Shanzhai Tensions in US-Chinese Cultural Heritage Diplomacy

Abstract

The concept of shanzhai in the Chinese tradition contemplates a playful improvement upon what exists before, like silly T-shirts altering logos of famous brands or Nokir and Samsing cell phones that infringe upon patents but add new dimensions. This imitation is not always an exact copy, a fuzhi. Shanzhai and fuzhi are in tension with Anglo-European traditions of financially incentivizing creative development through granting exclusive and monopolistic rights to inventors, authors, brand-owners, and artists who create “originals.” This chapter explores these tensions and analyzes a parallel emerging tension in diplomatic relations concerning cultural property, heritage, and exchange. Since the 1970 UNESCO Convention, restrictions on the trade of art—particularly antiquities—have evolved to a significant degree. The “cultural property” field also has experienced transformation, no longer limiting itself to the international trade in antiquities but emphasizing the preservation of “cultural heritage” broadly writ, often departing from the traditional emphasis on ownership toward one of stewardship and fiduciary-type duties to future generations, both domestic and global. The field unknowingly is headed toward a conflict between Western valuing of authenticity and the Chinese conception of fuzhi “copy.”