Understanding Authenticity in Chinese Cultural Heritage

by Anke Hein (Editor), Christopher J. Foster (Editor)

Overview

Understanding Authenticity in Chinese Cultural Heritage explores the construction of "authenticity" and its consequences in relation to Chinese cultural heritage—those objects, texts, and intangible practices concerned with China’s past.

Including contributions from scholars around the world reflecting on a range of different materials and time periods, Understanding Authenticity emphasizes the situatedness and fluidity of authenticity concepts. Attitudes toward authenticity change over time and place, and vary between communities and object types, among stakeholders in China as they do elsewhere. The book examines how "authenticity" relates to four major aspects of cultural heritage in China—art and material culture; cultural heritage management and preservation; living and intangible heritage; and texts and manuscripts—with individual contributions engaging in a critical and interdisciplinary conversation that weaves together heritage management, art history, archaeology, architecture, tourism, law, history, and literature. Moving beyond conceptual issues, the book also considers the practical ramifications for work in cultural heritage management, museums, and academic research.

Understanding Authenticity in Chinese Cultural Heritage provides an opportunity for reflection on the contingencies of authenticity debates - not only in relation to China, but also anywhere around the world. The book will be of interest to scholars and students in a variety of fields, including heritage studies, Asian studies, art history, museum studies, history, and archaeology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781000872880
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	03/15/2023
Series:	Routledge Research on Museums and Heritage in Asia
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	298
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Anke Hein is Associate Professor in Chinese Archaeology at the University of Oxford and St Hugh’s College. She is an anthropological archaeologist focusing on issues of culture contact, identity formation and expression, and the history and practice of archaeology as a discipline, particularly in the Chinese border regions.

Christopher J. Foster is a British Academy postdoctoral fellow, affiliated with the School of History, Religions and Philosophies at SOAS University of London. He is an historian of premodern China, focusing on intellectual history, manuscript culture, primary education, and canonization.

Table of Contents

Part I: Art and Material Culture; 1. The Construction and Deconstruction of Authenticity in Chinese Art; 2. Copy, Yet Original: Re-examining "Fang Ni Zan" Paintings in the 15th - 17th Century; 3. Substitutional Objects: The Authenticity of Su Shi’s Snowy Wave Stone from 1101 to 1700; 4. Shanzhai Tensions in U.S.-Chinese Cultural Heritage Diplomacy; Part II: Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation; 5. UNESCO World Heritage and the Problem of Authenticity: The Case of Built Structures and China´s Tangible Cultural Heritage; 6. Exploring the Implication of Tourism for Heritage Interpretation of National Archaeological Parks in China: The Case of Linzi Qi State Site; 7. Perspectives on Authenticity and the Preservation of the Great Wall of China; 8. Critical Chinese Copying as an Interrogation of the Hegemony of Modernity; 9. Can a Copy Deliver an Authentic Experience? An Interdisciplinary Approach to Fieldwork Conducted in Southeast China; Part III: Living and Intangible Cultural Heritage; 10. Crafting Authenticity: Two Case Studies of the Material Metamorphosis of Cultural Heritage in China’s Creative Economy;11. The Authenticity Problem in Conteporary Techniques of Zisha Teapot Making; 12. The Modern Invention of Big Red Robe Tea: History, Science, Story, and Performance;13. Chapter 13. Authenticity, Legitimacy, and Mimesis in the Production and use of Chinese-inspired Japanese Tea Ceremony Utensils: Karamono (Chinese Things); Part IV: Texts and Manuscripts;14. "Authenticity" and Shu: What is at Stake?; 15. (Mis)remembering the Tang? Issues of Authenticity Surrounding the Attribution of the Ershisi Shipin to Sikong Tu; 16. Authenticity and Self-representation: A Case Study of Song Zhiwen;17. Authenticity beyond Authority? The Case of Handwritten Entertainment Fiction from the Chinese Cultural Revolution

Editorial Reviews

"In a world fraught with uncertainties about "verity" the collection of essays entitled Understanding Authenticity in Chinese Cultural Heritage comes at a particularly germane time. Assembled by leading scholars in Chinese art and social history, the essays dig deeply into definitions of antiquity, authenticity, replication, and deception—intended and not."

William Chapman, Dean, School of Architecture, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

"Does authenticity matter in the context of Chinese heritage? How do we understand 'copycat' culture? From the forbidden city, to tea, to Chinese literacy, this book delves into these questions on a delightful journey through Chinese heritage from ancient to contemporary times. A must-read for anyone interested in China, or antiquity in general."

Yujie Zhu, Senior Lecturer, Research School of Humanities & the Arts, Australian National University

"The problem of this volume can be fairly stated as why the idea of authenticity in China cannot be reduced to questions of copying and representation. But nor can they be dismissed. All the contributors have their different answers to this paradox which, by following their real value, we are led to a new pathway for a comparative understanding of authenticity."

Michael Rowlands, Emeritus Professor of Material Culture, University College London

From the Publisher