Governing Culture Through Intangible Heritage: Reconfiguring Folklore in Contemporary China

This paper examines the implications of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) recognition for the development of folklore in contemporary China. It argues that ICH operates within intersecting power structures shaped by state agendas and global policy frameworks. The recategorization of folk practices, new mechanisms of knowledge production, and cultural objectification reflect broader shifts in governance. The listing and classification of heritage by administrative region, ethnicity, or religion fragment cultural forms and obscure their historical interconnections. These transformations reshape folklore studies as an interdisciplinary field. The paper contributes to anthropology, folklore, and heritage studies by critically examining ICH as a form of cultural governance.