The People's Peking Man: Popular Science and Human Identity in Twentieth-Century China

by Schmalzer, Sigrid

• ISBN13: 9780226738604
• ISBN10: 0226738604
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-11-15
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

In the 1920s an international team of scientists and miners unearthed the richest evidence of human evolution the world had ever seen: Peking Man. After the communist revolution of 1949, Peking Man became a prominent figure in the movement to bring science to the people. In a new state with twin goals of crushing "superstition" and establishing a socialist society, the story of human evolution was the first lesson in Marxist philosophy offered to the masses. At the same time, even Mao's populist commitment to mass participation in science failed to account for the power of popular culturerepresented most strikingly in legends about the Bigfoot-like Wild Manto reshape ideas about human nature. The People's Peking Manis a skilled social history of twentieth-century Chinese paleoanthropology and a compelling culturaland at times comparativehistory of assumptions and debates about what it means to be human. By focusing on issues that push against the boundaries of science and politics,The People's Peking Manoffers an innovative approach to modern Chinese history and the history of science.

Author Biography

Sigrid Schmalzer is assistant professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Conventions Introduction 1. "From 'Dragon Bones' to Scientific Research": Peking Man and Popular Paleoanthropology in Pre-1949 China Celestial Clouds and Zip Wires A Willingness to Change Nationalism and Internationalism Tradition, Superstition, Science First Contacts Who Discovered Peking Man? Presenting Peking Man Conclusion 2. "A United Front against Superstition": Science Dissemination, 19401971 A Role for Scientists in Revolution Ghosts into People, Apes into Humans The Who and How of Science Dissemination Darwin "Strikes A Blow" for Materialism Scientists Feel the Heat The Pursuit of Monsters Conclusion 3. "The Content of Human": In Search of Human Identity, 19401971 The Question of a Universal Human Nature Labor as the Core of Human Identity Primitive Communism Peking Man as a National Ancestor All the World Is One Human Family Conclusion 4. "Labor Created Science": The Class Politics of Scientific Knowledge, 19401971 Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches to Popularizing Science Science Dissemination for Whom, by Whom? Ivory Towers and Cow Sheds Mass Science Paleoanthropology and Popular Culture Conclusion 5. "Presumptuous Guests Usurp the Hosts": Dissemination and Participation, 19711978 Cultural Revolution Science on Its Own Terms A Favorable Time for Popular Science Dissemination: Fossils Magazine Strikes a Blow for Popular Science Dissemination: Dinosaurs and the Masses at Zhoukoudian Dissemination: Learning about Humanity at Zhoukoudian and Beyond Mass Participation: Laborers and Hobbyists<