The book Ten Thousand Years on Path to Shangshan: Xu Limin, Role Model of the Times. [Photo provided by Zhejiang People's Publishing House]

A new book on Xu Limin, the late official who devoted himself to protecting and promoting Shangshan culture in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, has been published to mark the 20th anniversary of the culture's naming.

Ten Thousand Years on Path to Shangshan: Xu Limin, Role Model of the Times, published by Zhejiang People's Publishing House, recounts how Xu, former head of Pujiang county's publicity department, spent over 30 years at the grassroots level promoting Shangshan culture until his death in September 2022 at 52.

In June 2024, the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee posthumously awarded him the title "Role Model of the Times."

Shangshan Site in Pujiang was discovered in 2000 and is the earliest Neolithic site found in the lower Yangtze River region. It became a national key cultural relic protection unit in 2006, when Shangshan culture was officially named.

The book uses a dual narrative, intertwining Xu's dedication to cultural heritage with his grassroots perseverance and drawing on diaries, footprints, and recollections to portray this dedicated official.

It unfolds across five themes — tracing Shangshan culture, a down-to-earth work style, innovative methods, in-depth research, and honoring his vows — and ends with Xu caring about Shangshan research until his final moments.