문화대혁명과 중국의 고고학 - 고고(考古)의 군중화와 정치화에 대한 비판적 고찰

Abstract

This paper examines archaeology during the Cultural Revolution as an instrument for organizing and controlling the past under the domination of state power. In this period, archaeology underwent two significant transformations. First, there was a collapse of expertise and a shift in the subjects of knowledge production. As the “mass line” was emphasized, experts were marginalized, and “barefoot archaeologists” who had undergone short-term training emerged as the main agents of excavation. Consequently, excavation sites were transformed from domains of technical work into venues for ideological dissemination and political mobilization, exhibiting a dual character in which the preservation and destruction of cultural relics coexisted. Second, there was a shift in the authority of interpretation. Excavated artifacts were reinterpreted not through scholarly analysis but within the framework of state ideology, and exhibitions were converted into political projects that visually enacted the narrative of class struggle. These changes reveal the dynamics and tensions among political power, scholarship, and the masses, centered on the fundamental question of “who has the right to speak for the past.” The Cultural Revolution shifted archaeology from a domain of scientific empiricism and technology to a stage for ideological struggle and the legitimation of power, demonstrating that archaeology, by nature, is a highly political practice that preserves the legacy of the past while simultaneously reflecting and restructuring the power structures of the present. Efforts within the Chinese archaeological community to rectify the research gaps and distorted interpretations of the Cultural Revolution period continue to this day.