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CCS Spring 2026 Tensions in Translating Heritage Concepts: Zhongyue Temple’s

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This research investigates how the buffer zone, a heritage concept designed to preserve sensitive sites, has been misapplied in urban conservation contexts, undermining the very heritage it was designed to protect. Using a combination of archival documents, historical research, aerial imagery, and on-site reconnaissance, this paper demonstrates that the buffer zone surrounding Zhongyue Temple, originally intended to safeguard the temple’s integrity, instead became a mechanism for urban clearance and erasure of historical layers. This leads to a broader investigation of the buffer zone as heritage mechanism, tracing its evolution from ecological to urban conservation within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). While buffer zones have been used for positive effect in ecological and archaeological conservation, when applied to historic urban landscapes or more complex traditional environments, buffer zones in several instances have resulted in the demolition or near-demolition of historically significant structures and settlement patterns. To translate past to present with more verisimilitude, UNESCO should reconcile the recent implementation of buffer zones with the organization's stated historic urban landscape approach. Anything less would, to paraphrase the Venice Charter, fail to hand heritage on in the full richness of its authenticity.

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Center for Chinese Studies, Mānoa Campus

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