China off Center : Mapping the Margins of the Middle Kingdom

by Blum, Susan Debra; Jensen, Lionel M.

• ISBN13: 9780824825775
• ISBN10: 0824825772
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Hawaii Pr

Summary

China Off Center takes as its fundamental assumption that contemporary China can only be understood as a complex, decentralized place, where the view from above (Beijing) and from tourist buses is a skewed one. Instead of generalizing about China, it demonstrates that this diverse national terrain is better conceived as it is experienced by Chinese, as a set of many Chinas. To that end, this anthology of interpretive essays and ethnographic reports focuses on the everyday, the particular, the local, and the puzzling. Among the many topics covered are ethnic minorities, linguistic diversity, competing regional loyalties, sexuality, gender and work, the floating populations, rock and roll, qigong (spiritual and martial arts), and popular religion. Together with contextualizing introductions, the readings provide students with a compelling look at some little-known but significant aspects of China from the past decade; for those already familiar with China, they furnish an assortment of uncommon viewpoints in a single, convenient volume.

Author Biography

Susan D. Blum is associate professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. Lionel M. Jensen is associate professor and chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Notre Dame.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Sovereignty and Citizenship in a Decentered China	p. xiii
Preface	p. xvii
Acknowledgments	p. xxi
Introduction: Reconsidering the Middle Kingdom	p. 1
The Center and the Noncenter
How Much of China Is Ruled by Beijing?	p. 25
Symbols of Southern Identity: Rivaling Unitary Nationalism	p. 31
The Languages of China	p. 45
Geographic Margins
Northwest
Chinese Turkestan: Xinjiang	p. 71
Ethnoreligious Resurgence in a Northwestern Sufi Community	p. 106
Southwest and the Diaspora
Town and Village Naxi Identities in the Lijiang Basin	p. 131
Ethnic and Linguistic Diversity in Kunming	p. 148
The Construction of Chinese and Non-Chinese Identities	p. 167
South and Southeast
The Secret History of the Hakkas: The Chinese Revolution as a Hakka Enterprise	p. 185
Social and Cultural Margins
Sexuality
Sexual Behavior in Modern China	p. 221
The Cut Sleeve Revisited: A Contemporary Account of Male Homosexuality	p. 238
Gender and Work
"The Moon Reflecting the Sunlight": The Village Woman	p. 249
Economic Margins
The Floating Population in the Cities: Markets, Migration, and the Prospects for Citizenship	p. 273
Popular Culture: Rock and Roll
The Politics of Popular Music in Post-Tiananmen China	p. 291
Spiritual Life
Magic, Science, and Qigong in Contemporary China	p. 311
The Spirits of Reform: The Power of Belief in Northern China	p. 323
Afterword: Centers and Peripheries, Nation and World	p. 341
Notes	p. 347
Bibliography	p. 365
Contributors	p. 387
Index	p. 389
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