Creating Multiculturalism among the Han Chinese: Manufacturing of a Cultural Landscape in Urban Guangzhou
Creating Multiculturalism among the Han Chinese: Manufacturing of a Cultural Landscape in Urban Guangzhou
Volume 3 Number 1, Spring 2012 pp. 39-56(18)
Research Article
2012/3/1
Kawai, Hironao
Most studies of multiculturalism in China have been focused on the situations of minority groups; little has been discussed about multiculturalism among the majority: the Han ethnic group. However, because the Han culture has a vast diversity within it, politicians and scholars in China have recently started to pay attention to the sub-ethnic cultures of the Han, and have viewed them under the framework of multiculturalism. One result of this effort is that politicians and scholars have defined three main sub-ethnic cultures of the Han in China's Guangdong Province (namely, the Cantonese, Hakka, and Chaoshanese cultures), and have started to redevelop these cultures and their landscape heading into the 21st century. But this 'manufactured' culture does not always match the “true” original culture. This article will show how the Han's sub-ethnic cultures and landscape are being developed by political and “scientific” power, focusing specifically on the example of Cantonese culture, and construction of a related theme park in urban Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province.
To download, please enter the password "apw2010" on the next screen.