Preserving China's Patrimony: Early Sino-American Collaboration in Cultural Heritage Management

As China's imperial authority crumbled in the modern era, millennia of cultural heritage fell prey to collectors and vandals, both domestic and foreign. Following establishment of the Republic of China and its intellectual arm known as the Academia Sinica, the US government, through the Smithsonian Institution, sponsored a series of expeditions to China to pioneer with the Chinese government and academic community both archaeological research and systematic monument and artifact preservation. This collaborative venture resulted in joint Sino-American excavations and exhibitions, including discovery of the ancient capital at Anyang, the establishment of China’s first national museum, and an Antiquities Protection Law, all of which became the foundation for China’s cultural heritage management regime today. But when the Chinese nationalized their cultural heritage in 1930, all foreigners were shut out of the enterprise. The American party dismissed the cooperative venture as a failure, while the Chinese were happy to ignore any contributions from an erstwhile imperialist nation and later cold war enemy. Revisiting this episode in our shared history, this short documentary reflects on the lessons and legacy of a moment when the US and China worked together to preserve China’s patrimony.