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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Top-down rural heritage

calligrapher and a member of the Artists Alliance. In or opportunities. In contemporary academic discourse, it
the summer of 2024, Huang Tong hosted a calligraphy is often understood as a proactive approach to fostering
exhibition in Tangwei village, subtitled Cultural development and innovation.
Empowerment of the Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Most of the historical buildings in Tangwei village
Project. This subtitle reflected the strategic use of calligraphy remain vacant or are awaiting development. Only a
art to position Tangwei village in alignment with the dozen or so ancestral halls and study rooms have been
Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Project (Figure 6). converted into art studios by the town government. These
Notably, the calligraphy exhibition was incorporated into spaces, which belong to the village or clans rather than
the Kangwang Festival as part of its parade activities. The private owners, have been repurposed to host artists from
integration of the exhibition into the festival underscores across China. Table 1 presents a list of the locations and
how the Kangwang Festival has been adopted as a tool for orientations of the artists’ studios, compiled during the
cultural tourism promotion by the town government. on-site investigation.
While the top-down planning of Kangwang Festival has The first artist took up residence in 2020, and by 2024,
limited the agency of local villagers, both elite and common there were 16 artists, forming the Tangwei Artists Alliance
residents – whether long-term villagers or recent arrivals – under the town government’s arrangement (Wei et al.,
have found ways to adapt the officially sanctioned festival. 2024). These artists set up studios and reside in ancestral
They have utilized the event to construct a renewed sense halls, study rooms, or ancestral houses within the historical
of cultural confidence and to promote Tangwei village’s village. However, none of them are originally from Tangwei
visibility and reputation, both online and within broader village. Only two are from Shipai town, Dongguan, whereas
societal contexts. the rest hail from various locations across and outside

4. “Building nests to attract phoenixes”: Art Guangdong province. The artists’ residency program is
and historical village conservation outwardly presented as an effort to revitalize the historical
village by moving away from overly commercialized
The Kangwang Festival illustrates tensions between development models. As part of this initiative, the artists
traditional practices and modern promotional strategies, launched the “Tangwei Impression” cultural and creative
whereas another dimension of Tangwei village’s heritage project, aimed at enhancing the village’s cultural identity,
conservation is revealed through the introduction of attracting visitors, and promoting rural revitalization.
resident artists. This “building nests to attract phoenixes” Notably, two artists affiliated with the township
(筑巢引凤, zhuchao yinfeng) approach represents a distinct government’s development initiatives are employees of a
yet interconnected strategy by the local government to major toy company based in Shipai town (Figure 7). This
infuse new cultural elements into the village, further arrangement suggests that the residency program is not
complicating the dynamics between preservation, entirely aligned with the village’s intrinsic needs but is
utilization, and economic development. instead part of the township’s strategic planning.
“Building nests to attract phoenixes” is a metaphorical During the investigation period, the research team
concept in Chinese strategic thinking, encapsulating inquired about the alliance’s composition and the
the idea of creating an environment or infrastructure regulations governing studio setups in the village. Village
conducive to attracting high-quality resources, talents, representatives initially claimed that the artists’ residences
required a selection and verification process, with

Figure 6. The calligraphy exhibition by Huang Tong during the Kangwang Figure 7. Introduction of the Tangwei Artists Alliance. Source: Photo by
Festival. Source: Photo by the authors (2024) the authors (2024)

Volume 7 Issue 3 (2025) 8 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.5029