South Korea s intangible cultural heritage claims and China s ontological security

Controversies over ownership have become important issues in heritage practice. This study employs ontological security (OS) theory to explore the series of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) conflicts represented by the Duanwu/Dano (端午) Festival dispute between China and South Korea. Through a grounded theory approach, this article analyzes diverse narrative frames and routines expressed in Chinese official media, individual blogs and commercial WeMedia since the emergence of the 2005 Duanwu/Dano Festival dispute. The materials pinpoint the diversity and complexity of Chinese society’s discursive routines related to ICH-based identity challenges. This article argues that the main reason why ICH has become a controversial field is because different Chinese social groups feel ontologically insecure differently. The ontological security approach also uncovers the complexity of China’s diverse responses far beyond the framework of nationalism that views Chinese society as monolithic and static.