After 30 years of development, the antique market is relatively scaled up in cities with rich historical and cultural resources, developed economy, and convenient transportation. Most of them are distributed in crowded areas such as the Confucius Temple and the Confucian Temple, and are often guided, supervised, or patrolled by the units they rely on. It focuses on spontaneous formation and ground-settled mobile sales, supplemented by store-style operations. The operating variety reflects regional cultural characteristics and collection preferences.

Four Pairs of Relationships in Antique Market Management

The conceptual relationship between cultural relics and antiques The distinction between "relics" and "antique" has always been the focus of controversy. Concepts such as "antique", "antique" and "handicrafts" have long been confused. The current types of antique markets, antique markets, and flea markets have deliberately evaded the name of the “cultural market” and divided the antique market from the cultural market. The five categories of "material objects, artworks, documents, manuscripts, book materials, and representative objects in history" covered by Article 2 of the Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics belong to the category of cultural relics. In the “Combination of Modern Chinese Dictionary” of the Commercial Press, antiques and antiques are interpreted as “artifacts inherited from ancient times and can be used as references for understanding ancient cultures”; interpretations of ancient objects are “artifacts of ancient times”; handicrafts are interpreted as “handicraft products”. ". According to these statements, cultural relics and antiques are both related and different. However, there is no doubt that antiques and cultural relics have a wide range of intersections, and antiques with historical, scientific and artistic values ​​should belong to the category of cultural relics.

The relationship between the departments of cultural relics and the industrial and commercial departments can not be determined due to the examination and approval of the antique market, and the regulatory body cannot be determined. The management of the antique market has already formed a fault and a vacuum. Currently, there are several forms of the antique market that are operating normally and have a certain scale. First, the market itself has business licenses issued by the industrial and commercial departments, mainly rented shops, and mobile stalls on weekends and holidays. Second, it is formed entirely by the people. Mainly to mobile stalls; the third is mixed in the flower and bird markets, the flea market, mainly in the form of stores concurrently. Apart from the first type of market registration in the industrial and commercial and taxation departments, most of the rest are unlicensed. Even the officially registered business households do not need to go through any formalities for auditing and filing due to the lack of industry regulators. If it can be determined that antiques with historical, scientific, and artistic values ​​belong to the category of cultural relics, then the business supervision of the antique market should be re-incorporated into the legal authority of the cultural relics department.

True and False Moral and Legal Relationships The antique market has always had the notion of “look and miss” and “drilling”. Due to the lack of effective management methods and the defaulting of the management mode of cultural relics over the years, it is not uncommon for people to deliberately confuse truth, exaggerate economic value, and construct fictional artifacts. These malicious frauds not only violate social morality and conscience but also disrupt normal market operations. Order also involves the legal level. Legal behavior of private collections is protected by law. Any market behavior must follow professional ethics, legal norms, and economic laws, protect the interests of buyers and sellers according to law, and promote the healthy development of the market.

The relationship between the business and the industry is based on the interpretation of the UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture of China, and the “Cultural and Related Industries Classification 2012” issued by the National Bureau of Statistics. Cultural heritage management has not been incorporated into the cultural industry for the time being. The "Regulations on the Work of Cultural Relics Stores" still in force in 1981 is still "business" for the nature of the "cultural relics store." The scarcity and non-renewability of cultural relics, to a certain extent, determine that the management of cultural relics does not have the “industrial” nature. Therefore, under the current conditions, it is not appropriate to include the “antique market” in the management of cultural industries.

Countermeasures for antique market management

The centralized management and unified management of the antique market are jointly coordinated by the departments of cultural relics, industry and commerce, public security, and customs, etc., and corresponding management norms are formulated to define their respective job responsibilities. The centralized operation and management of the antique market can be piloted, and the business license issued by the industrial and commercial department can be used to register the basic information of the business operators and business operators in the market, such as lease operators and land dealers. All information is entered into the database management and related management. Departments share data information and, on this basis, establish archives for the integrity management of the antique market. It is also responsible for penalties for violations of laws and regulations; the cultural relics department provides business management, guidance, and supervision; it dispatches business personnel to conduct inspections, spot checks, and cultural relics identification; and state-owned cultural relics collection units or state-owned cultural relics stores collect valuable cultural relics from the market.

The relevant cultural relics information shall be provided to other departments in a timely manner; the public security department and the customs shall supervise the cultural relics and smuggled cultural relics that appear in the antique market; the commerce department shall pay attention to the supervision of the network sales of the operators of the antique market. The coordination of all management departments can better promote the healthy operation of the antique market.

The antique market has a wide range of differentiated operations and developments. In addition to traditional paintings, ceramics, jade articles, and miscellaneous items, there are many new varieties of collections that are related to geographical locations, cultural traditions, and collection preferences. In terms of a large area, each region has a different category of collections, such as paintings, jade, and old books. Even in the same city, the antique market can form a relatively differentiated operation, which can satisfy the needs of different collectors and at the same time promote the healthy competition in the market. In the business license issued by the industrial and commercial department, the business scope can be planned in a targeted manner. Differentiated operations and development not only help cultivate the market, but also facilitate the unified management of the market.

The standardized management of cultural relics appraisal specialists has continued to heat up due to the heat of cultural relics collection, the ratings of various collections of television programs have remained high, and various types of cultural relics and art appraisal institutions have emerged in an endless stream. The professional level and ethics of professional appraisers have been mixed, resulting in indirect results. Confusion in the antique market operations. After the "Interim Measures for the Administration of the Recognition of Cultural Relics" was promulgated, the implementation situation in various places was also inconsistent. As a cultural relics administrative department, it should not be involved in specific cultural relics appraisal activities. Instead, it should do more to authenticate the certification bodies and the management of appraisers, build a national network of appraisers, and reverse the current state of confusion in the cultural relics appraisal industry. . For the accreditation of cultural relics appraisal institutions and cultural relics professional appraisers, establish the archives of appraisal institutions, promote the standardization and transparency of cultural relics appraisal activities, promote rational return of cultural relics collections, and promote the benign development of the antique market.

The formation of the antique market did not happen overnight. It could neither be blindly banned nor allowed to fend for itself. From 2002 till now, the management of the antique market has attracted much attention in the management of collections of folk collections. The revision of the "Cultural Heritage Protection Law" is about to take place. We will wait and see where the antique market is going.