The significance of cultural
cultural heritage protection
for the East Asian community―In the case of university students
at Beijing, Renmin, Fudan and Shanghai Jiaotong University of China―

Akiko Ishioka(Waseda University Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies)

1. Introduction
Originally, the significance of the protection of cultural heritage was that "cultural
heritage is the source of identity in many countries, as well as amplifying ethnic groups'
consciousness 1". However, at present, cultural heritage is becoming something that not
only specific countries and peoples protect through inheritance. During Japan's rapid
economic growth after World War II, an innumerable amount of cultural heritage sites
and artifacts were lost. Bearing in mind the reflection of the significance of this past,

activity reports stemming from international cooperation increase the profundity ofcultural heritage with certainty.
The most conspicuous example of international cooperation concerning cultural
heritage is the UNESCO World Heritage program. In the "Convention Concerning theProtection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage" adopted by UNESCO at their1972 general meeting, the following statements are contained:

The importance, for all the peoples of the world, of safeguarding thisunique and irreplaceable property, to whatever people it may belong….
Parts of the cultural or natural heritage are of outstanding interest andtherefore need to be preserved as part of the world heritage of mankind as

1

Emiko kakiuchi, Bunkazai ni kansuru Kokusai Kōryū / Kyōryoku to Sekai Isan Jyōyaku Mukei Isan

Project : Bunkazai Seisaku Gairon ―Bunka Isan Hogo no aratana tenkai ni mukete―, Tōkai Daigaku
Shuppan-kai, 2002., p.181

1

a whole…. It is incumbent on the international community as a whole toparticipate in the protection of the cultural and natural heritage ofoutstanding universal value2
In essence, the convention serves as an "international treaty that places emphasis onconveying to the next generation the importance of cultural and natural heritage
throughout the world of a remarkable and universal value, and that such sites andartifacts should be protected as treasures for all of mankind3". To put it even moreconcisely, cultural and natural heritage sites and artifacts form the source of one's
identity, as well as heighten the awareness of humanity crossing national and racial
boundaries.
What I particularly want to call attention to is the case of the registration of World
Heritage Site status of the Koguryo（高句麗）ruins. At first, South Korea was opposed toChina applying for the World Heritage status of Koguryo, which straddles the nationalboundary between China and North Korea, by itself. In the end, due to South Korea
throwing support behind North Korea, Koguryo was registered as two World Heritage
Sites: China's section of Koguryo is called "Capital Cities and Tombs of the Ancient
Koguryo Kingdom（吉林高句麗王城・王陵・貴族墓埋葬）", while North Korea's portion was
registered under the name "Complex of Goguryeo Tombs（高句麗古墳群）"4. This instance
was an issue which invited changes to national boundaries and embodied the World
Heritage Convention exactly.
Nevertheless, within the discussion concerning regional integration, debate about
cultural heritage protection equates to nothing. Research relating to the East Asian
Community is primarily conducted by political scientists or economists; thus, scholarly

2

UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural andNatural Heritage, http://whc.unesco.org/archive/convention-en.pdf
3 National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan,

http://www.unesco.jp/contents/isan/about.html
4Kazuyuki Tsuruma, Chūgoku no Sekai Isan, Sekai Isan to Rekishigaku, Yamakawa Shuppan-sya,2005., pp.168-170

2gains in fields such as sociology and anthropology have advanced very little 5 .
Consequently, the purpose of this research is to argue that cultural heritage protection
fulfills an important role in cultivating the vital common identity necessary for theconstruction of an East Asian Community. Through this argument, the research willcontribute to sociological studies pertaining to the East Asian Community.
2. The purpose and the significance of this research
As a concrete example I will present data from students at Peking, Renmin, Fudan
and Shanghai Jiaotong University of China. The number of samples of each university
is 200, 200, 208 and 197. The survey was conducted by the Global COE Program in an
attempt to grasp young Asian university students' current consciousness and awarenesson issues such as regional integration and cooperation.
In this research, I will be using the term "Asia" for "East Asia" and "Northeast Asia".
The terminology is based on the fact that the countries of ASEAN+3 (South Korea,
Japan, China) are the core participants, though the larger frame of the countries
included in the community of East Asia is not as clearly defined6. Moreover, the top
three countries elicited in response to Q2 "Which countries are included in the Asia you
think of?" are China – 90.4%, Japan – 58.6% and South Korea – 54.6%, which isconsistent with the ASEAN+3 frame. (Graph
Graph 1)5Sociological research that discusses East Asian Community and regional integration from data

analysis on questionnaire investigation : Shigeto Sonoda, Higashi Asia Kyōdōtai seiritsu no Shinriteki

Kiban wo saguru ―Asia-jin Ishiki eno Syakaigaku-teki Approach― , Global Institute for AsianRegional Integration（GIARI）2007., Shigeto Sonoda, Ryūdōka suru Asia Tōgō Kenkyū eno Syakai /Bunka Approach, Global Institute for Asian Regional Integration（GIARI）, 2008., etc.
6 The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ASEAN Gaiyō Kiso Chishiki 2008-nendo-ban,

http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/asean/pdfs/gaiyo_02.pdf

3

Q2 : Countries included in your image of"Asia"
100

90.4

90

1st

80
70
60

2nd

58.6

54.6

50.9
47.3

50

3rd

50.2

40
35.4
32.4

30
20

17.2
13.4

16.2
10

28.8

27.9

12
7

8.5

9.9
5.9

5.4

12.8
8

9.6

9.5

20.5

17.5

16.414.9

13
6.6

9.1

7.1

5.8
1.6 1.90Graph 1
Before analyzing the data, I would like to mention the limits and the significance oftargets of this research. In order to obtain a proper representative of each university,
data was collected keeping in mind the male/female and school year ratios of each school.
So, as data on only undergraduate students were collected, this sample cannot be
representative of the full student populations of China. The research is targeted atstudents of prestigious universities who will likely become leaders in political, businessand academic circles in the future. It is expected that they will likely engage in issues ofregional integration, identity and protection of cultural heritage in various ways.
Especially, in many cases, the value of cultural heritage is discovered by outsiders or
people with an understanding of other regions. In this regard, some of the students arecoming from different places to enter the universities. They are likely to have an
opportunity to move to some other place in the future. Therefore, it seems that they
have the knowledge needed to discover the value of cultural heritage or are likely toengage in cultural heritage protection.
3. East Asian Community and problem
problem of identity that prevents it
And now let me examine the data from Peking, Renmin, Fudan and Shanghai
Jiaotong University students. First, this research will show answers to questions
4

regarding the construction of an East Asian Community: "The Feasibility of an East
Asian Community" and "The Purpose of Establishing an East Asian Community". Next,
it will show the answers to questions regarding Asian identity - "One's own Asianawareness" and "Identity with regards to Asia" - as well as the relation between "One's
own Asian awareness" and "The importance of forming an Asian identity". Then, therelations between the questions concerning culture will be explored, such as: therelation between "The importance of forming an Asian identity" and "The necessity ofcultural exchange within Asia", the relation between "The importance of forming an
Asian identity" and "Government expenditure with regards to culture and the arts", aswell as the relation between "The necessity of cultural exchange within Asia" and"Government expenditure with regards to culture and the arts". Finally, regarding
questions in relation to "culture," an investigation into whether cultural heritage isrecalled will be included.
In Q13b, "Is it possible to establish an East Asian Community by 2020? ", students
who made positive answers were about 50%, negative answers came at about 40% andthose with "Don’t know" stood at about 20% accordingly. (Graph
Graph 2)

Q13b : Possible to establish East Asian
Community by 2020
DN
(about20%)

18%

Positive(about50%)

6%Strongly Agree

4%

Agree

40%

DisagreeStrongly Disagree
Don't know

32%

Negative(about40%)

Graph 2
Looking at Q13a, 76.3% students "Strongly agree" or "Agree" to "Economic integration
is foundation for East Asian Community" (Graph
Graph 3)5

Q13a : Econ. Integration foundation
for East Asian Comm.

1%
7%

17%

15%
Strongly Agree
Agree
DisagreeStrongly Disagree
Don't know

60%
76.3%

Graph 3A majority of students from the four universities think that the key purpose of theEast Asian Community is economic integration. The reason why their answers to theQ13b are split lines in the unpredictability of the issue regarding the East Asian
community. If so, is there any scheme or solution to establish an East Asian
Community? Zhang Xiaoming stated the following about the relationship between theestablishment of a Northeast Asian Community and its identity:
The establishment of a Northeast Asian Community is badly delayed due to thelack of common identity in the region. There are many problems we are facing,but the construction of a Northeast Asian Community is very important. Sharing
the same identity and having community consciousness is the first step toward
the foundation of a Northeast Asian Community. However, formation of thisidentity is a process of long-term activities within the promotion and exchange ofsocial activities. 7
Many political scientists regard a difficulty of the East Asian Community as the issueof "Value" and "Identity". Based on this point, I would like to clarify how the7

Zhang Xiaoming, Hokutō Asia Kyōdōtai no Kōchiku ni kansuru Ichi Kōsatsu : Higashi Asia Kyōdōtaieno Michi, Chūō Daigaku Syuppan-bu, 2006., p.271

6

construction of community correlates with identity in Europe, which has alreadyattained a regional integration.
Kihata says, "When considering the issue of the present identity in Europe, it isnecessary to direct our sight to the history in the beginning of the European
integration8" and introduce the opinion of D.C. Watt. Keeping in mind the two periods ofWorld Wars, Watt perceived the time up to the initial stage of World War II (the time
until the commencement of the Soviet-German conflicts) as the "European Civil War".
As a premise that there is an appearance of an awareness of "the civil war", he also
specifically pointed out the fact that people believed there had been something unifying
European society before the First World War. Four characteristics of that factor are:
① Establishment of one political system through Europe② Preserving common rules for the sake of avoiding conflicts③ The construction of a network of European scale by the governing classes andspecialists④ People retaining common cultural heritage9
In short, "the point of view in which Europe was considered as one natural region, theinhabitants focusing on a sense of belonging to big union called Europe, did not first
appear through the process of European Union after Second World War.10" Furthermore,
the sense of belonging that European people have today is conveyed by the
Eurobarometer survey11.
Unlike Europe, historically there is no basis for common identity in East Asia. But if
we consider the history of Asia, we can find a link with Cefeng order（冊封体制）
centering on China. According to Nishijima, due to the Cefeng order, four cultural andcivilizational aspects of China – kanji characters, Confucianism, Buddhism and acentralized system（律令制）were spread in Japan and Korea12. While all Asians
understand that the roots of East Asian culture come from China, we don’t share acommon identity; rather, each of us holds a strong sense of nationalism in our hearts.
8

Yōichi Kihata, Europe Tōgō to Identity no Jūsōsei : Ima naze Minzoku ka, Tokyō Daigaku

Shuppan-kai, 1995., p.207
9Ibid., p.207

10 Ibid., p.207
11 Eurobarometer, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm
12

Sadao Nishijima, Roku-Hasseiki no Higashi Asia : Iwanami Kōza Nihon Rekishi 2, Iwanami Syoten,

1962., pp.276-277

7Sometimes this takes extreme forms. I clearly remember the anti-Japanesedemonstrations held in China and South Korea in 2005.
Huruta has his opinion on the regional characteristics of nationalism. In Europe,
Sinocentrism（中華思想）regarding themselves as the center and other as undeveloped,
each time vanished and transformed into a new Sinocentrism of a strong country. The
reason why it was not the same in Asia is that Sinocentrism was exclusively peculiar to
China only until modern times. From the end of the Middle Ages to modern times,
Sinocentrism had been separated into countries around China. As a factor of separating
it could consider that we felt hostile toward Chinese cultural and spiritual suppression
and being treated as undeveloped13.
How about ASEAN? The reason why I refer to the case of ASEAN is not only because
it has already achieved its regional integration, but also because, "ASEAN plays aleading role and this role will keep being indispensable in the process of the community
establishment14". Does ASEAN achieve its regional integration or is it on its way?
Oftentimes, the following four points are used as standards of measurement.
① Whether there is no conflict or serious confrontation between member
countries of ASEAN② Whether governments of member countries can work together with ASEAN on
problems of common interest to member countries, regardless of the area ofthe problem③ Whether governments and people of member countries have a clear sense of
belonging to ASEAN and understand that they voluntarily operate theorganization④ Whether non-ASEAN countries recognize ASEAN as ASEAN15
Regarding point three, Takano has expressed a negative view. He says:
It is about a self-recognition of ASEAN itself, but it is hard to say that "ASEAN
identity" has been formed at peoples' levels so far, at least. Indeed, various
ASEAN-titled events are held for that purpose every now and then, but suchoccasions are not so many. In reality, some countries have a large number of their
13

Hiroshi Huruta, Higashi Asia Ideology wo koete, Shinsyo-kan, 2003., p.60

14ASEAN Gaiyō Kiso Chishiki 2008-nendo-ban., op.cit.

15

Ken Takano, ASEAN Kakusyu Iinkai no Katsudō : ASEAN ni okeru Kokumin Tōgō to Chiiki Tōgō,

Nihon Kokusai Mondai Kenkyū-jo, 1989., p.196

8populations who don't even have their national identity yet, in the first place.
Therefore, it seems unreasonable to expect that peoples of all the member states
will achieve an ASEAN identity equally in the near future. 16
Can a shared identity really not be possible through ASEAN? Concerning theawareness of actual people, I would like you to refer to the AsiaBarometer17. Next, I will
analyze the identity of the students of the four universities using the data.
4. Formation of Asian identity and culture
culture as
as support
To the Q10d, "I regard myself as part of Asia", students who answer "Strongly agree"or "Agree" reached 85.5%. (Graph
Graph 4)Q10d : I see myself as part of Asia
1%
2%
10%
28%
Strongly Agree
Agree
DisagreeStrongly Disagree
Don't know

59%

85.5%

Graph 4
Political scientists consider the lack of an Asian identity to be an obstacle toward theestablishment of an East Asian Community. But analyzing the awareness of thestudents from the four universities, the difficult problem of "common identity" could be
solved. It would not necessarily lead to an optimistic result however, because 76.4%

16

ASEAN Kakusyu Iinkai no Katsudō : ASEAN ni okeru Kokumin Tōgō to Chiiki Tōgō, op.cit., p.197

17

AsiaBarometer, https://www.asiabarometer.org/

9students answered "Strongly agree" or "Agree" to Q12e "Asia is lacking its own identity".
(GraphGraph 5)Q12e : Asia is lacking its own identity
2%
4%

19%

18%
Strongly Agree
Agree
DisagreeStrongly Disagree
Don't know

57%

76.4%

Graph 5
Next, through analyzing cross tabulation data between Q10d "I see myself as part ofAsia" and Q7d "Growth of Asian identity is important for maintaining stability in Asia",
a tendency showing that the more the students have a strong Asian identity, the morethey believe in the importance of an Asian identity could be found. (Graph
Graph 6)10

Q10d I see myself as part of Asia * Q7d
Stability in Asia: Growth of Asian identity(Crosstabulation)
Chi-Square
Tests

Very important

Somewhat important
Strongly Agree
Agree
DisagreeStrongly Disagree

Not really important

Not at all important

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Graph 6
As mentioned above, the East Asian Community is mainly regarded as an economic
integration. Therefore, the community and identity are rarely associated together. In
spite of this fact, many students clearly realize the significance of a common identity.
Up to this point, this research has clarified that a shared identity serves as animportant key in order to achieve regional integration. Thus, I would next like toconsider the protection of cultural heritage, which is thought to fulfill an important rolein fostering a shared identity. In the questionnaire used for this survey, no questions
were featured which used the term "cultural heritage". Therefore, this research will
first proceed to analyze the data from questions asked about "culture", a concept which
is higher than "cultural heritage" and a category to which it belongs.
We held cross tabulation between Q7d "Growth of Asian identity is important for
maintaining stability in Asia" and Q12b "There should be more cultural exchange
among Asia". The Chi-square difference of only 1% reflects significance. In short, themore they feel the importance of the Asian identity, the more students realize thenecessity of exchange between the Asian countries by cultures. (Graph
Graph 7)11

Q12b : There should be more cultural
exchange among Asia * Q7d : Stability
in Asia: Growth of Asian identity(Crosstabulation)
Chi-Square
Tests

Very important

Somewhat important
Strongly Agree
Agree
DisagreeNot really important

Strongly Disagree

Not at all important

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Graph 7
Following this, in conducting a cross tabulation for Q7d "Growth of Asian identity isimportant for maintaining stability in Asia" and Q15i "The government should increaseor decrease the expenses for culture and the arts?", a 1% level of statistical significancewas observed via the Chi-square test. From this analysis, it can be understood that themore students strongly believed in the importance of forming an Asian identity, themore likely they were to hope for government expenditures for culture and the arts
staying at their current level or increasing. (Graph
Graph 8)12

Q15i : Government spending: Culture
and the arts *Q7d : Stability in Asia:
Growth of Asian identity(Crosstabulation)
Chi-Square
Tests

Very important

Somewhat important

Spend much more
Spend more
Spend the same as now
Spend lessNot really important

Spend much lessNot at all important

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Graph 8From the above results it has been understood that growth of Asian identity,
promotion of cultural exchange and an increase in government spending to culture arein the correlation.Apparently, to share the identity aiming at the construction of East
Asian Community, the culture seems to play an important role.However, we could notmeasure how much cultural heritage the students recollected though "Culture" must bea broader concept of the cultural heritage. In addition, the possibility of devoting oneself
to a certain specific culture is incontrovertible if it says.
Because of another cross tabulation between Q12b "There should be more cultural
exchange among Asia" and Q15i "The government should increase or decrease theexpenses for culture and the arts?", we can see the Chi-square difference of only 1%
reflects significance. (Graph
Graph 9)913

Q12b : There should be more cultural exchange among
Asia *Q15i : Government spending: Culture and thearts (Crosstabulation)
Spend much more
Chi-Square
Tests
Spend more

Strongly Agree
Agree

Spend the same as now

DisagreeStrongly Disagree
Spend less

Spend much less

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Graph 9This result shows that regardless of support or opposition to the increase ofgovernment expenditures concerning culture and the arts, it is thought that cultural
exchange should be carried out. The idea of cultural exchange not being limited to
public expense and activity at the government level calls to mind the possibility of
exchange occurring via the popular culture of individuals as being substantially
included. The questionnaire used in this survey asks questions concerning popular
culture; thus, the data concerning popular culture will be analyzed. The purpose of thisanalysis, while looking through the lens of cultural heritage18, is to resolve the questionof whether students' concepts of culture are biased towards popular culture.
When analyzing cross tabulation data based on the Q12b "There should be morecultural exchange among Asia" and Q24 "How many TV programs, movies andanimation of these countries have you watched?" we cannot see a Chi-square differencein either Japanese popular culture or Korean popular culture. That is, Japan and South
Korea's frequency of consuming popular culture and the extent to which they feel thenecessity of cultural exchange taking place have no relation to each other.

18

In order to investigate further into the aspect of "culture" through a "cultural heritage" lens, thetime axis has been divided into "traditional culture" and "modern culture". Those two categories weredivided once again, with "cultural heritage" falling under "traditional culture" and "popular culture"
falling under "modern culture," through which they were compared.

14

From the result of cross tabulation between Q15i "The government should increase or
decrease the expenses for culture and the arts?" and Q24c "How many TV programs,
movies and animation of China do you watch?" we can see a Chi-square difference.
Through the graphs, it can be understood that regardless of the frequency of
consumption of popular culture, it is thought that government expenditures concerning
culture and the arts should be increased. (Graph
Graph 10)10Q15i : Government spending: Culture
and the arts * Q24c : Exposure to
TV/movie/animation made in China(Crosstabulation)
Almost everyday

Chi-Square
Tests

Several times a week

Spend much more

Several times a month

Spend more
Spend the same as now
Several times a year

Spend less
Spend much less

Seldom

Never
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Graph 10
From the above analysis, it can be surmised that the respondents' concept of "culture"
is not overwhelmingly biased towards popular culture; in fact, it is as the word would
suggest: a broad association of ideas concerning the entirety of culture, a notion which
includes cultural heritage. Now, upon the basis of students' awareness of cultural
heritage, let us look at the cultural heritage protection movements occurring within
ASEAN.
5. Cultural heritage and popular culture
In the Declaration of the ASEAN Concord II, ASEAN aims to achieve the three
ASEAN communities by 2020: ASEAN Security Community (ASC), ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC), and ASEAN Social and Cultural Community (ASCC). Of special
note is the fourth point of a Social and Cultural Community (ASCC), which will:15



promote social developments aimed at increasing living standards



focus on nurturing human resources as it is an important strategy to reducepoverty and secure fair economic development

strengthen measures against infectious diseases and support a joint-action
program to provide access to medical products



promote coherence among member countries of the ASEAN while nurturing
talents to preserve and protect its diverse cultural heritage

reinforce cooperation among member countries to cope with population
increase, unemployment and environmental problems19

These strategic areas of importance represent "forming an ASEAN identity (common
perception) through promoting tourism, sports and ASEAN languages20". These areconnected to what D.C. Watt pointed out (people believed there had been something
unifying European society before the First World War; they were retaining a common
cultural heritage).
Under the Declaration what are executed recognition and activity? Kōno says below:
Although ASEAN member countries acknowledge that their cultures are
increasingly becoming common through common cultural heritage and modern
mass culture, particularly the spread and development of youth culture, they
have not made conscious efforts to create an "ASEAN culture" yet…. On the other
hand, ASEAN…believes that concept comes out of action21.
However, regarding popular culture's ability to cross borders, Tosa says "as for thequestion concerning whether a unified community called 'Asia' will be produced, it isexceedingly doubtful". He goes on to make the following statements concerning thenature of popular culture:
We can say that a fad is persistently a transient fever. It is possible to have apoint of view when it is over, the original interest in Korean culture might goaway…. From the standpoint of cultural mainstream of nation or ethnic, a fad isa small trend but a subculture is a niche, where it is not a border, but mania witha particular preference creates its world, and where a fad cannot control much.
19

ASEAN Gaiyō Kiso Chishiki 2008-nendo-ban, op.cit.

20 Ibid.
21

Yasushi Kōno, Bunka Isan no Hozon to Kokusai Kyōryoku, Fūkyō-sha, 1995., p.81

16

Even if Hallyu（韓流）itself vanished, the interest in foreign culture which was
brought from it, will stay in the society as a choice to some extent22.
This remark also applies to cultural heritage. For example, an important intangible
cultural heritage23 system in Japan activates the market for ceramic art and so on. In
fact, the works of ceramists who are specified as holders of an important intangible
cultural heritage have been raising market prices rapidly24. Also, in China, a variety offolkloric arts serve as souvenirs in tourist spots, and the appreciation of drama anddance have been included in a package tour. The consumption of folkloric arts as daily
necessities changed into a consumption system the same as popular culture before theyrealized. That is why the concentration of popularity or the range determined its
destiny.
The theme or tourist spot of modern tourism has become diversified by adapting to
the diversification of tourists' sense of value25. In spite of it, there are some campaigns
by the government, mass media and tourist agencies in which the destination of tourism
seems to be slanted. On the other hand, we should not pass up the existence of
backpackers who correspond to the maniacal nature of popular culture, because "wherea fad cannot control much" and "with a particular preference". Furthermore, theregistration for World Heritage of UNESCO becomes like a title which guarantees apermanent spot in tourism.

22

Masaki Tosa, "Kanryū" wa Asia no Chihei ni mukatte nagareru : Ekkyōsuru Popular Bunka to"Sōzō no Asia", Mekon, 2005., pp.224-225
23

Cultural heritage can be divided into tangible heritage and intangible heritage.

"Cultural heritage is not limited to material manifestations, such as monuments and objects that havebeen preserved over time. This notion also encompasses living expressions and the traditions thatcountless groups and communities worldwide have inherited from their ancestors and transmit totheir descendants, in most cases orally.", UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Intangible cultural

heritage,http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=34325&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
24 Masahiro Ogino, Katachi-naimono no Isanka : Bunka Isan no Shakaigaku, Shinyō-sha, 2002., p.216
25

Masami Shikida / masayuki Morishige, Open-source ni yoru Jiritsu-teki Kankō : Bunka IsanManagement to Tourism no Jizokukanō na Kankei Kochiku ni kansuruKenkyū, Ningen Bunka
Kenkyū Kikou Kokuritsu Minzokugaku Hakubutsukan, 2006., p.246

17

6. The idea of registration system
Kurata also considers limitation of popular culture's fad, and states that theestablishment of an "East Asian culture" and the strengthening of Asian identity willback up future construction of an East Asian Community. He says that in order todevelop identity it is important to pay attention to the development of systems as well26.
For example, by referring to the registration system of World Heritage of
UNESCO or the registration system of cultural heritage of each nation, we canestablish a "committee of East Asian culture" which is represented by highspecialists from each East Asian nation. Then would not we be able to think
about a system of authorizing and listing up joint products, cultural projects andcultural heritage with commonality as "East Asian culture" which belongs not toonly one nation in East Asian area. 27
I think it does sound very realistic concerning the joint production of modern popular
culture. But still there is a doubt remaining about the cultural heritage. If we construct
a new one from scratch, cutting off the cultural heritage already existing in a specificcountry as one "not belonging to only one nation", an "East Asian culture", it could verge
on infringement of nationalism.
How about the case of Europe? I would like to quote two points from European
Cultural Convention in 1954.
Each Contracting Party shall take appropriate measures to safeguard and toencourage the development of its national contribution to the common cultural
heritage of EuropeEach Contracting Party shall regard the objects of European cultural value
placed under its control as integral parts of the common cultural heritage ofEurope, and shall take appropriate measures to safeguard them and shallensure reasonable access thereto28

Even in Europe, they would not cut off cultural heritage from specific nations andmake an independent existence of "European culture". They persistently express
26

Tōru Kurata, Higashi Asia Bunka no Kōchiku : 21COE（2002-2007）―Contemporary Asian Studies,

Center of Excellence―Contemporary Asian Studies, 2006
27 Higashi Asia Bunka no Kōchiku, op.cit.
28

Bunka Isan no Hozon to Kokusai Kyōryoku, op.cit., pp.105-106

18

common sense concerning common property of cultural heritage in a relation of all
Europe. Kono says below:
The purpose of cultural activities of the COE (Council of Europe) is…
constructing European cultural space for European integration. This is a cultural
space where various cultural heritages are protected, are provided for people andnew creations and exchanges are done, and macro-wise increasing the European
common property. But this dynamism cannot be expressed by promotion ofprotection, creation and exchange of culture with only a legal financial system.
What are needed are organizations and systems, and surely people's
acknowledgement and motivation to realize the idea. 29
Why consciousness leads organization and system, as already explained, is they shareidentity historically in Europe. Therefore in Asia it may be effective to make ostensible
factor. I agree with Kurata's suggestion of establishing "committee of East Asian
culture", however without separating cultural heritage as "East Asian culture" from thenation, and with understanding the fact of belonging to specific nation. I think it is more
down-to-earth way, if we consistently cooperate on protection, nurturing common
consciousness as culture in East Asian area.
As previously mentioned, many Japanese and South Korean cultures originally comefrom Chinese culture. Also, from the analysis of the student survey data, the correlation
between the formation of an Asian identity and the encouragement of cultural exchange,
as well as the increase of government expenditures concerning culture, is seen to be inaccordance with what was previously shown. Then, how do we protect Chinese cultural
heritage in partnership of three countries not to let it come to an end anymore and tohand over it to the next generation?
In 2003, China officially signed the "Convention for the safeguarding of intangible
cultural heritage" at the United Nations. Since then, the government has achieved
remarkable success by adopting various policies and spreading out a series of protective
activities in the whole of China30. On the other hand, some cultural treasures are being
eliminated so we are already at the stage when we have to act immediately. The people
who are engaged in these folkloric arts, which included in intangible culture, are
29 Bunka Isan no Hozon to Kokusai Kyōryoku, op.cit., pp.155-156
30

Bai Gengsheng, Chūgoku no Mukei Bunka Isan Hogo : Mukei Bunka Isan no Hogo Kokusai-teki

Kyōryoku to Nihon no Yakuwari, Kokuritsu Bunkazai kikō Tokyo Bunkazai kenkyū-jo Mukei Bunka
Isan-bu,2008., p.36

19

already quite advanced in age.
Nishimura reports results of his interview in Xishuangbanna Dai autonomy（西双版纳傣族自治州）:
They cooperate with Thailand on the rebuilding of Xuanweijie（宣尉街）now, but
it would be much more helpful if we could attract specialists from other countries
as well such as Japan and so on. As a reason, there are many commonalities inmanners and customs between Japanese and the Dai and a common cultural
basis can be considered. 31
There is a special feature in Dai autonomy that is the right of self-government of theDai. Furthermore in the case of the Han（汉族）, matters are a little different. On thegovernment level, the Department of State organizes the leading group of national
cultural heritage protection about all cultural heritages and controls the protection
activities in nationwide scale. On the private level, the Chinese folkloric writers'
association carries on their own protection activity. If we regard the system only, it
seems to be possible to cooperate on the private level. But "protection of intangible
cultural heritage in China is an acknowledged action by Chinese people who want toprotect their excellent culture and tradition32". We also need to arrange a system toexceed this awareness.
Here, the doubts held that the protection of cultural heritage does not have any
influence on people who do not even have an interest in the matter are undeniable. And
this can be said regarding popular culture it cannot be thought that all people
something to do with it. However, we still can mention two differences concerning the
popular culture.
① There are various opportunities in cultural heritage like tourism, protection
activities and so on. Moreover, as participants like tourists, specialists andvolunteers have different positions, such attributes as gender or age can be
regarded as not so significant.
② Looking through the history of Asia after World War II, traditional culture wasconsidered to be of an old value or order which disturbed industrialization

31

Yukio Nishimura, Thailand to Unnan : Bunka Kyōryoku ni okeru Minzoku to Kokka, Sōgō Kenkyū

Kaihatsu Kikō, 1995., p.192
32 Chūgoku no Mukei Bunka Isan Hogo, op.cit., p.36

20

（development, modernization）. As a result of development becoming asupreme proposition, traditional culture which was treated with a negative
meaning has gradually been taking the place of a concept as cultural heritage
which has been having a positive nuance. 33
We should pay special attention to what Nishiura points out as "the problem ofpermanent relationship between development of tourism and protection of cultural
heritage34". In other words, if we prioritize protection of cultural heritage, tourism does
not move on, and if we attach more importance to the development of tourism, it canlead to the destruction, but not protection of cultural heritage. In this meaning, we haveto carefully think of a solution on how we can harmonize these two factors.
7. Conclusion
After the limits of the data on students from Peking, Renmin, Fudan and Shanghai
Jiaotong University of China were shown, I tried to discuss the concept of how
protection of cultural heritage can contribute to the purpose of sharing a common
identity and the future establishment of an East Asian Community.
The difficulty of the research is investigating the possibility of the future throughactual data. I understand the lack of evidence and concrete examples to handle such a
broad theme as the establishment of an East Asian Community. My attempt is toapproach this problem from the standpoint of sociology, which is also lacking in studies
on this subject.

33

Bunka Isan no Hozon to Kokusai Kyōryoku, op.cit., p.44

34

Tadateru Nishiura, Nihon ni yoru Bunka Isan Hogo Kokusai Kyōryoku Jigyō no Genjō toMondaiten : Jinrui no Rekishi wo mamore Senchū / Sengo ni okeru Bunka Isan no Hogo to Kokusai
Kyōryoku, Kubapro, 2005., p.147

21

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