Cultural Preservation In The Context Of China’s Modernization

The practice of cultural preservation in China has changed dramatically over the past century. With the anti-traditionalist sentiment of the Mao Era and the frenzied development of the reform and opening up period, much of China’s heritage suffered damage or destruction. Over the course of the last twenty years and alongside China’s swift economic growth and modernization, Chinese ancient towns across the country began quickly developing large-scale tourism projects. At the same time, the undercurrent of traditionalism that remained dormant throughout the last fifty years has undergone a sudden revival. In this context, China faces a number of challenges, especially the challenge of balancing the needs of economic development and cultural preservation. Through a case study of the city of Jianshui in Yunnan province, this thesis attempts to show how the revival of traditionalism, changing national and historical narratives, and complex interest group dynamics shape the city’s cultural protection project.To address these issues, the author spent over a month conducting fieldwork from 2014 to 2016. This fieldwork consisted of 30 interviews and gathering local news from over the last twenty years, including a one-year photo journal of development activity. Research indicates three primary results:First, Chinese traditionalism is undergoing a revival in Jianshui, as shown by a growing social awareness of the value of cultural and historical heritage. Second, this phenomenon led to a series of social movements at the turn of the century, which reshaped the relationship between society and the government in Jianshui. Before the "war to protect Jianshui’s ancient town," the government typically made use of a direct and forceful method of development, often undermining or even violating citizen’s rights, but after several years of resistance caught the attention of the central government and the national media, the local government was forced to adopt a more subtle approach. Though the government still has a high level of control, changes in its methods have ameliorated government-civil society relations, and given civil society the space it demanded. As a result, the dual need for top-down government support and bottom-up social support for Jianshui’s cultural preservation project has been met. Lastly, the multi-dimensional dynamic of Jianshui’s various interest groups reflect the complexity of cultural preservation in China, and the difficulty in balancing China’s need to modernize, and its need to preserve.