Restoration of an ancestral temple in Guangzhou, China: re-imagining history and traditions through devotion to art and creation

• Main Authors: MA, Ling, WOODS, Orlando, HONG, Zhu
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: ancestral temple; restoration; devotion; social memory; Guangzhou; Asian Studies; Religion
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/2676; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/3933/viewcontent/Restoration_of_an_ancestral_temple_in_Guangzhou__China__re_imagining_history_and_traditions_through_devotion_to_art_and_creation.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

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.