This recent Guardian headline encapsulates my feelings about the whole heritage shtick. The heritage tag on this blog is voluminous, covering many local genres in China and elsewhere.

The starter, citing thoughtful research on the Intangible Cultural Heritage system around the world, is

• Edible, intangible, dodgy.

John Butt offers useful perspectives in

• Playing with history: HIP.

Also basic is this page on the Li family Daoists:

• Rectifying names.

Another relevant post is

• Training Daoists in Shanghai.

More broadly, I list some posts on the friction between traditional and conservatoire styles here. The ICH also crops up in several field reports under local ritual, including

• Ritual traditions of Zuoyun, Shanxi
• Buddhist ritual in south Shaanxi
• Yet more heritage flapdoodle: Hongtong.

While some scholars observe how local dwellers mould the state programme to their own agendas, I often note that its effects are either negative or inconsequential. And I’m not alone.

Temple festival, Gansu.