Discussion on Two Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance Patterns: A Case Study of Dunhuang Painted Sculpture

Abstract

The Dunhuang painted sculpture production boasts a unique hand-making technique with a long history, yet its inheritance is at stake with the change of times. How to make the painted sculpture technique be inherited is the issue we would like to conduct a depth exploration for. The paper has analyzed, compared, and summarized two protection approaches (i.e., a top-down pattern versus a bottom-up pattern) for the intangible cultural heritage (ICH), aiming to seek a proper direction to achieve an all-around inheritance of the painted sculpture technique. The top-down pattern is authoritative and systematical and is easy to manage and practice, whereas the bottom-up pattern is more flexible to prevail among folks to arouse their cultural identity and passion for traditional Chinese techniques. The painted sculpture technique will be lively again as long as the two approaches are integrated together to work towards the common objective.