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6 - Creating Cultural Identity in China: Popularising Archaeological Material and Cultural Heritage
- Edited by Yi-Wen Wang, Linda Walton, Carol Ludwig
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- Book:
- The Heritage Turn in China
- Published by:
- Amsterdam University Press
- Published online:
- 21 November 2020
- Print publication:
- 16 June 2020, pp 169-190
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- Chapter
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Summary
Abstract
In recent years, China has experienced social, cultural, political and economic transformations. In order to stabilise the country in the midst of dramatic change and to legitimise the continuing rule of the Communist Party, the government has promoted nationalism and the building of a common sense of cultural identity among the people. One of the most familiar and available means to do this is to remind people of China’s ancient past. This chapter focuses on the field of archaeology to show how growing interest in cultural heritage work has produced new ways of bringing the past to the people. New ways of making the past accessible to the masses will be introduced in this chapter. These include the construction of new museums, the popularisation of archaeological discoveries, and focus on new target groups through mobile digital museums.
Keywords: archaeological site museum, cultural identity, mobile digital museum, popularisation of cultural heritage
Introduction
In recent years, the Chinese state has faced great challenges due to its unprecedented economic growth, new political contexts, massive demographic changes and a social transformation. To guarantee social, cultural, and political stability, the Communist Party needs to construct political legitimacy, achieved through an increasing emphasis on nationalism and the fostering of a common sense of cultural identity among the people, in particular, through the re-evaluation of China's ancient past. This seems to be a matter-of-course because reverence toward the past is one of the salient features of China's culture (Ryckmans 2008; Poo 2008; Shepherd & Yu 2013: 15).
When President Xi Jinping visited the special exhibition ‘Ancient Capital – History and Culture of Beijing’ held at the Capital Museum in Beijing on 25 January 2014, he made the following statement regarding the role of museums and exhibition makers:
Museum exhibitions on history aim at bearing witness to the past. The presentation of lessons from the past will serve for the present, and they will inspire future generations. Making exhibitions means to compile and revise history. Let cultural relics tell their story, and teach the people about the wisdom of history. Let them inspire our sense of national pride and self-confidence, so to ensure that all the people make China strong and powerful again, and to have the confidence and determination to realise the China Dream. (Capital Museum 2014, author's translation).