Ritual, Cultural Memory, and Identity: The Cultural Significance of Gongcheng Yao Oil Tea as Intangible Heritage

Abstract

Gongcheng Yao oil tea, a traditional dietary practice rooted in the Yao ethnic community of Guangxi, China, represents a distinctive form of intangible cultural heritage that integrates ritual practice, cultural memory, and identity construction. While existing studies have primarily focused on its historical origins, functional value, and tourism development, limited attention has been paid to its symbolic and cultural significance. This study adopts a qualitative approach, combining literature analysis, field observation, and semi-structured interviews, to reinterpret oil tea culture as a culturally embedded practice within everyday life and ritual contexts. The findings indicate that oil tea has evolved from a subsistence food into a ritualized cultural system, functioning as an embodied medium through which collective memory is preserved and transmitted. It also serves as a key marker of ethnic identity, reinforcing social cohesion and a sense of belonging through shared practices. At the same time, the integration of oil tea into cultural tourism has reshaped its modes of representation, creating tensions between cultural preservation and commodification. This study contributes to the discourse on intangible cultural heritage by highlighting the importance of cultural interpretation and symbolic meaning, and by proposing a framework for understanding how traditional practices can be sustained and reinterpreted in contemporary contexts.

Highlights
This study reinterprets Gongcheng Yao oil tea as a dynamic form of intangible cultural heritage that extends beyond its role as a traditional food and operates as a ritualized cultural system shaped by practice, symbolism, and social interaction. It shows that oil tea functions as an embodied archive of cultural memory, through which ecological knowledge, historical experience, and community values are transmitted across generations by repeated participation in everyday and ceremonial activities. The research also reveals that ethnic identity is not only symbolized by oil tea but actively produced and reinforced through its preparation, sharing, and ritual use. By combining the perspectives of ritual, cultural memory, and identity, this study offers an interdisciplinary framework for understanding the cultural significance of traditional practices. At the same time, it critically examines the effects of tourism and commercialization, highlighting the tension between cultural preservation and commodification while suggesting the need for more sustainable and culturally grounded approaches to heritage transmission.