Constructing a Wanghong Museum: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis on Douyin

Cultural heritage institutions increasingly engage with social media platforms to broaden their reach and transform their public image. This study examines how the Sanxingdui Museum in China constructs its wanghong (online celebrity) identity through Douyin (TikTok China). We employ multimodal critical discourse analysis to investigate 300 popular videos from the museum’s official account. The analysis reveals that the museum develops a dual identity as a playful cultural idol and an authoritative guardian. The playful persona emerges through five key attributes that transform archaeological artifacts into accessible cultural symbols. Meanwhile, the authoritative dimension positions the museum as both a knowledge gatekeeper and performer of national confidence, maintaining scholarly credibility while engaging contemporary audiences. This duality creates a synergistic relationship where institutional authority enhances the credibility of entertainment content, while playful elements increase accessibility and engagement. The museum’s approach demonstrates how cultural institutions navigate between educational missions and digital platform demands, transforming heritage preservation into symbolic consumption experiences. The findings illuminate the intersection of China’s national cultural strategy promoting cultural confidence with the attention-driven dynamics of social media platforms. Sanxingdui’s success reflects broader transformations in cultural communication, where traditional institutions adopt market-oriented strategies to revitalise heritage for contemporary audiences. The study contributes an analytical framework for understanding multimodal discourse in digital cultural spaces and provides insights into the commodification processes that reshape cultural heritage presentation in the digital era.