遗产理论重新建构的实践：博物馆由圣殿走向世俗

Western theories on cultural herit-age have been developing continuously in ceaseless debates, and these theories have experienced dif-ferent stages of emerging, evolution and decon-struction. At the same time, a reconstruction of‘cultural heritage theories ’ is now being imple-mented and even has gained a certain achieve-ment. Indeed, at present ‘museums ’ have be-come the playgrounds for the reconstruction of new theories: museums are being transformed from a‘palatial ’ heritage protection institutes into ‘an-thropocentric’ cultural service institutes by means of ‘audience engagement’ . Museums increasingly implement the reconstruction of cultural heritage theories. From the 8 th to the 12 th of August 2016 a training project on ‘audience engagement ’ -hos-ted both by the British Council and the Chinese Museums Association-took place in the ‘National Museums Liverpool’ group. Due to its preeminent geological position, professional teams of special-ists, and audience-oriented working mechanisms, the National Museums Liverpool has become a new paradigm for the world of museums. However, be-hind these visible developments, a process of cul-tural heritage studies has been providing a strong support and guidance. Going back to European ideology from the late 18thto 19th century, the ‘past’ was seen as an ob-ject to be studied, pursued, protected, or even re-built ( designing past landscapes, old buildings, and memorials) . This ideology became the starting point of ‘Eurocentric heritage studies ’ . Due to this background, initial heritage studies have been branded with phrases as‘Eurocentrism’ ,‘author-itativeness’ , and ‘sanctification ’; this view has affected a large number of museums in the world. However, heritage studies have been adjusting and evolving. Post-modern heritage theories questioned issues like ‘centralization ’ and ‘authoritative-ness’ , and instead refocused on concepts like‘people’ , ‘democracy ’ , and ‘pluralistic socie-ty’ . The advocacy of‘cultural diversity’ and sup-port of expressions of‘intangible cultural heritage’ are practical applications of this new development in heritage theories. Taking the National Museums Liverpool as a case, the first characteristic of this museums group is the easy accessibility of the location of the muse-ums:several museums are situated just besides the sea as well as close to the city shopping center. Still, other museums are located on the opposite side of this area, yet it is only a 20-minutes walk between the two sides. A second characteristic is a special ‘managerial/administrative mechanism ’ that allows all museums to be run in a certain way;at the same time curators remain at the core of the teams that conduct the projects in the museums. A third trait is that the museum audience remains the main focus of all operations in the‘National Muse-ums Liverpool ’ . The case of National Museums Liverpool shows that ‘museums ’ have become an important place for reconstructing ‘cultural herit-age theories’. By means of ‘free admission’ and ‘audience engagement ’ , the museums’ function has changed from a ‘sacred place for collecting, researching and rescuing the past’ to an anthropo-centric service institute: museums have shifted from an organization of ‘sanctification ’ to one of‘secularization’ . With this development of cultural heritage the-ories, the traditional model of the museums has been reconstructed and renovated:it seems to have restored the voice of the general public and of cer-tain non-powerful groups to preeminence. In addi-tion, the bowuguan tiaoli ( Museum Regulations) issued by the State Council of China in 2015 says that‘education’ is the primary function of a muse-um. This redefinition of what a museum is sup-posed to be, actually reflects a guiding ideology of changing the museum’s traditional status and iden-tity. It also emphasizes the museum’s need for au-dience engagement. All of this challenges the museum’s traditional function of ‘collecting, pre-serving, researching, and displaying’ . New social functions, such as‘public education’ and‘public cultural service’ , are thus constantly emerging into a museum. Although different names have been given to these new functions, ‘audience engage-ment’ is at the core of them. Generally speaking, as international museums are slowly transforming - guided by cultural heritage theories-domestic museums will also gradually change their predomi-nant ‘sacred position ’ and shift into museums of‘decentralization’ . Anthropocentrism and‘service to the people’ will increasingly be the new identity of present-day museums.     

鲍德温•斯宾塞与后维多利亚时代的古典人类学

The post-Victorian anthropologist Baldwin Spencer was the first to investigate the central and northern aboriginal tribes of Australia. His ethnographic works in this area have greatly in-fluenced related disciplines and studies in fields such as kinship, totem worship, and primitive reli-gions. In the field of classics and anthropology, Spencer’s academic heritage has received wide-spread respect and recognition, and has made sub-sequent academic discussion possible. In order to present Spencer’s personal experiences and aca-demic ideas clearly and comprehensively, it is nec-essary to return to the post-Victorian context, and comb Spencer’ s life history and academic history. Taking important clues from various times an e-vents in his life, the paper introduces three peri-ods:Spencer’s early training in the discipline and his epistemic background, his medium-term eth-nographic investigations and works, and the later investigations of Tierra del Fuego. Textual study, based on Spencer’s life history and academic histo-ry, is very useful to understand his ethnographic investigations. Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer ( 1860 -1929 ) was born on 23 June, 1860 in Lancashire, Eng-land. Spencer was educated at Old Trafford School and at the Manchester School of Art. His interest in art and sketching was lifelong, and would reveal itself in his competence as a scientific draftsman and illustrator ( D. J. Mulvaney,1990 ) . Entering Owens College ( Victoria University of Manchester) in 1879, Spencer intended to study medicine. In-spired by Milnes Marshall, a disciple of Darwin disciple, he became a committed evolutionary biol-ogist, soon abandoning conventional religion. He entered the University of Oxford in 1881 to study
science under Professor H. N. Moseley, who com-bined an enthusiasm for evolutionary biology with ethnological interests. Spencer grasped Oxford ’ s diverse opportunities, which included lectures by Ruskin and E. B. Tylor. In 1887, Spencer ar-rived at Melbourne University . With his colleague Professor David Masson, Spencer helped to trans-form university standards and they co-operated as entrepreneurs of Australian science. Spencer was recruited as zoologist and photog-rapher in the 1894 Horn scientific exploration ex-pedition to central Australia. His anthropological interest was rekindled when he met F. J. Gillen, the Alice Springs postmaster, during the expedi-tion. In 1896 Spencer joined Gillen for the most intensive fieldwork then attempted in Australia. The Native Tribes of Central Australia ( 1899 ) , which resulted, was to influence contemporary theories on social evolution and interpretations of the origins of art and ceremonial practices. Spencer and Gillen drove a buggy from Oodnadatta to Borroloola in 1901-02 . Their research resulted in The Northern Tribes of Central Australia ( 1904 );Haddon had written that the names of Spencer and Gillen are familiar to every ethnologist in the world, and probably no books on ethnology have been so wide-ly noticed and criticized as have The Native Tribes of Central Australia and The Northern Tribes of Central Australia (A. C. Haddon ,1902). To assist the Government of the Common-wealth, Spencer was appointed Special Commis-sioner for Aboriginals in the Northern Territory, and also their Chief Protector. He also led three other scientists, including J. A. Gilruth, on the 1911 Preliminary Scientific Expedition. Native Tribes of the Northern Territory of Australia (1914)
described his ethnographic observations and the ex-tensive collections made on the expedition. At the government ’ s request, Spencer visited Alice Springs and Hermannsburg in 1923 . He published The Arunta: A Study of a Stone Age People ( 2 vols, 1927 ) to respond to the criticisms derived from Carl Stretlow and defend his work. A popular rewrite of previous books followed—Wanderings in Wild Australia ( 2 vols, 1928 )—this time under his sole authorship. Spencer retired as emeritus professor in 1919 . His nerves and his judgments were impaired from the strain of continuous overwork, the virtual disin-tegration of his marriage, and he was finally hospi-talized in 1921 . His health improved and within two years he resumed anthropological activities and rebuilt his art collection. He sailed to Tierra del Fuego together with Jean Hamilton to undertake anthropological studies early in 1929. Spencer, with an unrivalled record of anthropological field-work in Australia, undertook this journey to fill a gap in our knowledge, and compare very different and remote races of mankind (A. C. H. ,1931). However, his gallant attempt was prematurely frus-trated by his death from angina pectoris, at which point he had been only two months in the field. His notes were organized and published as Spencer’s Last Journey (1931). His achievements were recognized. Elected as a fellow of the Royal Society in 1900 , he was ap-pointed C. M. G. in 1904 and K. C. M. G. in 1916 . Manchester University conferred him with an honorary doctorate of science, while Melbourne a-warded him a doctorate of letters. Exeter College, Oxford, elected him to an honorary fellowship in 1907 , and stained glass in its hall commemorates his contribution. James Frazer’s letter to Spencer in 1899 was prophetic: books like mine, merely speculative, will be superseded sooner or later ( the sooner the better for the sake of truth) by bet-ter induction based on fuller knowledge;books like yours, containing records of observations, will nev-er be superseded ( John M. Cooper, 1932 ) . Therefore, the sense and value of reading and un-derstanding Spencer and his books today goes with-out saying.     

宗教、秩序与隐喻：读《中国社会中的宗教与仪式》

Western social scientists have fo-cused on the religion and ritual of China for a long time. Since modern times, a number of western si-nologists have committed themselves to conducting detailed and in-depth research on aspects of Chi-nese society and history in order to explain the be-liefs and practices of Chinese people. It is within such an academic background that Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society, edited by Arthur Wolf, an American anthropologist, compiled a series of studies on the religions and rituals of Taiwan and Hong Kong done by fifteen western scholars from the 1950s to the 1970s. The advent of this book not only characterizes the western academic study of Chinese society and culture of that era, but also causes us to reflect on current research. This book is a work of great academic value, as well as serves as a model for the study of sinology in the field of western anthropology.     

祭祀对世界“中间状”的物化

Deriving from a quote in MarcellMauss ＇ essay on techniques of the Body , as well as based on the exploration of cases from ancient Mesopotamia , the eastern Mediterranean , and Africa .The author voices his concerns on the relationship between sacrifice and ＂materiali-zing＂.He states that sacrifice can animate , i.e.give life to sacrificial objects and by doing so turn them into subjects or agents who are dependent on the sacrificial process for their flourish-ing.Sacrifice as a life giving act creates a person through eating and feeding the recognition by the subject of its dependence on the source of that creativity .This can be the basis for contrasting it to funerary rites where it is death and the corpse that is envisaged as the sacrifice which is offered in some form as ＂feeding＂ the Gods.     

一个多民族文学融合互动的范本——《述善集》文学文献价值考述

“Tangwu” is an alternative name for the descendants of the Xixia dynasty. In 1227 AD, a number of these Xixia descendants moved inland after the destruction of the Xixia Dynasty by the Mongolians. One group of them migrated to the area near Puyang, Henan Province. Tangwu Chongxi ( Yang Chongxi ) of the Yuan Dynasty compiled the Shu San Ji, which is divided into three volumes: Shansu, Yucai and Xingshi, and appended with the biography of Boyan Zongdao. It reflects the historical origins, social class, living conditions and the relations with the Han people of the descendants of the Dangxiangqiang minority af-ter they moved to Puyang. This book attracted a lot of attention in academic circles, and it was there-fore reorganized and published in 1985 after being treasured by the people for more than 600 years. It has high academic value for its comprehensive his-torical records. We can not only acquaint ourselves with the history of the make-up of the Chinese na-tion, but also research this diversity from multiple perspectives, such as history, nationality and folk-lore . That is why it has drawn so much attention a-mong academic researchers. The book contains po-ems, prose and biographies, which belong to dif-ferent celebrated scholars from different ethnic mi-norities, all of whom had relationships with Tang-wu Chongxi. It is also a typical model of Qiang-Han literature, which is very rare. This paper gives a preliminary exploration on the book, and shows a small part of its comprehensive value. Shu San Ji is not a merely personal collec-tion, but is also different from general literature collections. The compilation of the book took a long time. Shu San Ji Xuxie ( Continuation of Shu San Ji) , written by Zhang Yining, was finished in the 18 th year of the Zhizheng Period in the Yuan Dynasty (1358), which indicates that the Shu San Ji had already been finished by that time . Zeng wuwei chushi yangxiangxian xu ( Presented to Chu Shi Yang Xingxian·Preface ) , written by Wei Su and finished in the 24 th year of Zhizheng ( 1364 ) , suggests that the Shu San Ji had been compiled in-to a book by that time, and that it was compiled with the compositions of social celebrities of the time. However, the Shu San Ji, as it has been handed down to us today, includes the Song Yang-gong Xiangxian gui Tanyuan xu ( Preface of Send-ing Yanggong Xiangxian Back to Tanyuan) by Tao Kai, written in March in the 5 th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty ( 1372 ) . It indicates that Yang Xiangxian kept on collecting articles even after the book was finished. The Xu yangshi yiji ( Preface of Yang’s Last Collection) by Wang Chongqing, writ-ten in the 6th year of Jiajing (1527), indicates that the Shu San Ji was still being written after Yang Chongxi’s death. At the end of the Shu San Ji , Boyang Zongdao zhuan ( Biography of Boyang Zongdao) and Weiti shi (Poems) were collected in the 16 th year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (1529) and in the 16th year of Shunzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1629), respectively. It suggests that the
Shu San Ji had been supplemented and continually recompiled since Yang Chongxi firstly finished his book in 1358. After 271 years, in 1629, the Shu San Ji, as we read it today, was finally comple-ted. Through the basic components of the Shu San Ji,readers can understand that the Tangwu family was a harmonious, multi-ethnic family. A number of multi-ethnic writers spent long periods compos-ing works collected in the Shu San Ji and Tangwu Chongxi was also influenced by China’s diverse culture and traditional Confucian culture. The work is strongly connected with his study in Guozixue. In the late Yuan Dynasty, the restora-tion of the imperial examinations promoted Confucianism’s influence further. Pan Di, as Tang-wu Chongxi’s teacher in Guozixue, wrote most arti-cles in the Shu San Ji, which shows their close re-lationship and his influences on Tangwu Chongxi’s literature and Confucian studies. Tangwu Chongxi and others’ works reflected their sense of admira-tion for and deep feelings for their Dangxiang an-cestors, but more so helped to propagate the con-cepts of Confucian edification, diligence, thrifti-ness and benevolence, and some of them did so in a very polemic way. For example, Boyan Zongdao wrote the Jiefu xu ( preface of “Jiefu”) and Tang-wu Chongxi wrote the Jiefu houxu ( epilogue of“Jiefu”) , which reflect the social reality and ide-ology of all scholars with different ethnic back-grounds at that time. His work, “Tangwu gong-bei” fushi ( Poem inscribed on Tangwu Tablet ) , was written in a plain and authentic way and showed that he always remembered his origins and his ethnic desire to inherit the family’s heritage. Meanwhile , it was also mixed with the popular ide-as of upholding the honor of their ancestors from the central plains and Han areas, which shows the
editorial purpose of the Shu San Ji and also dem-onstrates the value of Chinese multi-ethnic litera-ture and cultural integration.     

贵州彝族传统情歌（曲谷）的音乐特色

Being one of the most ancient eth-nic groups in China, the ‘Yi’ have a long history and an abundant culture. Yi folk songs, which are widely sung in many regions of China, have vari-ous forms and styles. These folk songs reflect the lengthy history of the Yi society; indeed they ex-press the happiness and misery, the dreams and desires of the Yi people. Within this context, this article focuses on‘Qugu’ which is a unique type of music belonging to the Yi people. In fact most Yi people of Guizhou live in the Wumeng Mountains. In their quest for survival, over time the Yi had developed a series of natural worship rites which became one of the sources of their traditional mu-sic. In addition, Yi people formed a unique way to express their love: in times past they developed a tradition of singing in the mountains and forests as to convey their love to their beloved;the‘Qugu’ is one of these Yi’ s traditional love song genres.‘Qugu’ means ‘singing’ and this genre has its own social functioning. According to traditional Yi culture and habits, a ‘Qugu ’ should not be sung in front of parents, brothers, or other rela-tives;instead it should only be sung in a place sur-rounded by mountains and forests and on certain singing sites, called ‘Guji’(in Yi language). In most of the Yi settlements, such ‘singing sites ’ were placed far away from the villages, sometimes on flat areas and sometimes in the remote wilder-ness, in forests or caves. The singing activities on those special sites took place according to specific rules and calen-dars. During the so-called ‘singing festival’ peri-od ( from the 1 st to the 15 th day of the 1 st lunar month and on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month), the singing performances were particularly magnifi-cent. People of all ages, young and old, would gather together from all directions and would sing without interruption for several days. Moreover , the singing festival also had certain traditional rites ( ceremonies ) . For example, at the very beginning, certain clan elders or prestig-ious singers would offer wine and water to the‘heavens and earth ’ . After this offering, ‘the soul of the song’ was invited. The Yi people tradi-tionally worship nature and believe in animism, so indeed a ‘Qugu’ also has its own ‘soul’ . There-fore, when the singing festival would commence, they would invite the ‘soul of the song’ to come;this custom is called ‘Guyexi’ in the Yi language. The nextritual would be the ‘Guyidai ’ ( in Yi) , which means‘the settling down of the soul of the song’ at the particular singing site. There are lyrics like:‘If there is no settling down of the soul of the song, then when the next spring comes the sil-ver flowers will sever their roots, the golden flowers will sever their roots, and the singing sites cannot be set up ’ . After the settling down of the soul of the song, the next ceremony would be the ‘Gukoupu’ ( in Yi) or ‘opening of the mouth of the song ’:this basically means the ‘opening of the door of love’ and also indicates the formal beginning of‘Qugu’ activity. All of this shows indeed that the rite of‘Qugu’ is not as solemn as other rites, as in fact the lyrics of ‘Qugu ’ are mostly about love af-fairs and romance. When the‘Gukoupu’ ends, the young people can start to freely sing. There are indeed lyrics like: ‘Three young chaps brought three axes and went into three directions of the universe; they chopped three pine trees, sawed off three boards, made three chairs, and placed these facing three di-rections. They invited girls to take a seat; the girls sat down and sang. The girls invited the chaps to take a seat;the chaps sat down and sang’ . When this‘free singing’ begins, an ‘antiph-onal group singing’ starts at the singing site (‘Gu-ji ’ ); males and females take part in this and stand/sit separately as they all sing in antiphonal style. In the middle there is a ‘go-between ’ in charge of coordination, judging, and passing on information. The males and females sing and ob-serve back and forth. During this process, affec-tions may emerge between a certain male and fe-male. If indeed a guy or young lady takes a fancy to another person, he or she will ask the go-be-tween for help. If the counterpart gives a positive response, then the two will leave the group and go elsewhere to talk and sing. During this ‘antiphonal group-singing’ , each group can allow a certain ‘representative ’ to sing solo;this solo should not be a repeat of some song performed by someone from another group. The young males and females thus can each show off their voices by singing songs with free rhyme, sweet melodies, and serious or deep topics. It is easy to see that this ‘antiphonal group singing ’ provided a major means of romantic communication between young Yi men and women. In fact, the number of songs they could sing as well as the technique used in singing these significantly deter-mined one’ s ability to attract the opposite sex. As a consequence, both males and females were strongly committed to learn to sing, trying their best to master more and better songs. Through learning from their predecessors, they made an ef-fort to improve their singing abilities. As said, traditionally at the beginning of the singing festival, ‘the soul of the song’ would be invited; well, likewise at the end of the festival‘the soul of the song’ should be sent away again. The Yi people believed that if they would not send the soul of the song away, the young would be ob-sessed by affections all the time and even lose their minds. Finally, Guizhou Yi ’ s folk music-generally speaking-has a great variety in content, perform-ance locations, forms, and genres. Moreover, due to the regional differences music styles also vary geographically. All of this makes the multi-colored Yi music even more delightful and appealing. Unfortunately, the entire tradition ( ceremo-nies) of the‘Qugu’ as described above, no longer exists today. The singers who still know these pro-cedures are getting old and eventually will forget these rites. This is a big loss for the living tradition of the Yi culture, and it is a source of grief for those who study Yi culture, in China and abroad.     

林惠祥与中国大陆的台湾原住民研究

自明代以来,中央政府就相当关注台湾地方事务,台湾一词在正史典籍中的浮现也始于明代。人类学和民族学在近代传入中国后,林惠祥先生于1929年亲赴台湾进行考察,其《台湾番族之原始文化》由此也成为中国学者研究台湾原住民的开辟荆榛之作。台湾原住民的族源和历史是林惠祥研究的核心和重点,林先生在这方面的贡献至今依旧值得后世学人学习和思考。     

庄孔韶民族学人类学研究之二:汉人社会乡村人类学与文化直觉

庄孔韶延承林耀华,扩展了文化相对主义为原则的族体制度与生态研究、美国历史与文化理论、英国的社区方法以及教育的人类学领域,并与后结构主义一同形成了自己"不浪费的人类学"、汉人乡村人类学之实践主张、风格与脉络。     

日本国立民族学博物馆所藏涉藏资料研究

日本国立民族学博物馆是一所兼具博物馆功能、培养博士研究生教育功能、大学共同利用机构功能为一体的世界一流民族学(文化人类学)研究中心。国立民族学博物馆对涉藏资料的收集整理工作前后分为三个时期:初期主要是20世纪初由青木文教从西藏带回日本的民族志资料;其次是20世纪50年代日本学者川喜田二郎等人组织的社会调查队在尼泊尔等喜玛拉雅藏系社会的调查资料;第三个时期是中日建交后通过“中国民族文化宫”收购的一批民族文化资料中的涉藏部分。这些资料对今后的藏学研究具有重要的参考价值。     

林惠祥对南洋马来人的研究

早在20世纪30—40年代,林惠祥教授对南洋马来人就进行了实地考察,并发表了有关马来人研究的系列论著,他的研究成果是我国世界民族实地研究的开拓性著作。他提出的对马来人的定义与分类、马来人的来源与族际关系、马来人与中国大陆东南土著同源、中国东南地区是原马来人的发源地等观点,在国内外学术界产生了深远的影响。他关于福建和马来西亚考古学的论著,为马来人与中国东南古越族同源关系提供了可靠的实物证据。     

费孝通先生的学问人生管窥

本文以文献资料为依据,从教学风格、学科建设思想和学问情怀三个方面对费孝通先生一生探索的榜样意义进行阐发。费先生在教学上倡导引导学生探求未知、从实求知的教学理念,在学科建设上坚持面向实践、学以致用的学术导向,在学术追求上达到将家、国、天下自觉统一起来的极高境界,他宏富的著述、深刻的思想和崇高的追求,是值得后人永远珍视的宝贵财富。     

武当道茶文化研究

This article explores the promotion of tea culture at Wudang Mountain, a Daoist tem-ple complex in Hubei Province that is a popular tourist destination. At shops in temples and market areas, vendors brand their tea as Wudang Daoist tea, emphasizing its health benefits and connecting their teas to the Daoist discourse of life-nourishing ( yang sheng) practices. In their marketing materi-als and on their websites, the management of the Eight Immortal Temple Tea Plantation further cites folklore and mythic history to claim profound local roots for Wudang tea culture. In so doing, this company echoes the memory narratives of more fa-mous Chinese teas like Iron Guanyin and Dahong-pao. In China as elsewhere, convenient travel now puts people in contact with areas and peoples that a few decades earlier only a few non-locals explored. As a consequence of a global trend towards com-modification, members of local groups, including distinctive ethnocultural groups, now seek to create distinctive local brands for a tourist market. Corpo-rations now regularly mine local traditions to find i-tems that they can transform into commodities for a wider market ( Comaroff and Comaroff 2009 ) . One of Hubei’s richest tourism assets is the Daoist temple complex at Wudang Moutain, which draws pilgrims and tourists from China and Greater China. China’s State Council identified Wudang Moutain as a National Key Scenic Area in 1982 , and UNESCO added its ancient temples to its World Heritage list in 1994 . The Chinese govern-ment has worked with the Daoist Federation to de-velop Wudang’s temples and pavilions, which are spread over 400 square kilometers of mountainous terrain, into a major tourist destination. The gov-ernment tourist office promotes Wudang Mountain for its scenic beauty, its deep historical heritage, its religious culture, and famous martial arts. Al-though its tea culture is less renowned, local tea sellers claim that Wudang tea has a deep history and Daoist qualities. At Wudang Mountain, the Eight Immortal Temple Tea Plantation markets their tea as Wudang Daoist Tea, using history, legend, ritual, and sa-cred location to distinguish its green, black, and oolong teas from those produced elsewhere. They seek to valorize their teas through claims about the excellence of their growing environment ( not un-like the terroir of a fine wine ) and the historical depth of their tea history. They further use legend and mythic history to position their products, and associate their teas with Daoist traditions of health preservation, including martial arts. Finally, they use modern marketing techniques to promote their teas, including a promotional video directed by a In Ethnicity Inc, John and Jean Comaroff pro-pose that “commerce has been instrumental either in crystallizing or in reproducing the sociological entities (‘people’, ‘nation’, ‘community’ ) in which cultural identity is presumed to inhere”( Comaroff and Comaroff 2009:114 ) . In particu-lar, they conclude that people use identity-laden objects as a vehicle through which “ethnic con-sciousness is materialized” ( 33 ) . They focus on the modern discourse of intellectual property rights, including competing national claims to trademark signature products (122). Wudang tea vendors have used story, packa-ging, and performance to promote teas that evoke Wudang’s history, local traditions, and landscape. Hubei officials pay premium prices for the Eight Immortal Temple Plantation’s highest quality teas, but outside China Wudang tea is not well known. As global awareness of this world heritage site grows, Hubei’s Wudang Daoist tea series may find a place among the specialty teas now sold on the world market. But for now, Wudang Daoist Tea is an innovative brand that symbolizes a heritage that is simultaneously imperial, national, Daoist, and deeply local.