This article examines how political ideology shifts shape the reactivation of dormant cultural markets through a study of China's imperial porcelain trade following market liberalization in 2002. Drawing on auction data from mainland China and Hong Kong (1995-2010) and archival materials, we investigate how regulatory changes affect the economic valuation of previously stigmatized cultural goods. Our Difference-in-Differences analysis shows that while regulatory change initially reduced the mainland-Hong Kong price gap by 27.55\%, substantial disparities persisted and even widened over time. This divergence reflects fundamental challenges in reconstructing market mechanisms after prolonged dormancy. The mainland market struggled with limited cultural appreciation and weak authentication systems, leading to heterogeneous responses across auction houses. The findings reveal that market legitimation through regulatory reform, while necessary, proves insufficient for establishing stable valuation mechanisms. Market infrastructure, authentication systems, and cultural appreciation must be reconstructed alongside formal institutions. This study advances understanding of how political transitions shape market reactivation by demonstrating how social and cultural foundations mediate between state legitimation and market performance.
