Abstract
Recently, debates on authenticity in the West and China have attracted attention of critical heritage studies. This paper aims to better understand how Western Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD) influences local heritage practice in China. This paper employs observation, semi-structured interviews and textual analysis to examine how authenticity criteria in Western AHD has shaped perceptions on the spatial consequences of what is “authentic” by different agents in regards to the cultural heritage of the Shaolin Temple. It is argued that the implementation of authenticity criteria found in Western AHD influences Shaolin heritage practice both in hegemonic and negotiated ways, in which a Chinese AHD is formed through the creation of a Western AHD with Chinese characteristics. The understandings on authenticity criteria derived from Western AHD by Chinese heritage experts dominates Shaolin heritage practice, whilst the perceptions on “authentic” Shaolin Temple cultural heritage attached closely to their emotions and experiences by local residents are neglected and excluded. The religiously based authenticity claims of the Shaolin monks which competes with those of the heritage experts and local residents are also considered. Furthermore, the managerial structure was changed in 2010 from a government-directed institution to a joint-venture partnership. The impacts of these managerial changes are also considered. The final outcome of these competing heritage claims was that local residents were relocated far from their original community. Without the residential community in situ, and in conjunction with the further commercialization of local culture, the Shaolin Temple heritage site takes on the features of a pseudo-classic theme park.
Highlights
There has been increasing attention in critical heritage studies given to issues of reconstruction, authenticity, and management [1,2,3,4]
The second part presents the views on “authentic” Shaolin heritage/culture from the perspective of local residents and Shaolin monks, in which the data are mainly based on the interview of local residents and Temple manager with field observations and some newspaper articles used in support
The third part presents the spatial consequences of implementing authenticity criteria in the Songshan Shaolin Scenic Area (SSSA), in which the data are derived from field observation, interview of managerial persons and local officials, and some relevant newspaper articles
Summary
There has been increasing attention in critical heritage studies given to issues of reconstruction, authenticity, and management [1,2,3,4]. Some international heritage conventions and charters, such as the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (CCPWCNH) adopted by UNESCO in 1972, provide the standards to understand and define the significance of heritage, they work as authorizing institutions to guide national policies on how to conserve, manage and use heritage. In terms of the notion of “least intervention” as the key to maintaining ‘authenticity’, Western heritage discourse strongly opposes the reconstruction of built heritage in which the OGIWHC states that “reconstruction is acceptable only on the basis of complete and detailed documentation and to no extent on conjecture” [10]. Many scholars criticize CCPWCNH and its authenticity criteria insofar as it is seen to impose a Western ideology of heritage on the countries all over the world in a hegemonic way [11,12]
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