Kulangsu : Re-Invention of Tradition and Social Memories of Chinese People in Modern China

Abstract

With the continuous progress of reform and opening up, China is in a period of rapid development, it has undergone major changes in economic, political and cultural aspects. Kulangsu’s culture as a world cultural heritage has also taken a new look and better development trend. Kulangsu's culture is not only restricted by the Chinese traditional cultural context, but also integrated with a large number of Western cultural elements, thus forming a unique culture expression.

Take the most representative aspect as an example, Kulangsu's architectures are not only restricted by the Chinese traditional cultural context, but also integrated with lots of Western cultural elements, thus forming a unique culture expression. This paper focus on the study of the history of a region with multiple cultures through human memory and architecture, and obtains some information that can supplement history. The reason why Kulangsu can become a World Cultural Heritage is determined by the uniqueness and importance of local history and culture. The development of traditional Chinese culture to the current Chinese culture needs to be observed from the perspective of insiders.

In summary, this paper starts with the concepts of reinvention and social memory, introduces the development process of Kulangsu’s culture in modern China, focus on the social memory of Chinese people and the performance of traditional re-invention, then analyzes the important influences of different Chinese groups and the new policies of Chinese government. In the era of globalization and the current background of great fusion of Eastern and Western cultures, it has a great practical significance for Chinese people to research on the Kulangsu's multi-culture on a cross-culture and comprehensive path from the perspective of insiders.

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