Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

8-2018

Abstract

Rapid modernization has brought about massive changes in the urban and rural landscapes of China.While many old places and ancient buildings have been pulled down and replaced with more modernalternatives, others have been protected and restored. These include ancient ancestral temples, animportant cultural space in China. Previous research has shown how different level governmentsand rural communities work together to restore ancient temples, but didn’t bring to light artisticand non-government financed and patronized cases of restoration projects. This article adoptsa bottom-up perspective to examine a case in Guangzhou how an individual artist transforms anancient ancestral temple into a new cultural space. Through an ethnographic-style exploration of thepractice of restoration, we unfold the interconnections between an individual’s social memory of thepast, their love of place, and their enthusiasm for restoration work. Differing from the government’s‘standardized’ and functionalist restoration of ancestral temples, this case study shows an individual’semotional and material devotion to transforming a neglected ancestral temple into an eclectic culturalspace where the art works are a result of freedom of creative expression.

Keywords

ancestral temple, restoration, devotion, social memory, Guangzhou

Discipline

Asian Studies | Religion

Publication

cultural geographies

First Page

1

Last Page

9

ISSN

1474-4740

Identifier

10.1177/1474474018796649

Publisher

SAGE Publications (UK and US)

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1177/1474474018796649

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