World Heritage And National Regional Economic Development

"The world heritage", which was a strange concept, has become a fashionable word since Chinese world heritage declaration in 1987. From government agencies to local authorities, from scholars to rural villagers, people from different social classes pay a lot of attention to various problems related to world heritage. In recent years, applying for world heritage actively has become a new phenomenon in minority areas. The relationship between ethnic minorities and world heritage is close and complicated, which not only has positive influence, but also has negative influence. Based on the economic anthropology perspective, this paper will analyse and interprete these problems,such as reasons and meanings, in a larger econnomic and cultural context.The universal value of heritage, the importance of preotecing heritage, the integrity and authenticity of heritage have been focused and emphasized on from a series of policy documents issued by UNESCO, which contains the concept of world heritage, the standard and principle of world heritage. However, in most minority areas, people concern more about economic benefits from applying for recognition as a world heritage. The cases that applying for world heritage has promoted the economic and social development is kind a of temptation for the minorities. Therefore those who possess of abundant natrual resources and cultual resources in ethnic areas hope their living standard could be improved by applying for the world heritage.It seems that the meaning emphasized by UNESCO and the pursue goal concerned by the ethnic minorities are different. Ostensibly, it represents as the contradiction between conservation and development, the contradiction between economic and cultural and the contradiction between all mankind and specific nationality. The anthor of this thesie puts forword that it is the representation between overall objectives and different target. Due to complex relationships between the universality value of the world heritage and the particularity condition of national minorities, we need to make a dialectic judgment of it. We should give priority respect to the right that the minorities can choose their own way to develop without destroying the need of cuurent generation. Only in this way can we make the sustainable development. Because every nation has different historical context, diversity culture and multivariate developing way. To give respect to particularity of different national minorities will not deviate from the original meaning of world heritage. On the contrary, to respect the particularity of national minorities is to respect all human beings, to respect "cultural diversity" and to respect the diversity development mode.Based on the research and analysis of the relationship between world heritage and development of minorities, this thesis puts forword that the approach of applying for world heritage in ethnic areas is an effective pathway to enter the mainstream social system. In the process of entering the world heritage, ethnic culture, not noly as culture capital but also as social system construction mode, is the important sustainment for the development of ethnic areas. Applying for world heritage is a important approach to accelate the economic development in ethnic areas and it creates possibility of participating and changing the world social institution by the minorities. Meanwhile, Applying for world heritage helps to build the spirit home of human being and grope for the way of achieving essence of human being.However, the author considers that not all of the minority areas are suitable for development by this way of applying for recognition as a world heritage. Applying for world heritage is not the noly way and there should be more suitable pathways for ethnic areas to choose. In fact, it is not easy for the minorities to applying for "world heritage" successfully. However they also want to try their best to strive for this honor at all costs. If more diversity pathways given, different minorities can choose different and suitable way to develop their economy and expand their social association. As a result, they can participate system construction from a passive and unfair way to a positive and equitable way and obtain a larger space to relize their value. This is what we are enlightened by the research.