The Culture of Objects

Zhang Xianqing

Abstract：For museums，the types and amount of collections have a very significant meaning.For a long time，most of the research on museum collections concentrated on the objects themselves.The research rarely concerned the relationship between act of collecting and collector.Following the rise of museum anthropology in recent years，research on museums has been put into a broader perspective.Now，the concern of the researchers is not limited to the objects in the museum，but extends to the act of collecting in relationship to museums，that is，looking at the process in which objects flow from the field to the museum.

As we all know，collecting is indispensable work for most museums.It is through the activities of the museum “collectors” that an important bridge between the object and the museum has been built.Hence，a practical research on the behavior of “collecting” can not only make the static “thing” lively，but can also enable people to think more about the cultural meaning of the flow of things.When Susan M.Pearce reviewed the process regarding the understanding of Western people to the idea of “collecting”，she mentioned that the research on collecting within the context of modern knowledge involved three aspects： Collecting as practice，collecting as poetics，and collecting as politics.Pearces research reminds us to pay attention to the complex relationship between specimens，the act of collecting and collectors.

Taking a group of valuable Taiwanese aboriginal specimens found in the Anthropology Museum of Xiamen University，and combining them with related documents， this article analyzes the early ethnological collecting activity of Lin Hunxiang（1901-1958），especially his two trips to aboriginal villages in Taiwan in 1929 and 1935.It does so in order to investigate the close relationship between the development of Anthropology in China with relationship to museums.It will also reflect on the relationship between objects and other cultures，as well as the ethnology of collecting involved in early ethnological collecting.

The two times Lin Hunxiang collected in Taiwan had a vital impact on the history of Anthropology in China.Beginning in 1895，Taiwan was gradually colonized by the Japanese.It was difficult for Chinese scholars to go to Taiwan to conduct academic research，and even more difficult is to do fieldwork in aboriginal villages.Therefore，Lin Hunxiangs activities are of landmark significance.It is the first time after anthropology was introduced into China that Chinese anthropologists went to Taiwans aboriginal villages to do fieldwork，and collect artifacts.Hence，he was regarded as the person who opened research in Taiwan to scholars from the mainland.

Like collecting，displaying the objects is another core work of museums.As we know，for both the collectors and museums，how to display the objects is closely related to the collectors academic concepts，as well as the function and position of the museum.As the researchers point out，the process of classifying specimens and displaying the “re-contextualized” objects by collectors and museum factually gives these objects new value and significance.Hence，we might learn from the way the first generation of Chinese anthropologist displayed objects，and the traditional change of this discipline.

In the “preface” of taiwan fanzu zhi yuanshi wenhua （Primitive Culture of the Fan Ethnic Group in Taiwan），Lin Hunxiang stressed that because the aboriginal people of Taiwan rarely had contact with outside cultures，they were “good representatives of an uncivilized ethnic group”，and that they kept “their primitive nature”.Obviously，he set up a cultural contrast between “aboriginal” ethnic groups and “civilized” ethnic groups，and believed that by observing the culture of the “uncivilized groups”，one can explore “the primitiveness in human cultural history.Hence，during the process of collecting，the focus was on “primitive culture”，and collectors took the objects of the aboriginal people as physical evidence of cultural evolution.This concept is obviously influenced by evolutionism.However，we find that Lin did not agree with the idea of the similarity of culture proposed in the theory of evolution.Instead，he said that we should do detailed fieldwork concerning the history and culture of “Fan ethnic group”.His collecting practices and display principles were in keeping with the concept of saving or rescuing ethnic groups，which，to a certain degree，was influenced by the historical school of American Cultural Anthropology.This was closely related with the anthropological training he got in the University of the Philippines.

Essentially，field sampling is a process of collecting culture.It is through the activity of collecting in the field that a “thing” changed its original nature in the “flow process” — changing from a daily artifact of indigenous people into a “specimen” collected by the museum，where it is used to show the culture of “otherness”.This kind of “cultural collecting”，reminds us that we need to pay attention to revealing the complicated meaning behind the “collecting ethnology” of early anthropologists.

At present，research of museums has entered an interdisciplinary era.Peoples understanding of objects is no longer content with the static aspect of the object.When people stand quietly in front of the window of an exhibition case，what they hope to know is more about the social and cultural processes behind the object.The case of Lin Hunxiangs early collecting in the field reveals a complicated relationship between the specimens，the act of collecting and collectors，and also stimulates us to think again about the relationship between people and objects in the early museums.Perhaps in this context，we can really take the museum as an ethnological field.

Key Words： specimens； culture； ethnology of collecting； museum anthropology

References：

Andrew Gosling.An American in Manila： Otley Beyer and his collection at the National Library of Australia.In Australia News，7 （10），July 1997，pp 6-8.

Eilean Hooper-Greenhill.Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge.New York： Routledge，1992，pp.1-9.

Ivan Karp & Steven D.Lavine，eds.Exhibiting Cultures： The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display.Smithsonian Institution Press，1991.p.11.

Lin Huixiang.linhuixiang wenji （Collected Works of Lin Huixiang.Jiang Binzao，compiled.Xiamen： xiamen daxue chubanshe，2012：6.

Tozzer，A.M.（1936）.Roland Burrage Dixon.In American Anthropologist.New Series 33 （2）： 291–300.

Susan M.Pearce.On Collecting，An investigation into collecting in the Europe tradition.London and New York：Routledge，1995：28-33.