法國與中國在文化遺產方面的比較，少於一百頁，先不管題目是什麼，在這裡我要作一個宣布！雖然題目講到精品概念，但講到概念，恐怕也只能做出不夠完整並枯燥的解釋。題目也講到精品市場，但對於那些期待看到一個精品市場分析和數據百分率等資料的人，恐怕這不是一個那樣的研究，我把經濟方面的分析留給專業人士去做，這篇論文中只有很少的數據資料。如果論文中有使用一小部份數字資料，那是因為市場的演變使我必須去看這些數據。
    那麼如果做比較不夠完整，而市場分析過於專業，這篇論文是要講些什麼呢？首先它提供的是了解傳統與革新、社會與藝術演變、及政治，這些文化遺產如何形成精品產業的思想與演變。先是概念的形成，再來是產業，但它們兩個是緊密相扣的。因此，這篇論文也會討論精品概念及產業如何互相影響。最後，在了解整個情況之後，會談論我的觀察，它們的相同點與不同點，並作一個比較。當然，論文到某個階段後，必須提出結論，而在這個時候，作者與讀者都必須了解，第一，這些結論的暫時性質，和第二，不可避免的主觀性。

“A comparison between France and China”, on the ground of cultural heritage in….less than a 100 pages: whatever the topic is, here is a quite pretentious announcement! The title says “luxury concept”, but in the regard of a concept, what more can a comparison do than establish a separate and flat description? The title also says “luxury industry” but it might be deceptive for those who would expect a comparative study of the luxury market, percentages and formula: I am leaving the economic and financial analysis of the industry to the specialists, this thesis makes very little use of such data. If there is a short part which relies on figures, it is more because of the evolution of the sector towards marketing that made me have to look at these data. So, what is this thesis about, if the undertaking of a comparison is too partial and if the market analysis is too technical? What this work has to offer is firstly a modest but concise pattern for the understanding of how tradition and innovation, social and artistic evolution, political decisions, in brief: cultural heritage shaped the idea of luxury and the evolution of its industry in each country. The concept comes first and the industry second, but these two are intimately tied. Hence, this is also and mainly a work about the interactions in the couple formed by luxury concept and industry. It is only after the understanding of this relation’s chemistry, that I shall allow myself an observation of similarities and dissemblance and, why not, a comparison. Of course, at a certain stage of this thesis, conclusions will have to be drawn: at this moment, both writer and reader should be aware, in the first place, of the temporary nature of these conclusions and secondly, of their inevitable subjectivity.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
ABSTRACT
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………2
1.1 Motivation …………………………………………………………………….4
1.2 Purpose ………………………………………………………………………..7
1.3 Research process………………………………………………………………8
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………………  13
2.1. Definition of culture and heritage …………………………………………  13
2.1.1. A combined definition ……………………………………………13
2.1.2. Interactions between the different levels of culture ………………16
2.2. Definition of the luxury concept and luxury industry ………………………18
2.2.1. A marketing definition of Luxury ……………………………….. 19
2.2.2. The sectors of the luxury industry  ……………………………….20
2.2.3. The problem of the standpoint ……………………………………22
2.3 Porter's models  ……………………………………………………………...24
2.3.1. The diamond theory ………………………………………………24
2.3.2. The five forces theory …………………………………………….26
2.4. MERSI's model……………………………………………………………...28
2.4.1. Presentation of the model …………………………………………28
2.4.2. Combination of the Diamond theory and MERSI……………….. 32

CHAPTER 3. FAVORABLE HISTORICAL CONDITIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LUXURY ……………………………………………………33
3.1. Precocious dispositions for luxury ………………………………………..33
3.1.1. The first millennium’s luxury in France: religion and feudality ..33
3.2.2. Early development of luxury in China: jade and silk trade ……..36
3.2. Different times for cultural radiance ………………………………………39
3.2.1. A long Chinese golden age ………………………………………39
3.2.1.1. The society of the Tang ………………………………...39
3.2.1.2. A second golden age: The Song’s dynasty ……………..42
3.2.2. Historic rendez-vous between France and luxury: from La Renaissance to the 19th century …………………………………………………45
CHAPTER 4. CULTURAL SPECIFICITIES AND DIFFERENT FATES  ………50
4.1 The land of luxury: France ………………………………………………….50
4.1.1. The rise of luxury houses………………………………………….50
4.1.2. Tradition and creation legitimacy: guarantors of durability ……...52
4.1.3. Something about Paris ……………………………………………56
4.2. The fallen empire of luxury ………………………………………………...58
4.2.1. Political and human disasters ……………………………………..58
4.2.2. Chinoiseries, Japonaiseries and exoticism: the relation with the West ……………………………………………………………………………..60
4.2.3. Chinese aesthetic criteria: beyond materiality…………………….62
CHAPTER 5. ACTUAL ISSUES ……………………………………………………..66
5.1. "La mort des amants" (The lovers’ death) ………………………………….66
5.1.1. The end of the creation era ………………………………………. 66
5.1.2. To marketing challenges, marketing answers …………………… 70
5.1.3. The weight of the luxury sector in the French economy …………74

5.2. China at crossroads …………………………………………………………79
5.2.1. The luxury market of today's China ………………………………79
 		5.2.2. What future for a Chinese luxury brand?.........................................81
CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSIONS ……………………………………………………….86
REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………90
GLOSSARY OF THE KEYWORDS …………………………………………………95
APPENDIX ……………………………………………………………………………..96


LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Hierarchy of luxury products declension ………………………………….. 20
Table 3.1: Production of silk rolls in China from 51-1 BCE …………………………..38
Table 5.1: Data for the year 2006: selected luxury activities. ………………………...... 76
Table 5.2: The ten most valued luxury brands by Chinese business men ……………...80

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1: Research Process …………………………………………………………12
Figure 2.1: The components of culture ………………………………………………. 14
Figure 2.2: Interactions between the levels of culture …………………………………17
Figure 2.3: The Diamond theory  ……………………………………………………… 25
Figure 2.4: The Porter’s Five forces theory …………………………………………….28
Figure 2.5: MERSI Interactive operation system (simplified) ………………………….30
Figure 2.6: The Components of the Mind factor from the MERSI model (detailed) …. 31
Figure 5.1: Marketing tools for unattainable luxury ……………………………………72
Figure 5.2: Marketing tools for intermediary luxury ………………………………….. 73
Figure 5.3: Marketing tools for accessible luxury …………………………………….. 73
Figure 5.4: Repartition of French luxury houses in France …………………………… 77
Figure 5.5: Repartition of French haute couture houses in France ……………………. 78

REFERENCES


Sources in French

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2. ALLERES, D. (2005). Marques de luxe significations et contenu Paris : Economica. 

3. CASTADERE, J. (2007).  Histoire du luxe en France. Des origines à nos jours. Paris : Eyrolles.

4. CASTADERE, J. (2003). Que sais je ? Le luxe (3rd Ed). Paris : PUF.

5. CHAYETTE, S. (2007). Hermès: L’Asie est dans le sac. Le Monde.  p28-29.

6. CHENG, F. (2005). A l’orient de tout. Gallimard.

7. CHENG, F. (1998). Art  de vie, art de vivre. Trésors du Musée national du Palais. Taipei. Mémoires d'empire (exposition) PARIS Galeries nationales du Grand Palais 20/10/ 1998  25/01/1999. Association française d'action artistique. Edition de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux 1998". 231-235.

8. CHENG, F. (2004). Le livre du vide médian. Paris : Edition Gallimard.        

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Sources in English.

30. BESANKO, D., DRANOVE, D., & SHANLEY, M. (2000). Economics of strategy. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Web Sites.

Official site of the Jeweler Boucheron: www.boucheron.com

Official site of the Jeweler Cartier: www.cartier.com

Official site of the Haute Couture House Chanel: www.chanel.com

Official site for the Luxury summit of Shanghai: www.chinaluxurysummit.com	

Official site of the French ministry of economy, finance and employment: www.industrie.gouv.fr

Official site of Louis Vuitton : www.louisvuitton.com


Audio visual:

ANNAUD, J-J. (1992). L’Amant. Fox Pathé Europa.

WONG, K-W. (2004). Eros: the Hand (Interview). Warner Independent Pictures