ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide a general context for understanding the overall evolution of professional practices by Chinese heritage professionals, during an extremely complicated process of historical change for the country as a whole. The situation opened a conversation among professionals and political leaders about the needs of protecting heritage remains: a context of heavy development that was causing severe destruction to heritage, yet establishing a systematic approach to protection. Reform and opening up, transition of the economic system, and social transformation resulted in deep changes to people's way of life, as well as increasing the complexity of relationships between cultural relic conservation and contemporary social economic development. For Chinese experts, however, the definition of dayizhi has specific contents and implications, referring to both archaeological sites with important value, and practical relic areas involving complicated protection and management work.
