The Dilemma of Authenticity: The Conservation and Reconstruction of Traditional Residences in China —Taking Pingyao, Shanghai and Suzhou as Examples

Abstract

Thirty years after the release of the Nara Document on Authenticity, the concept of authenticity still faces many difficulties in its localization in China, which are manifested in three aspects: the contradiction between absolutization and relativization, materiality and spirituality, and authority and popularization. In China’s historic cities, there are a large number of traditional residences, which constitute the background of the “authenticity” of urban heritage. However, due to the traditional wooden construction in China, these traditional residences have undergone nearly a century of historical changes and suffer from problems such as structural aging and long-term disrepair. Unlike the legally protected historical buildings in China, which are maintained by the state, most traditional residences are protected by individuals, and often encounter difficulties such as lack of funds and high maintenance costs during the conservation process. To a considerable extent, there are also calls for demolition and reconstruction among the public. How to maintain the authenticity of traditional residences? This paper takes three historic cities in China - Pingyao, Shanghai and Suzhou - as examples to explore three different conservation models caused by the different aspects such as construction history, construction scale, land values: comprehensive conservation, limited conservation, and “Three Original” conservation. It also discusses the similarities and differences in the attitudes of the government, experts and the public towards the protection of traditional residences, and how they maintain a delicate balance like walking on a tightrope to the greatest extent possible to preserve the authenticity of traditional residences.