In a message dated 3/22/2001 9:06:44 AM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:

> In some cases, it is the integrity of the process with its skill, technique
> and
>  materials that are the authenticity.

You have touched the heart of Far Eastern philosophy re authenticity, here,
at least as I understand it. According to that way of thinking, the process
of building the structure is the essence of preservation, not the fabric. If
a pagoda gets old and starts to fall apart, they build anew, using the
methods of their ancestors -- that's what makes it authentic. Perhaps the
importance of ancestors in that culture is the the reason why this philosophy
is so predominant.

Here, our concept of authenticity is more based on the preservation of the
original fabric, not replicating the historic process or craft. Modern hands,
it seems to me, will always make things a little differently than ancestral
hands, in spite of every intention to duplicate the process.

M