It is well known that the human gene map plays a crucial role in decoding the secrets of human life, and then the question is how we could decode our civilization? From the folk songs a grandma hums to herself and from the notes a grandpa plays, we can derive the codes of our local culture. When our local culture merges into the stream of the Chinese civilization, it will be incorporated into the “gene map” of the global civilization. From this point, our indigenous culture becomes one portion of the global civilization.
    We are a group of researchers who are devoted to Chaoshan culture; we have turned eyes onto the piece of land under our feet. We make inquiries among native people, we are ready to understand the meaning of every monument in this field, we comb through piles of collections. Our duties are to collect and collate information for Chaoshan culture because this culture is the most precious assets in our blood.
    In this information era, we should employ both traditional techniques and advanced technologies to complete our tasks. Using advanced technologies such as computer, internet and multimedia, we can effectively collect, preserve and disseminate Chaoshan culture. As a result, we have created a website for Chaoshan Special Collection Section and developed several databases including “Database of papers on ChaoShan culture research”, “Database of the literature on Chaoshan research”, “Database of photographs of showplaces and domiciles”, and “Database of spoken stories”.
    On the other hand, the traditional literature-collection techniques are not only crucial to enrich our Chaoshan collection, they are also the unique way to acquire first-hand and rare materials. For a long time, these traditional techniques are indispensable for us to accumulate local information and documents. On the basis of this understanding, we will build up our information web and dispatch our researchers to local areas to collect valuable information, and we will emphasize on collecting the folk songs, photographing key points of interests, producing films for folk customs, and recording spoken stories.
    There is plenty of work for us to do, and we will do our best. We wish our Chaoshan Special Collection Section and our website can build a bridge between friends to share, love, and carry forward Chaoshan culture, and we together make great contribution for the cultural and economic development and prosperity of Chaoshan district.