Making and unmaking heritage value in China

Since the 1990s China has experienced a heritage boom, developing an increasing number of museum and heritage sites. It is estimated that 100 museums have been built each year and the number has increased from 717 in 1985 to 3,800 in 2014. This chapter talks about re-conceptualizing value for cultural heritage and property within a museum context in China. The principal contrast we draw with Western concepts of heritage value, which emphasize general interpretations of authenticity and ownership, derives from the need of Han Chinese people to connect to ancestors and ancestral pasts in terms of respect and remembrance. The chapter argues that the political and ideological notions of nation states absorbed in late Imperial China result in different attitudes towards heritage and museums, as well as different notions of authenticity and possession. It also discusses the making, remaking and appropriation of heritage objects has been considered part of the tradition in the production and appreciation of heritage objects.