UNESCO World Heritage and the Problem of Authenticity – The Case of “Built Structures” and China´s Tangible Cultural Heritage

As of 2019, the People's Republic of China boasts thirty-seven cultural properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, twenty-four of which are “built structures”. An important criterion for UNESCO in assessing tangible cultural heritage and its inclusion in the World Heritage List is the authenticity of a site.

The term was first introduced as a yardstick by UNESCO in 1977 in connection with the implementation of the World Heritage Convention (1972), which was in line with earlier accords on the issue as outlined in the Venice Charter (ICOMOS, 1964), later followed by the Nara Document on Authenticity (1994) and the UNESCO World Heritage Convention (2005). Reiterating the Nara Document, the 2005 Convention lists six criteria for authenticity applicable to tangible cultural heritage:

“Form and design; materials and substance; use and function; traditions, techniques and management systems; location and setting”

Yet, in the case of China, focusing only on tangible elements, even for architectonic and monumental heritage, proves to be highly problematic, with regard to the perishable nature of the materials used for buildings in traditional Chinese architecture, thus pointing at a ‘built-in obsolescence' as these materials are in need of regular replacement.

Unlike previous assessments of the UNESCO that have portrayed authenticity as an unshiftable given, current takes on the term understand it as dynamic, performative, culturally and historically contingent, and open to (re-)adjustments. Today, UNESCO recognises that different cultures have different ways of understanding authenticity, adding to their catalogue of criteria for authenticity: 

“Spirit and feeling; and other internal and external factors”

Leaving room for due interpretation, I argue, the text of the 2005 Convention thus offers China – and other cultures with similar or comparable architectural traditions and vulnerable cultural heritage sites – a way of maintaining and preserving cultural heritage without losing the (highly profitable) status of a UNESCO Heritage Site.

In this paper, I will present a number of case studies from China's architectural heritage, including the “Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang” (UNESCO World Heritage since 1987) and discuss how and to what extend the concept of authenticity applies to heritage conservation in the People´s Republic of China.

Further questions may be directed to: grimberg@grimberg.eu.