ABSTRACT
Nuo’s new role in modern Chinese politics continued into the twenty-first century as the CCP formulated a refreshed political strategy, in which ‘culture’ was targeted to enhance – in their words – China’s cultural soft power and overall national strength as well as to promote broadly based, rapid economic growth. After nuo was rediscovered in the early 1980s, local governments hoped to make it into a cultural brand to promote the reputations of their regions and attract investment from outside to assist local socio-economic development. They overwhelmingly responded to the CCP’s call for nominating local cultural traditions as items of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) as they saw it as a valuable opportunity to receive extra state funding and promote local tourism. Through their efforts nuo was listed as an item of ICH at the national level. For the central government, being on such lists is politically important as – in their words, again – it can enhance the cohesion of the nation and its international standing, boost national unity, invigorate the national spirit, safeguard national unification and promote a sound and fast-growing economy. For the local government authorities in Dejiang, however, for nuo to be awarded national and international recognition as an item of ICH was seen as vital to the future, and as paving the way for ‘attracting businessmen to invest in local projects’. As a result, nuo has been further reinvented and used by local governments as an instrument of local socio-cultural development.
