<\/a>Some four decades after the Cultural Revolution, when many of the country\u2019s centuries-old treasures were defaced or destroyed as a result of Mao\u2019s command to eradicate \u201cthe four olds\u201d \u2014 old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits \u2014 China has reversed its attitude toward antiques. Ming dynasty porcelain vases, 19th-century hardwood furniture and even early 20th-century calligraphy ink pots have become popular status symbols for an emerging middle class eager to display its new wealth and cultural knowledge. The antiques market has become so hot, in fact, that it has given rise to a new category of must-see TV here.<\/p>\n…While some in the antiques world laud these programs for turning antiquing into a national pastime, others are skeptical of their educational value. As Yan Zhentang, the president of the Chinese Collectors\u2019 Association, noted, \u201cThese shows certainly help get ordinary people interested in antiques, but the bottom line is they are just entertainment, and they make mistakes.\u201d…\u00a0The Chinese government has become increasingly assertive about claiming ownership of its national heirlooms. It condemned\u00a0Christie\u2019s last year for auctioning bronze sculptures looted from the capital\u2019s Old Summer Palace in 1860 and, more recently, it\u00a0sent outgovernment officials and art historians to inspect the collections of global art institutions like the\u00a0Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian for cultural artifacts that might have been illegally obtained from China. And so, many private collectors have come to regard their passion not just as a smart investment, but as a patriotic duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cChinese people are becoming richer and need to be responsible for our dignity and history,\u201d said He Shuzhong, the deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage\u2019s legal and policy department and the founder of the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center, a nonprofit organization. \u201cHow can China rise peacefully if we cannot protect our culture?\u201d…\u00a0As Yan Xubao, 31, a dealer at the ACF China furniture company in the Gaobeidian market on the outskirts of Beijing, observed, \u201cWithout a free capitalistic spirit, these antiques would still be buried in the countryside somewhere.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From the New York Times: Some four decades after the Cultural Revolution, when many of the country\u2019s centuries-old treasures were defaced or destroyed as a result of Mao\u2019s command to eradicate \u201cthe four olds\u201d \u2014 old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits \u2014 China has reversed its attitude toward antiques. Ming dynasty porcelain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5805,5],"tags":[1114,4254],"class_list":["post-51013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main","category-society","tag-antiquities","tag-tv-series","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n
Reactionaries? Make That \u2018Collectors\u2019<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n