Heritage sites in contemporary China: cultural policies and management practices is based primarily on a national research project: ‘Tracking Research on the Protection of Great Archaeological Sites’ (大遗址, Dayizhi in pinyin), which is being conducted by the China Academy for Cultural Heritage (CACH) and supported by the Chinese National Social Science Fund. Since the initial approval of this pragmatic kind of major programme, the research team of CACH, headed by chief expert director Xiaoming Chai and foreign research institutes represented by the University of Bologna, has tracked the development of more than 100 archaeological sites between 2011 and 2014. This three-year empirical study records the data collected by the Sino-Italian joint research team during the process of implementing the policy recommendations presented in this volume. The results of this project not only provide a huge amount of raw data gathered from privileged access to several organisations during fieldwork, but also offer multiple perspectives on the process that are invaluable both to heritage managers and the Chinese administration.
This volume systematically illustrates the Chinese cultural heritage policies emerging in the period of the Eleventh and Twelfth Five Year Plans (2006–2010 and 2011–2015, respectively) for the Protection of Chinese Cultural Relics. These plans are focused on the dynamic evolution of the Dayizhi Policy for Great Archaeological Sites, which fully reflects the relationship between Chinese archaeology and related practices in cultural heritage management and public administration, as well as policy-making, in Chinese society.
It is particularly worth noting that this volume is the first Italian-Chinese collaboration in cultural heritage studies and has proven a great success. The four authors of this volume come from a variety of disciplines and different academic backgrounds, and consequently offer an interdisciplinary approach to this exploration of the management of cultural heritage and construction. Their work examines the development of regional societies and economies, and investigates the protection of Great Archaeological Sites, both in theory and practice.
Bookended by an introduction and conclusion, the remaining chapters present individual case studies that introduce the model of ‘theory deduction-induction-summary’ to the reader. The studies do not relate exclusively to the Dayizhi Policy for Great Archaeological Sites; rather, they present the relationship between the protection of the Great Archaeological Sites project and other related research on cultural heritage-management practices. This volume addresses five aspects of heritage management: the impact of historical exploration and theoretical construction on the large-scale protection of cultural relics; the implementation progress on the protection of Great Archaeological Sites; analysis of the administrative management system; comprehensive socio-economic impact assessments; and cultural construction.
This volume can broadly be divided into three parts. The first part (Chapters 1–5) provides an introduction to the context for heritage discourse in China including the content of the Dayizhi Policy for Great Archaeology Sites. These early chapters also discuss the emergence of the concept of Great Archaeological Sites and establishment of early management practices, revealing how the evolution of Dayizhi Policy reflects the change in approach from “conservation” to “conservational interpretation” (p. 45). The research methodologies, outlined in Chapter 5, are not limited to empirical studies of the Great Archaeological Sites; methodological approaches from social sciences including history and arts management, engineering and business administration, archaeology and sociology are also embedded in these studies. The first part of this volume offers an analysis of, and comment on, the Dayizhi Policy, and reviews the literature that debates this policy.
The second part (Chapters 6–12) investigates actual impacts of the Dayizhi Policy, analysing some of the most important Dayizhi cases relating to the protection of Great Archaeological Sites, namely, Luoyang district and the Sui and Tang Capital City, Xi'an district and Daming Palace, the Niuheliang site, the autonomous area of Xinjiang the Nanyuewang Palace site and Yanxiadu Capital site. Each site has a chapter devoted to it in which it receives a detailed examination and discussion. The empirical investigations presented in this part of the volume objectively reflect China's experience of implementing the Dayizhi Policy and the associated problems. Based on the results of analysis of the preceding case studies, the final chapter of this part (Chapter 12) offers a systematic typology of the Dayizhi Policy through international comparison and invites readers to consider the following problems: the conflicting issues between the protection of cultural heritage and land ownership; the controversial issues surrounding private land-use rights at state-owned heritage sites; poor communication mechanisms between heritage-management agencies and national government regulators at all levels; and the running costs for cultural management agencies.
The third part of this volume (Chapters 13–14) features an extensive discussion on the Dayizhi Policy for Great Archaeological Sites and draws some conclusions on the practical application of the policy, based on the case studies detailed in part two. The four authors comment more generally on the overall impacts of the Dayizhi Policy and highlight some broader issues that need to be considered in order to understand the impact of policy-making on the heritage sector in China. These include: land use; financial and budgetary issues; and organisational and cultural heritage governance. The volume closes by looking beyond the Dayizhi Policy and making some future policy recommendations.
Heritage sites in contemporary China: cultural policies and management practices provides a unique and valuable contribution to our understanding of the current cultural policies in China. The CACH and Italian scholars’ research have implications both for cultural policies and management practices, and offer fresh insights for scholars working in archaeology, heritage management, public administration and policy-making.
