Forging “Meaning”: The Social Life and Re-invention of Wuhu Iron Painting in China
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52152/heranca.v9i3/1271Keywords:
Anhui Wuhu Iron Painting, Social Life of Things, Re-invention of Tradition, Meaning Change, Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage.Abstract
This research is basic, taking the iron painting in Wuhu, Anhui Province, China as the research text, using the qualitative research methods of literature analysis, semi-structured interviews, and participatory observation to carry out the research. Based on the two theoretical perspectives of “social life of things” and “re-invention of tradition”, this study investigated the evolution of the identity and significance of “Wuhu iron painting” over the past 340 years. Through analysis of its production, circulation, and consumption across three social and historical periods, the study found that Wuhu iron painting underwent a complex process of identity evolution, evolving from an artwork into a national political symbol. Finally, it became a medium for multi-agent participation in meaning-making. In the pre-modern period, Wuhu iron painting was an elegant art form enjoyed by the literati and scholars, serving as a carrier of their cultural capital and expressing the cultural identity of intellectuals in feudal society. In the 1950s-1970s, it was endowed by the government with connotations of collectivism and national symbolism, serving ideological education and the shaping of a socialist national identity. Following reform and opening-up, Wuhu iron painting became enmeshed in three intersecting contexts: market-driven commodification, the balancing act between “upholding tradition” and “pursuing innovation” under intangible cultural heritage policies, and young, personalized demands driven by consumerism. Under this background, the production, circulation and consumption of Wuhu iron painting underwent profound differentiation. A single authority no longer assigned its meaning but was dynamically generated through interaction and negotiation among the government, inheritors, iron-painting brands, consumers and local enterprises. Consequently, the identity of iron painting transitioned from “artwork” to “cultural commodity” and then to “medium for expressing identity and emotions”.This study shows that the identity and value of Wuhu iron painting have never been fixed. Instead, they have been constantly re-constructed in different historical and social contexts through the renewal and innovation of traditional techniques.
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