A History Of Cultural Heritage Conservation In China (Late 19^th Century-1940s)

The modern cultural heritage conservation in China developed in late 19th century to 1940s. It was a transition of people’s idea on heritage. The discussion may be useful to the heritage conservation theory and practice in the present.We could know the development of heritage conservation at that time by the concepts people used. Peope concerned objects including ancient artifacts, historic buildings and historic sites, as well as landscapes. People valued cultural heritage for their aesthetic, historic and scientific characteristics.Why people preserve these cultural materials for the public? It depended on academic development, artistic concepts, symbolism of culture, and social attitudes. Because of their precious and distinctive meaning, cultural heritage was regarded as symbol of history and culture of the country. People preserved their heritage by building museums and other public institutions. These institutions showed the common responsibility of conservation for the future generations by opening to the public.This dissertation discussed the social functions of cultural heritage. They could be social education resources for artistic, historic of scientific interest. They also could be useful to the industry and technology development by learning from the past. They were also benefit to economy by cultural tourism industry.As for the problem between heritage conservation and social development, historic buildings, monuments could be used by respecting their historic or artistic characteristics.The government, local groups and research institutions, individuals played different roles of conservation. On the one hand, legislation and administration was necessary. On the other hand, the involvement of the pubic was required. The local history conservation movement, professional work of researchers, and public education programs showed modern conservation principles and methods in their practice.This dissertation did discussion on what help formed the idea of heritage conservation. In the late 19th century, public space changed people’s life. The increasing of public awareness contributed to the social preservation work. The influence of other countries was obvious.International communication and cooperation helped people realized the universal value of cultural heritage. Administration and legislative measures, heritage investigation, restoration was all required in different countries.To maintain of the ancient cultural materials, people discussed how to do restoration work. The modern heritage conservation method was used by more professionals in the early 20th century.For the conservation of historic sites and buildings, the neighborhood of ancient monuments should be given special consideration. The pubic opinions affected the conservation practice. Ancient monuments were regarded as common heritage and should be safeguard for keeping the social history evidence for all.Scrupulous conservation is necessary, a thorough analysis should be made, which show people how to value the cultural heritage. The principle of respecting original material and authentic documents was used in 1930s. Authenticity and integrity were two basic principlesWe could find the essential factors of that period as following:preservation of different kinds of cultural heritage, the participation and involvement of the public, and scientific technique and principles. All these thoughts of cultural heritage conservation continued to exist at present.