Manufacturing the Past of Tonglushan: Heritagisation and Collective Memory

Jinging Luo
October 27, 2022 16:00 ~ 17:30
Room 109, Building C, School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Manufacturing the Past of Tonglushan: Heritagisation and Collective Memory

A talk with

Jingjing Luo, 
Ph.D. in anthropology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Junior curator, The Shenzhen Museum

Moderator: Chunchun Wang, Center for Social Sciences, SUSTech

As the first excavated ancient copper mining and smelting site in China, the Tonglushan site is highly evaluated by academia as one fundamental copper resource of the Chinese Bronze Age civilization. In this view, the site is regarded as the birthplace of Chinese bronze technology by the local government and is aimed to be titled a World Heritage.

Based on one-year fieldwork at Daye county, China, this talk intends to present the negotiations behind the heritagisation process of Tonglushan. Specifically, to figure out the uniqueness of this mineral-based heritage place, the speaker investigates how the UNESCO concept of heritage practice at one Chinese archaeological site. In what ways do the authorized stakeholders interpret the site with national significance and universal value? And what have they met during the application of this interpretation? The concept of “heritage” itself and the inhabitants’ local knowledge and memory of the place will be the main focuses.

Oct.27 2022, 4-5:30pm
Language:English

Venue: C-102, School of Humanities and Social Sciences