and selling case, preventing cultural relics excavated and loss; thirdly, the cultural relics were repaired and preserved as far as possible.The establishment and implementation of the regulations of Nanjing Nationalist Government's cultural relic laws strengthened central control over local in political, promoted the construction of the national culture, improved legal construction, pushed the development of modern Chinese archeology academically. Meanwhile, it also had certain significance for reference.