From Techniques to Markets: A Field Theory Model of Capital Transformation in Guancao Weaving

Guancao weaving, a craft with over two millennia of history in Guangdong, embodies ecological knowledge and the cultural identity of Lingnan communities. Despite its significance, the practice faces marginalization, a sharp decline in inheritors, and competition from industrial substitutes. While previous studies have examined policy frameworks and community engagement, no research has systematically analyzed Guancao weaving through an integrated framework that connects techniques, patterns, and colors, nor has it explored these dimensions through Bourdieu’s field theory. To address this gap, this study investigates how weaving techniques, patterns, and color strategies function as cultural, symbolic, and economic capital, and how these dimensions interact to support the adaptive transformation of Guancao weaving. A qualitative multi-method design was adopted, combining ethnographic fieldwork, five in-depth interviews, a supplementary survey of 100 respondents, semiotic analysis, and practice-led design. Data were thematically coded in NVivo, supported by triangulation, reflexive notes, and participant validation to ensure analytical rigor. Findings reveal a three-dimensional framework in which techniques operate as cultural capital through embodied skills; patterns preserve symbolic meanings that enable cultural reinterpretation; and colors link traditional aesthetics with contemporary markets. The study contributes a contextualized field-theory model explaining how Guancao weaving transforms forms of capital across social and economic fields, offering practical strategies for the sustainable safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. Highlights1. Introduces a three-dimensional analytical framework techniques, patterns, and colors-to explain cross-field capital transformation (cultural-symbolic-economic) in Guancao weaving through Bourdieu’s field theory.2. Employs a qualitative multi-method design (ethnographic fieldwork, five in-depth interviews, a supplementary survey of 100 respondents, semiotic analysis, and practice-led design) with NVivo-based coding to ensure analytic rigor.3. Demonstrates that weaving techniques function as cultural capital, patterns as symbolic capital, and colors as the driver of conversion into economic capital via contemporary design and cultural branding.4. Delivers actionable insights for sustainable safeguarding of ICH: artisan-designer–institution collaboration, plant-based dyeing/eco-materials, and market mediation that preserves community-embedded authenticity within the creative industries.5. Proposes a cyclical capital feedback model in which reinvested economic capital supports cultural continuity, aligning with SDGs 11/12/17 and informing policy design and culturally oriented product development.