Sacred Heritage Making in Confucius' Hometown: a Case of The
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Sacred Heritage Making in Confucius’ Hometown: A Case of the Liangguan Site Bailan Qin Department of Chinese Studies School of Languages and Cultures University of Sydney A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy at the University of Sydney ©2018 This is to certify that to the best of my knowledge, the content of this thesis is my own work. This thesis has not been submitted for any degree or other purposes. I certify that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work and that all the assistance received in preparing this thesis and sources have been acknowledged. Signature Bailan Qin Abstract For over two thousand years, Qufu – the hometown of Confucius – has maintained numerous heritage sites where ancient Chinese elites revered Confucius and studied Confucianism. The sites, known as sacred places, have been exerting significant impact on Chinese culture and society. However, since the early 1930s, many of these sites in non-protected areas have been forgotten and even transformed in such a way that their original heritage meanings have dissipated. Following President Xi Jinping’s visit to Qufu on 26 November 2013, Qufu has been attracting unprecedented attention in both mass media and the academia, contributing to China’s ongoing Confucian revival in the post-Mao era. Against this background, the thesis aims to explore Confucian discourses deeply rooted in traditions of Chinese studies to inform heritage researchers and practioners today of sacred heritage-making process theoretically and practically. The study has investigated how a widely known sacred place – Liangguan was produced, preserved, interpreted and transmitted as heritage by examining historical texts associated with Qufu. The primary concern in my research is how the floating signifier of sacredness is variously fixed in terms of the Confucian Classics. It presents the Confucian Classics as a prominent heritage feature embedded in related continuously maintained a historic place for more than 2500 years. It argues that we should differentiate clearly a place or space as heritage from a thing that is either physical or intangible. The deep cultural significance of conserving, repairing, renovating and presenting historic sites in Qufu are traditionally meant to transmit and refresh the classical texts. The classical exegesis allows the space itself, along with its documentation, to be turned into a readable historic site which subsequently gives way to the cosmological, moral, ritual and cultural political levels of the heritage understandings. The findings of this case study eventually lead to three place-based heritage conclusions. First, the Confucian elites designate the Classics as a built-in feature of heritage sites. Local worthies live i and relive the historic site by engaging an interpretation of the Confucian Classics with the place or space. Second, place names are a vital part of the sacred heritage because they can solicit deep interpretations of the related historical events. It is of great necessity to reinterpret the associated scriptures of place names for our real understanding of inherent Confucian values and heritage meanings. Third, sacred heritage is described by elite visitors as a historic place for reliving unbroken traditions and experiencing memories of the past. The spirit of Confucian sites can only be sensed and understood by expounding scriptures of the Classics and reactivated by interacting with Confucius’ descendants. Ultimately, it is suggested that we’d better redefine above three issues for producing the sacred heritage in relation to its representation, values and uses in present context of Confucian revival. Only in this way can numerous sites in Qufu be entrusted the sacred characters again to impart all functions and presentations of the long Chinese past, credible culture and Confucian ethics. ii Acknowledgments I would like first to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor Professor Yingjie Guo without whom I could not have completed this thesis. His careful supervision, incredible patience and disciplinary tolerance supported me throughout. Then in Qufu among numerous people I owed thanks, I want to mention in particular Zhao Hongyu – a retired clerk from Tiger and Lion Community, Yang Anbang – the former curator at Qufu Local Library, and Kong Qingdi – the former chief planner at Qufu Bureau of Urban and Rural Housing and Construction. I am grateful for their helps with the collection of numerous historical data during my fieldwork. Also I thank Kong Qinghe – 73th generation descendant of Confucius, Zhang Yue – a staff member at the Office of Qufu Literature and History and Song Haitao – a staff member at Qufu Local Library for showing me around the Confucian sites, as well as Guan Jie, Feng Yang and their colleagues from the Bureau of Cultural Heritage for allowing me to work with the first-hand official data. And lastly, my gratitude should go to Zongjie Wu – a Professor of Zhejiang University for his guidance and advice in the earlier stage of the study and Yungen Tu – a Phd candidate from Zhejiang University for helping me with proofreading of the thesis. I thank both Dr. Yujie Zhu and Assoc. Prof. Shirley Chan for providing me with valuable comments and suggestions to bring my writing to its final shape. This thesis is dedicated to five mentors who provided me with proper theoretical perspectives and all enlightenment. They are: David J. Bodenhamer, Executive Director of the Polis Center and Professor of History at Indiana University-Purdue University (Indianapolis). Ken Taylor, Emeritus Professor of Landscape and Heritage at Australian National University. Yifu Tuan, Professor of Cultural Geography at University of Wisconsin (Madison). Peter K. Bol, Professor of History at Harvard University. Thomas S. Popkewitz, Professor of Education at University of Wisconsin (Madison). i Notes to Readers The criteria of choosing various sources and texts for this thesis is based on Bakhtin's polyphony theory, dialogue theory, carnival theory, and the related heteroglossia theory. The translations from Chinese sources and adaptations of English translations are all mine if not otherwise pointed out. The Chinese transliteration of pinyin is used with simplified Chinese characters aside throughout this work. In consideration of scholars unfamiliar with the ancient Chinese librianian corpus and quotation system, the writer just keeps and translates the citation format of original texts for maintaining the authenticity. ii Table of Contents Abstract........................................................................................................................................i Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................i Notes to Readers.........................................................................................................................ii List of Illustrations......................................................................................................................v Chapter 1 Introduction................................................................................................................1 1.1 Aims and Objectives ........................................................................................................4 1.2 Significance of the Research............................................................................................6 1.3 Literature Review.............................................................................................................9 1.4 Clarification of Key Terms..............................................................................................12 1.5 Structure of the Thesis...................................................................................................15 Chapter 2 Confucian Ideas of the Heritage Site .......................................................................18 2.1 The Site of Wenxian.......................................................................................................19 2.2 Situated Classics as Place...............................................................................................28 2.3 Representing Place as Heritage .....................................................................................37 2.4 Managing Historic Space ...............................................................................................42 2.5 Summary........................................................................................................................48 Chapter 3 Reading the Meanings of Heritage from Associated Texts .....................................50 3.1 Symbolic Expression of the Architectural Features .......................................................52 3.2 Cosmological Meanings of Guan ...................................................................................60 3.3 The Place for Declaring Decrees ....................................................................................63 3.4 Confucius’ Canonical Implications for Liangguan ..........................................................68 3.5 Summary........................................................................................................................76 Chapter 4 Heritage Experience as On-Site Interaction.............................................................78 4.1 Interaction with the Past