Shifting Actors and Power Relations: Contentious Local Responses to the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Contemporary China

This essay addresses the contentious local responses to intangible cultural heritage (ICH) protection in a local context. The following ethnographic case study concerns the living tradition of worshipping the ancient sage-kings Yao and Shun in several villages in Hongtong County, Shanxi Province, China. Named as an item of national ICH in 2008, the official title of this local tradition is Hongtong Zouqin Xisu, “the custom of visiting sacred relatives in Hongtong.” I explore the ways local people have responded to the safeguarding of ICH, with a focus on shifting actors and power relations within interconnected communities.