[Hou Song and Wu Zongjie] Cross-cultural interpretation of "monuments" and heritage politics

Abstract: "Heritage politics" is an important topic in the current international heritage research community.

From a cross-cultural perspective, the "authoritative heritage discourse" with modern Western historical views and cultural thinking dominates global heritage practice, causing damage to local historical memory and values.

Based on traditional local chronicles, this paper initially explores the traditional Chinese thinking of "monuments", combs its connotation, meaning space and value thinking, discusses its discourse style, and highlights the local historical memory style and the universal "heritage" concept.

The difference between it hopes to open up a cross-cultural path for reflection on heritage politics and inspire the localization exploration of Chinese heritage.

Keywords: monuments; heritage; heritage politics; cross-cultural interpretation

Introduction

Heritage is a form of historical memory.

However, any memory is accompanied by forgetting.

Before the introduction of the concept and operation of heritage, China originally had their own historical memory methods, which ensured the inheritance, continuation and endless life of Chinese culture for thousands of years.

As the famous sinologist Pierre Ryckmans observed,"In China, the past can be constantly felt, sometimes even in the most unexpected places, and this gives foreign visitors a greater impact." [1]In the rising "heritage craze", some questions are often ignored: Regarding history/past, what is the current mainstream heritage thinking and operation system remembering? What is being forgotten? What kind of "legacy politics" lies hidden between such memory and forgetting? Looking back at Chinese cultural traditions, what are the historical memory methods similar or corresponding to "heritage"? What is its enlightening significance for today's heritage practice and research?

In our view, these are major issues that require urgent attention.

Without deep thinking about these issues,"heritage craze" can easily degenerate into a sports-like blind fanaticism.

This article has no intention and cannot analyze and discuss them one by one.

This article chooses a circuitous path: based on the writing of "monuments" in ancient local chronicles, we try to initially present and discuss a traditional China historical memory and way of thinking, focusing on exploring the differences between it and the universal concept of "heritage." In such cross-cultural discussions, we touch on the above issues either directly or indirectly.

In this way, this paper also hopes to open up a different reflection path on "heritage politics" and inspire China's heritage research and practice to move towards localization.

Heritage politics: A cross-cultural interpretation

Before entering China's traditional way of writing "monuments" and thinking about history, it is necessary to briefly introduce academic research and thinking on heritage politics.

Over the past two decades, there has been a wave of reflection on the global "heritage movement" in the international heritage research community, with "heritage politics" being the core topic.

"Politics" here is a broad concept, or a metaphor, that generally refers to various unequal relations and the fields where struggles and confrontations occur.

From the perspective of "heritage politics", scholars are concerned about: in the face of the past and its legacy, what is regarded as meaningful/valuable, what is ignored or deliberately concealed, and what purpose is such a choice?, how it can be used in the present, and what "political" consequences have been caused.

[2][3]

From a cross-cultural perspective, the thinking and operation of heritage originating in Europe hides Western hegemony.[4] The "Heritage Movement" has become a new "Crusade".

Although it protects historical relics, it has fundamentally caused damage to local historical views and cultural thinking methods in different cultures.

[5] Laurajane Smith keenly saw the existence of the "Authoritative Heritage Discourse"(AHD), pointing out that AHD emphasizes the authenticity, materiality, and monumental monumental nature of heritage, as well as its own historical, artistic and scientific value.

These actually reflect the modern view of history and cultural thinking logic since the Western Enlightenment, and reflect the aspirations of the middle and upper class white people.

It has successfully entered into and formed UNESCO conventions, the charters and guiding principles of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and its branches, and the legal and cultural policies of various countries, becoming universal standards and unquestionable common sense.

[6] Emma Waterton's discourse analysis of Britain's heritage policy and the closely related international conventions and charters brings AHD's way of thinking and the heritage politics it produces more vividly to people.

[7]It should be particularly pointed out that even after the concept of "intangible cultural heritage" was proposed, AHD has not changed fundamentally.

1)[7][8]

In recent years, the criticism of domestic heritage research has been continuously enhanced, and some cross-cultural reflections have begun to emerge.

With the help of knowledge archaeology, Li Jun questioned the emergence and evolution of the concept of "cultural heritage" and revealed the hidden "conflict of civilizations" and ideological control.

[9]Yu Xuecai not only questioned the concept of world cultural heritage, but also extended his research to sorting out the practice of ancient heritage protection in China and exploring the heritage protection concepts of some China thinkers.

1)From a cross-cultural perspective, Zhu Yujie initially discussed the differences in heritage protection concepts between China and the West, and pointed out the necessity of exploring heritage protection theories and methods that are in line with China's national conditions and cultural characteristics.

[10]

The fundamental principle of heritage protection is the protection of cultural diversity.

So, what is the cultural diversity of heritage? Some Western scholars start from different multicultural theories and explore the multiple paths of heritage in a multicultural society.

[11]This is certainly beneficial, but we believe that when thinking about the diversity of heritage culture, it is more important to delve into different cultural traditions and examine the ways of speaking, understanding and thinking corresponding to today's so-called "heritage" and related values.

One possible path is to explore historical texts from different cultures.

Revisiting "monuments": Understanding the cultural others of heritage

When it comes to "heritage," it is easy for China to think of "historic sites." This may be the word most similar to the modern concept of "heritage" in China's local culture.

So, in traditional historical and cultural thinking, what are "monuments"? How is it understood? What is its significance and value? Such questions are often difficult to enter the attention of researchers, probably because we all know what "monuments" are and don't think of asking questions.

Here, rethinking traditional "monuments" is the starting point for our cross-cultural reflection on "heritage" and its politics.

We note that the word "tradition" itself is very complex.

In the Chinese civilization that has lasted for thousands of years,"traditions" must be diverse, mobile, and even a mixture of different cultures.

Of course, the traditional thinking of "monuments" is not single, fixed, or unchanging.

Considering that this article cannot present the full picture, what we need to do here is to revisit some of the "monuments".

To be precise, we need to re-read the records about "monuments" in some ancient texts and analyze and interpret the ancestors 'understanding of "monuments" among them.

Ways, thinking paths and values.

In this regard, traditional local chronicles provide rich research materials, among which the "Historical Sites" are an excellent entry point.

Below we present these "monuments" writings from two different perspectives.

At the macro level, based on the preface 2) of the "Historical Sites", we discuss the ancients 'thinking on its connotation, significance and value; at the micro level, we conduct discourse analysis on two complete "Historical Sites" records to interpret and restore their words.

Meaningful space.

The connotation of "historic sites":"ancient" and "traces"

What is a "monument"? Common dictionaries such as "Modern Chinese Dictionary" and "Cihai" all interpret it as: "Ancient relics, mostly referring to buildings or their remnants." This may be the way we don't think about monuments.

The question is how were monuments understood by the ancients? The preface to "Guangdong General Chronicles·Historical Relics Chronicles" has this interpretation of "historic sites":

Is it passed down by traces from ancient times? Are the traces passed down from ancient times? Since its establishment, there have been mountains and rivers, and deep rocks and valleys.

Isn't it called ancient? It is not a trace.

A trace is a trace left behind by predecessors and a trace followed by others, so it is called a trace.

When did you miss the traces? There were many inscriptions on pavilions and pavilions where famous ministers and Juqing visited, and poems left inscriptions on them.

However, they were gorgeous at that time and disappeared, but they were traces of it, not ancient.

There is a nine-point platform, a pillar of floating waves, a pool where inkstones and agarwood are thrown, a creek is remembered by crocodiles, and a peak is named white crane.

For thousands of generations, those who see it will still return low and remain unable to leave.

As for the traces of the Buddha's Immortals, such as Father-in-law in Fuqiu, Zhu Ming's Baopu, and Caoxi's Dajian, although their traces are different, they are the same in ancient times.

[12]

It is not difficult to see that the "traces" of the "historic sites" here do not lie in objects or their remnants.

The ancients paid attention to the traces of people, that is,"the tracks left behind by their predecessors and the tracks followed by them", such as "The visits of famous ministers Juqing","The inscriptions of poets and poets","The inscriptions of the pavilions","The Platform of Nineties", and the Pillar of Fubo ".

In addition, the "Sanskrit Immortal Zong" can also be understood as a "historical site," which may be related to the basic pattern in China Buddhist and Taoist legends that most immortals are cultivated/reincarnated by people.

As far as its authenticity is concerned, no matter whether there is a person in history, fiction definitely exists.

However, this does not exclude it from the traditional "monument" thinking.

However, the creations of nature such as "mountains and rivers, secluded rocks and deep ravines" are not the case.

No matter how ancient they are, they are not called "traces" if no one has come.

The "traces" lie in people but not in objects."Henan Tongzhi·Historic Sites" also mentioned it, and its preface begins:

In ancient times, gentlemen's virtue was added to the people, and their reputation was spread throughout the times.

They only hung bamboo, silk, and painted paintings.

His life experiences and fishing places often make people linger and cannot go.

Isn't it because of him? The poem says: The mountains look up, and the scenery moves forward.

1)[13]

There is no way to talk about "historic sites" apart from "ancient times".

The so-called "ancient" is not just "it was beautiful at that time, but it was gone", but also has the charm of "thousands of generations, those who have seen it will still return low and remain unable to leave".

This is also what people often say "eternal fragrance".

Obviously, the words "thousands of generations" or "ages" here are not true.

It can be seen from the records of specific historical sites in local chronicles that most of them cannot have been that long ago.

The measurement of "ancient times" should be more reflected in the feelings it brings to the world: "I can't go away if I stay low","I can't go away if I stay low","I can't go away if I look up at the mountains, and I move forward", etc.

From the top,"ancient" and "traces" should complement each other and complement each other: only when "ancient times are passed down by traces" and "traces are passed down by ancient times" can they be called a "historic site".

Compared with the contemporary concept of "heritage":

1)China's traditional thinking of "monuments" focuses on people, not the preservation and traces of materials.

This is different from the Modern Chinese Dictionary and people's common understanding today.

We may suspect that China's contemporary concept of "historic sites" has also been influenced by Western thinking, especially concepts such as "cultural relics architecture" introduced by Liang Sicheng and others.

[14]

2)China's traditional view of "monuments" is obviously incompatible with the so-called "natural heritage." For the ancients of China, there was no natural heritage in an independent sense.

Such as "China Danxia","Southern Karst", and "Three Rivers Parallel Flowing" would not be incorporated into the thinking field of "monuments" by traditional thinking.

It should be pointed out that this does not mean that natural objects cannot be understood as "monuments" with historical significance.

The "Crocodile in the Crocodile" and "White Crane in the Peak" mentioned in the preface to "Guangdong General Chronicles·Historical Sites" refer to the mountains and waters of nature.

If someone is associated with it, something in nature, such as a tree, can also be regarded as a "monument".

See the analysis in Section 3).

3)China's traditional "monument" thinking also seems to have different understandings of "authenticity".

"The traces of the Buddha's Immortal","although the traces are different, the ancient ones are the same", or "although the traces are not documented, the customs are passed down, and there is only doubt" 2)[15], this kind of thinking has at least raised two major questions/challenges for today's heritage practice and research: First, how is the "authenticity" of monuments understood in China's local historical and cultural thinking? Can we copy internationally accepted standards to examine the "authenticity" of China's "heritage"? Second, does "authenticity" have the same decisive and important position in traditional historical thinking as in contemporary heritage systems?

Thinking on the Significance and Value of "Historic Sites"

In the preface to the "Chronicles of Historic Sites", you can often read large sections of meaning interpretation and value thinking, and some even the entire preface revolves around the theme of meaning/value.

For these, we have no intention of giving a seemingly comprehensive summary, because what we see is usually fluid, diverse, situational meaning/value thinking.

Below, we take the prefaces of several "Historical Sites" as examples to analyze and interpret them.

The purpose is to open up a path to understanding China's traditional historical memory and thinking methods, and trigger more relevant explorations rather than presenting them completely.

Let's first take a look at the preface to "Fujian Tongzhi·Historic Sites":

It has been a thing of the past between us, but we still have to use it to rejuvenate our hearts, let alone those who have been touched by each other after hundreds of generations! Fujian has never been founded since its founding.

The palaces and pavilions, the jungle treasures have been closed, and the wild ponds have no owners.

The dead are dead, but there are still endless dead who remain.

For example, the seal character Li Si Shou has long stones left, and Lu Meng's residence for overseas Chinese is still there.

Let this be the end, but we don't see that there is nothing, sad to my husband! As for the area where the bones of heroes are buried and the place where sages are the first place, a bad thing can be preserved, and nine original things can be created.

Silver tube quinoa smoke is used to collect the present and ancient times.

It is indispensable to commemorate historical sites.

[16]

The value of monuments here mainly lies in that they build a bridge of emotional communication between the present and history, especially the sages and sages: when faced with monuments, the world often "cannot help but flourish with them", and some even "feel each other for a hundred generations"; However, in the vicissitudes of history, most of the relics of our ancestors have been submerged and lost, and there are very few survivors."We have everything we can do but ignore the other", and we can't help but sigh "sad husband"; Looking for the tombs of heroes and sages, Zhao Wenzi said,"If the dead can be killed, who will we go with him?" The crazy thoughts and melancholy come to my heart;...

All kinds of nostalgia are always vivid, changing, different from person to person, and born from the environment.

It is precisely in the unspeakable connection of ancient and modern emotions that future generations 'historical complex and awareness of respecting the past have been firmly established.

The preface to "Jiangnan Tongzhi·Yudi Zhi·Historic Sites" writes as follows:

Past words and past deeds are for the purpose of cultivating virtue, just like the ancients laying down past records, or there are rumors that are vague and vague, and they can be touched by each other for hundreds of generations.

Looking at the old ruins of Meili, Haiwu, is like smelling fragrance, soothing the prosperity of the Wu Palace in the Jin Dynasty, and looking for the vines alone can also provide considerable help.

[17]

In addition to the emotional integration of ancient and modern times that is "lasting for hundreds of generations", the significance and value of the monuments here are also reflected in "a valuable help." Let's talk about "considerable" first.

Duan Yucai's "Shuo Wen Jie Zi Zhu" quoted "Chunqiu Gu Liang Zhuan" as saying: "Ordinary things are observation, and extraordinary things are observation." [18] The 408 monument is "impressive" and should mean that it can be heard and seen.

The entire preface to "Zhejiang Tongzhi·Historic Sites" says this:

Since the founding of Wu and Yue, Zhejiang has lasted for thousands of years.

During this period, cities, palaces, gardens and pavilions were built by famous sages, visited by scholars, and the wonders of names and objects.

Although they are lost in the past, they are still unknown today.

However, the lingering charm of the current customs can be known through examination.Collect old news and make extensive records, record the author's duties and record historical sites.

[19]

Here we also see that the "sightedness" of a monument cannot stop at its own strangeness.

What is more important is to collect relevant "old news" to test the "lingering charm" of the previous generation.

In this way, there is no simple curiosity.

The so-called "past words and past deeds are for the purpose of cultivating morality", but there are more profound thinking behind it.

Let's talk about "Kexing".

What is "Xing"? Duan Yucai's "Shuo Wen Jie Zi Zhu" said: "The six poems of Zhou Li are called comparison and Xing.

Those who prosper rely on things." [18]205 Among ancient scholars and literati in China, the connection between monuments and poetry was always extremely close.

Not only did they often have chants and inscriptions on their travels, but in the traditional chronicles and ancient visits they wrote, relevant poems, songs and Fu were often copied in the records of monuments.

However, the popularity of poetry in the ancients lies in "entrusting things to things", and its meaning lies not in the things said.

Yao Chengxu, a native of the Qing Dynasty, once compiled 546 poems he wrote into a book called "Wu Yue Visiting Ancient Records".

His friend Cheng Tinglu explained its purpose in the preface to the book: "Inheriting people from the land, passing people from the land, knowing people and discussing the world, and explaining the achievements of the subtle are not only to praise the ability to achieve high heights and contribute to oneself." [20]This also shows the profound purpose of the ancient site.

"Yufu Tongzhi" elevates the meaning of historic sites to the level of governing the country and promoting the people and maintaining peace.

The first sentence of the preface to its Monuments chapter clearly states the meaning: "The aspirations of the state and historic sites," Zhou Guan "recite the local chronicles of the Tao, and the legacy of local affairs." [21]Examining "Zhou Li·Local Official Situ Second","Song Xun" and "Tu Xun" are both official names.

"Tuxun is in charge of the map of the Tao and uses it to order local affairs." In the Notes of Zheng Xuan of the Han Dynasty,"Tao is said.

Speaking of the map, the situation of Jiuzhou is suitable for the mountains and rivers, and we tell the king to do it.

If it is said that Jingyang is suitable for rice, and Youhe is suitable for hemp." [22]488 "Reciting and training the local chronicles, and observing things with imperial edict." Zheng's Notes said: "The long-term things known by the four directions can be told to the king about the ancient times.

What he knows is that Lu has the Dating family's library and the second tomb." [22]489 It should be said that the duty of "recitation" is closer to the meaning of monuments.

Here, understanding monuments and related historical events has become the responsibility of specialized officials, and kings govern the country, which is also an important aspect that requires consultation.

From this, we see the significance of historic sites to kings and officials, and to governing the country and maintaining peace.

China has a vast territory, and different regions have different historical events and figures, which also creates space for the diversity of the meaning/value of monuments.

Although it is difficult to make much difference in overall orientation, we have indeed found differences in regional and even individual meanings/values from the preface to "monuments" in local chronicles.

The comparison between Shandong and Yunnan is enough to illustrate this point:

Between Qi and Lu, there is the name of emperors and the fragrance of sages.

According to the city site, you can explore the suitability of laying soil in the suburbs, and visit the residence in Jueli, you can see the beauty of carrying virtue and benevolence.

Even when I reached the old pavilion of the Imperial Palace and the broken stele and ruins, I also rose again in the shadows.

I felt my ambition, just like someone who knew how to call Qiu.

In Zhuanxu, the distinction between cutting rice in Langye is still smaller.

--"Shandong Tongzhi·Historical Relics Chronicles"[23]

Yunnan is a descendant of the south, but it is easy to betray.

With its high altitude, there are still those who have survived in the cities of the past and the fortresses of the barbarian tribes.

They can still remember their places, review their affairs, and formulate rules for border control and remote control.

--"Yunnan Tongzhi·Historic Sites"[24]

Here, Shandong's historical and cultural characteristics and Yunnan's political and geographical situation are simply outlined, and the different meanings/values of historical sites between them are also clarified.

There are many emperors in Shandong, and they are the hometown of the saint Confucius.

The significance and value of the monuments are also quite impressive: the "city site" is suitable for "surveying and painting the suburbs to lay soil"; the former residence of Confucius "can see the beauty of carrying virtue and benevolence";"The relics of palaces and ancient pavilions, broken steles and ruins" can arouse people's aspirations "and imagine the changes of going out of office, going into seclusion, promotion and relegation; etc.

Yunnan is located in the southwest border, and the historical sites there are considered in conjunction with the court's political and military intentions to prevent rebellion in remote areas.

The meaning of historical sites is to "plan the border and control the remote areas."

It is not difficult to see from the above examples that China's traditional concept of "monuments" has a very different thinking about the past and its meaning/value from the heritage thinking under the AHD framework.

It has little to do with the structure, shape, material, technological level, artistic style, etc.

of the "monument" itself, so it is not intrinsic, constant, or universal.

Meaning and value are not obtained from the perspective of certain disciplines, and therefore are not quantifiable, standardized, categorical or metaphysical.

Although we also see the connection between monuments and national politics, this does not seem to be a nationalistic ideological construction in modern heritage.

Its political significance is for kings, ministers and local officials.

Its value lies in the political affairs, not top-down propaganda of nationalism.

This kind of senior management method is also a communication between the present and history.

It is the so-called "learning from history." It can be said that in traditional cultural thinking, the meaning and value of monuments are always vivid, changing, and vary from person to person, constantly calling on future generations to participate in, interpret and interpret in person.

This is reflected in more detail in the specific "historic sites" records.

Discourse analysis of the writing of "monuments": Taking "Furong Terrace" and "Wuzhangzhang" as examples

We take two records in the Qing Jiaqing "Xi'an County Chronicles: Monuments"-"Furong Terrace" and "Wuzhi Zhangzhang"-as examples to carry out discourse analysis, thereby presenting China's traditional concept of monuments and its significance on a micro level.

As a research method, discourse analysis has attracted attention in many fields of humanities and social sciences.

It is an effective research means to explore the thinking styles, ideologies and values behind text writing.

In recent years, discourse analysis methods have also been recognized and effectively applied in heritage research.

1)[7][25] Since our corpus is ancient Chinese, the following analysis will not apply existing models or frameworks of discourse research, but will be guided by common research issues in discourse analysis.

2) Analyze and interpret from both the content and the way of speech.

The original corpus is reproduced as follows:

Furong Terrace [Hongzhi Prefecture Annals] The old Furong Terrace on the Zhengrong Mountain of the county city is here.

[Fang Rongben's Ancient Poetry on Furong Terrace] The green and cold are still there, and the high platform is empty.

General Yu Zhandi looked around at Furong.

Five camphor trees are on the side of the stone beam in Keshan.

[Wang Rongshou's poem on the five branches of camphor trees] Famous mountains are filled with immortal spirits, and the trees here are also strangely changing.

Branches and self-union, and leaves are mutually green and beautiful.

At this time, he met Marquis Peng and took Lingxiahuan.

[26]

From the perspective of speech content, the writing of "Furongtai" and "Wuzhizhang" mainly includes two aspects: 1) their location, and 2) related poems and poems.

In terms of proportion, the latter accounts for the majority.

Traditional thinking of "monuments" paid no attention to many aspects of themselves and their internal aspects.

The ancients 'thinking about monuments focused on the poems and poems related to them.

The close connection between poetry and historic sites has been discussed earlier.

The appearance of poetry triggered people's diverse understanding of historic sites and their meanings.

The nostalgic poems recorded in "Furong Terrace" invite people to think about the war-torn historical events and the heroic figures who marched on the battlefield.

How the world would feel after the vicissitudes of history, and how to face their own living conditions, current current situations and future directions.

The poem "Wuzhi Zhangzhang" makes it possible for a camphor tree to be understood as a monument.

Its existence demonstrates the connection between the tree and people.

Otherwise, as a creature of nature, it would be impossible for it to enter historical memory.

Not only that, the poems here create an intertextual cyberspace for future generations to understand this monument.

The so-called "Peng Hou" is a legendary tree spirit, derived from Jin Ganbao's "Search God Ji":

During the reign of the First Lord of Wu, Lu Jingshu was the prefect of Jian 'an and sent people to chop down the camphor tree.

Before he could count his axe, blood suddenly flowed out.

The tree is broken, and there are objects, faces, and dogs, emerging from the tree.

Uncle Jing said: "This is named Marquis Peng." So he cooked it and ate it.

It tasted like a dog.

"Baize Tu" said: "The essence of wood is named Peng Hou.

It is shaped like a black dog and has no tail.

It can be cooked and eaten." [27]

As a result,"Wuzhizhang" also became associated with historical figures such as Lu Jingshu, Gan Bao, and Wang Rongshou, and the thinking about its meaning and values became fluid as a result.

Different people and different timings of visits may give it different meanings.

Understanding "monuments" from the words of poetry reflects the extraordinary historical wisdom of the ancients, and what it leaves to future generations far exceeds the significance and value of heritage under different disciplines/positions/perspectives.

Because the meaning space of poetry is infinite, as Albert Hofstadter said in the introduction to Heidegger's famous book "Poetry, Words and Thoughts", through reading the poem,"we feel that language, in speech, summons the arrival of the four worlds of heaven, earth, man and God." [28]

Judging from the way of speech, the writing of "monuments" mainly quotes other people's language.

The entire text of "Furongtai" consists of a text fragment from "Hongzhi Mansion Annals" and Fang Rongben's ancient poems on Furongtai, while "Wuzhizhang" is composed of Wang Rongshou's Wuzhizhang poems and the compiler's description of their location.

Traditional historical records in China pay great attention to the reference to existing records and other related texts of the previous generation, and compilers generally try to write less in their own language.

This inherits Confucius 'tradition of "stating but not writing" and is an excellent expression of the ancients "believing in the past but loving the past".

When discussing the narrative paradigm of "Historical Records", Wu Zongjie and Yu Hua understood this writing method as respect for the historical "authenticity" of language.

[29]The preservation of the "authenticity" of the language written by "monuments" also ensures the authenticity of its historical significance, and the protection of "monuments" needs to reflect respect for their original meaning.

These historical/past meanings can initiate new dialogues between ancient and modern times when faced with viewers of the present and future.

In this way, the historicity, dialogue, and mobility of meaning are intertwined and danced in people's different understandings of monuments, and future generations can gain something and gain something.

From the above brief discourse analysis, it can be seen that the traditional China discourse of "monuments" is unique in terms of focus and representation methods, and the differences between it and contemporary heritage discourse are also revealed.

What needs to be noted here is that our example analysis is very limited and cannot represent all the characteristics of China's traditional "monuments" discourse, which needs to be discussed in more detail.

Conclusion

Faced with the "heritage craze" led by AHD, China's heritage community, including scholars, practitioners, and relevant government departments, needs to have a clear understanding of cross-cultural "heritage politics." Some scholars have touched on this issue, but in general, our reflection is mainly following the critical methods and aspirations of Western academic circles.

Research and exploration that delves into China's traditional culture and local historical thinking are rarely seen.

More attention and effort are needed in this regard.

This paper attempts to explore the traditional thinking of "monuments" in China.

Based on limited example texts, it analyzes and presents the connotation, discourse methods, meaning space and value thinking of "monuments".

The deep differences between "monuments" and "heritage" also emerge.

Our preliminary findings can be summarized as follows: China ancient people's memory and thinking about history/past did not focus on the remains of matter and its intrinsic value, but on its location, related poems and the resulting multiple meaning space and value thinking are important aspects.

Although the research in this paper cannot show the full picture of China's local "monuments" thinking, as an attempt, we hope that it can trigger more cross-cultural reflection and localized exploration.

Our heritage protection, management and utilization need to get rid of the misunderstanding of cutting the reality of China's heritage in accordance with internationally accepted knowledge and standards.

Rereading local texts submerged by Western discourse and exploring relevant traditional cultural thinking and historical memory methods are important tasks before us.

Only in this way can we break the cultural politics of heritage and not become victims of the "New Crusade"; only in this way can China truly contribute to the diversity of heritage and the diversity of world culture.

Make unique contributions.

(This article was originally published in "Culture and Art Research", issue 01, 2012, the annotations are omitted, and refer to the original issue for details)