How the Social Imaginary Gives Rise to Co-action: Contradictory Values and Intangible Cultural Heritage Consensus in Beijing s Jingxi Fanhui

The concept of community has become the dominant focus of academic discussions in the field of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) research. Some scholars have criticised the idealised usage of this concept as obscuring the empirical tensions , suggest that it should be replaced by "actor-network." Instead, this article argues that even when there is no real network among actors, heritage community may still rely on social imaginary to exist. It is the relationship that people establish between the present and the past that is key to understanding the safeguarding of ICH. This article focuses mainly on the Jingxi fanhui, a national ICH festival in Beijing s western suburb. The entire area has been almost deserted for nearly 20 years, as the villagers are now dispersed in Beijing city. But every year during the traditional Lantern Festival days, former villagers still return to the abandoned villages to attend the parade ceremony, even though there is no real social network linking them. People are driven by different values, which are often diverse and contradictory, to participate in the ceremony. The common imagination of their community is rooted in a shared understanding of what heritage means to the groups. It s under the flag of national ICH that the consensus is reached, a sense of community is fostered , the village festival continues, even after village life has ceased to exist.