Communications in Humanities Research

- The Open Access Proceedings Series for Conferences


Communications in Humanities Research

Vol. 16, 28 November 2023


Open Access | Article

From Subculture to Mass Culture? How Hanfu Became a Focus of Cultural Policy under Xi’s Administration

Lingzi Yu * 1
1 King’s College London

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Communications in Humanities Research, Vol. 16, 29-39
Published 28 November 2023. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by EWA Publishing
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Citation Lingzi Yu. From Subculture to Mass Culture? How Hanfu Became a Focus of Cultural Policy under Xi’s Administration. CHR (2023) Vol. 16: 29-39. DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/16/20230071.

Abstract

Hanfu, represented as a prominent aspect of traditional culture, has gained immense popularity within Chinese society, particularly under the leadership of Xi Jinping. In comparison to his predecessors, Xi Jinping has demonstrated an unprecedented emphasis on culture. Based on the three self-confidences proposed by Hu Jintao, cultural confidence was added by Xi, thereby expanding the Party Central Committee’s theory of state governance to encompass four confidences. It is worth mentioning that the discourse “culture” in Xi’s context has differentiated from the predecessors, which refers to the deficiencies that need to be paid attention to match rapid economic development. However, Xi’s administration has clearly pointing the influential object of soft power, particularly traditional culture. Within this context, Hanfu has gradually transitioned from a subculture predominantly embraced by the youth to a mainstream cultural symbol endorsed by the government in last two decades. In China’s present cultural policy, Hanfu assumes a pivotal role as a quintessential representation of traditional culture. The Chinese government’s stance on Hanfu’s gradual revival has been influenced by three key factors: public sentiment, market demand and response, and China’s global reputation.

Keywords

Chinese cultural policy, Hanfu, traditional culture

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Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the International Conference on Global Politics and Socio-Humanities
ISBN (Print)
978-1-83558-165-0
ISBN (Online)
978-1-83558-166-7
Published Date
28 November 2023
Series
Communications in Humanities Research
ISSN (Print)
2753-7064
ISSN (Online)
2753-7072
DOI
10.54254/2753-7064/16/20230071
Copyright
28 November 2023
Open Access
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Copyright © 2023 EWA Publishing. Unless Otherwise Stated