The Chongqing municipal government recently stopped a controversial project that aimed to rebuild the old residence of Li Gen'gu, a Chinese general in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, in the Liziba Anti-Japanese War Relics Park into a cigar club.

This incident is dwarfed by some similar but worse projects. Not long ago, the demolition of the 63-year-old Beijing Film Studio caused quite a stir in China. Previously, Liulaogen Guildhall had reportedly damaged the more than 200-year-old Shanxi Merchants Guildhall and Jinyi Guildhall in Beijing, the old house of Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin had been dismantled, and Shanghai's historic construction Jianyeli had become a luxurious villa after three years of restoration.

Fortunately, the Chongqing municipal government stopped the controversial project concerning Li Gen'gu's Old Residence in a timely fashion. However, we cannot help worrying that similar incidents have happened again and again because of some coarse "logic" that "culture" is inferior to "commercialization."

We value historic buildings because they carry historical information and memories of the people of different times. Historic buildings are a part of culture, and demolition of these buildings may lead to the disappearance of the foundation and opportunities for recalling, understanding, reflecting, inheriting, and carrying forward traditional culture.

The coarse "logic" that "culture" is inferior to "commercialization" has at least three branches.

The first branch has at least good intentions. It is common to see the struggle between commercial development and protection of such cultural resources as historic buildings. Commercial development can provide the money for protecting historic buildings, but may eventually lead to physical or spiritual destruction. This dilemma is based on good intentions, but tends to deviate from its original right direction.