Year: 2018
Type: dissertation
Abstract: For over two thousand years, Qufu – the hometown of Confucius – has maintained numerous heritage sites where ancient Chinese elites revered Confucius and studied Confucianism. The sites, known as sacred places, have been exerting significant impact on Chinese culture and society. However, since the early 1930s, many of these sites in non-protected areas have been forgotten and even transformed in such a way that their original heritage meanings have dissipated. Following President Xi Jinping’s visit to Qufu on 26 November 2013, Qufu has been attracting unprecedented attention in both mass media and the academia, contributing to China’s ongoing Confucian revival in the post-Mao era. Against this background, the thesis aims to explore Confucian discourses deeply rooted in traditions of Chinese studies to inform heritage researchers and practioners today of sacred heritage-making process theoretically and practically. The study has investigated how a widely known sacred place – Liangguan was produced, preserved, interpreted and transmitted as heritage by examining historical texts associated with Qufu. The primary concern in my research is how the floating signifier of sacredness is variously fixed in terms of the Confucian Classics. It presents the Confucian Classics as a prominent heritage feature embedded in related continuously maintained a historic place for more than 2500 years. It argues that we should differentiate clearly a place or space as heritage from a thing that is either physical or intangible. The deep cultural significance of conserving, repairing, renovating and presenting historic sites in Qufu are traditionally meant to transmit and refresh the classical texts. The classical exegesis allows the space itself, along with its documentation, to be turned into a readable historic site which subsequently gives way to the cosmological, moral, ritual and cultural political levels of the heritage understandings. The findings of this case study eventually lead to three place-based heritage conclusions. First, the Confucian elites designate the Classics as a built-in feature of heritage sites. Local worthies live and relive the historic site by engaging an interpretation of the Confucian Classics with the place or space. Second, place names are a vital part of the sacred heritage because they can solicit deep interpretations of the related historical events. It is of great necessity to reinterpret the associated scriptures of place names for our real understanding of inherent Confucian values and heritage meanings. Third, sacred heritage is described by elite visitors as a historic place for reliving unbroken traditions and experiencing memories of the past. The spirit of Confucian sites can only be sensed and understood by expounding scriptures of the Classics and reactivated by interacting with Confucius’ descendants. Ultimately, it is suggested that we’d better redefine above three issues for producing the sacred heritage in relation to its representation, values and uses in present context of Confucian revival. Only in this way can numerous sites in Qufu be entrusted the sacred characters again to impart all functions and presentations of the long Chinese past, credible culture and Confucian ethics.
Author: Qin Bailan
Language: English
Subfield: Archeology (arts and humanities)
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3022954998