Research on the Industrialization Development Path of Intangible Cultural Heritage Tea Driven by Institutions — A Case Study of Enshi Prefecture, Hubei

Abstract

The industrialization of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a dual proposition of cultural inheritance and economic development in the new era. Taking Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hubei as a typical case, this paper focuses on world-level tea ICH items including Enshi Yulu Tea Making Technique and Yihong Black Tea Making Technique, and systematically investigates the institutional logic, practical mechanism, and governance efficiency of local public sectors driving ICH industrialization. The study finds that Enshi Prefecture has adopted a four-in-one institutional driving model of “legislative protection, standard guidance, brand operation and digital empowerment,” and constructed a three-layer driving mechanism of “institutional supply, resource allocation and governance innovation,” forming a four-dimensional practical path of “spatial reconstruction, industrial integration, factor activation and subject cultivation.” The research reveals that institutional driving is a key variable for ICH industrialization in ethnic regions. Governments play a guiding role through institutional supply, resource allocation and governance innovation, yet risks of “de-ICH” must be guarded against, so as to dynamically balance cultural value and economic value under the coordination of “government-market-community.” This study provides replicable experience for the “Three-Tea Coordination” strategy and rural revitalization in ethnic areas.