@phdthesis{Liu2014, author = {Liu, Chang}, title = {From "Feudal Rubbish" to "National Treasure": The transformation and safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage of China. A case study of Huanxian Daoqing Shadow Theatre}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:co1-opus4-30543}, school = {BTU Cottbus - Senftenberg}, year = {2014}, abstract = {This study examines the history of the transformation of the intangible cultural heritage of China and the efforts to safeguard it, using the case study of Huanxian Daoqing shadow theatre. A regional style of Chinese shadow theatre, Daoqing has undergone dramatic transformation from 1949 to 2013, from being labeled in socialist China as a form of "feudal rubbish" to be eradicated, to being safeguarded as "national treasure". The changes in Daoqing's social identity, function, value, interpretation, transmission and safeguarding efforts can be observed in the discourses of both the authorities and the practicing community. These changes may be understood as part of three different stages in the political and economic transformation of socialist China. The researcher has collected governmental archives and conducted semi-structured interviews with Daoqing inheritors in an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. This thesis analyses how, following Hobsbawm's argument, Daoqing as an intangible cultural heritage involves an "invention of tradition" through joint actions of the Chinese government and the Huanxian community. This research can help provide heritage policy makers, the community and other stakeholders with insights into challenges that may be faced in the safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage. The theoretical framework, the methods and the research results from the government archives and interviews will hopefully serve to provide some new ideas as a prototypical approach to help future research on other forms of cultural heritage in China.}, subject = {Intangible Cultural Heritage; Daoqing Shadow Theatre; China; Safeguarding; Invention of tradition; Immaterielles Kulturerbe; Huaxian Daoqing Schattenspiel; China; Erhalt; Erfundene Tradition; China; Immaterielles Kulturerbe; Schattenspiel}, language = {en} }