Zhao, Zhehao; (2024) Exploration and Analysis of Maritime Silk Routes Heritage Practices: a case study from Taishan, southeast coastal China. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

With the increasing popularity of transboundary World Heritage nominations, and limits on single country nominations, some countries have begun to focus on maritime cultural routes. China's heritage authorities, for example, initiated a national-level research project in 2016, which by 2023 resulted in a list comprising over 70 heritage sites with strong associations with historic maritime trade and cultural exchanges, all located in Chinese maritime port towns along the Maritime Silk Routes (MSRs). This list, however, portrays a Sino-centric prosperous and harmonious ancient maritime exchange network, against the backdrop of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Whilst some countries are supporting and emulating this approach, India launched Project Mausam, as part of wider geopolitical manoeuvring, which offers a different position on maritime cultural heritage identification. Nevertheless, in both international and national operational contexts, the value of the MSRs, and the selection of MSRs heritage elements, largely hinges on the national Authorized Heritage Discourse (AHD), with limited representation of local academic and community perspectives. Through literature reviews and online data collection (including from social media platforms), this research explores China's agenda setting and World Heritage nomination-oriented AHD for the MSRs, while acknowledging their contribution to raising awareness and conservation of the MSRs. The research then explores in depth the maritime port towns of Chuandao and Guanghai in Taishan County of Guangdong, through interviews, questionnaire surveys and archaeological field survey. This examines the positive and negative impacts of the AHD and resultant heritage practices on heritage conservation and the heritage education of local residents. It also reveals unique insights regarding how communities regard the values and designation of the MSRs. This in turn highlights that understanding the MSRs at a local level demonstrates clear local distinctiveness, not adequately reflected in current AHD. Using Geographic Information Systems, the research combines historical maritime maps and records to depict Taishan's role in ancient maritime trade. In the hope of understanding MSRs networks and their heritage more broadly, network analysis is used to provide a case-specific demonstration of heritage typology and selection for MSRs heritage conservation and nomination of Taishan.

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