Chinese Peasants on the Wheels of Change: Rural Reform and Its Impact in a Tianjin Village

Jang, Soo Hyun

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Description

Title

Chinese Peasants on the Wheels of Change: Rural Reform and Its Impact in a Tianjin Village

Author(s)

Jang, Soo Hyun

Issue Date

1998

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Saul, Mahir

Department of Study

Anthropology

Discipline

Anthropology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

Political Science, General

Language

eng

Abstract

The remarkable flourishing of life-cycle and calendrical rituals is a sign of the state's diminishing ideological hegemony in the village. The main proponents of traditional rituals refused to endorse the state's application of the science/superstition, modernity/tradition divides to their own ritual practices; they believed these possessed valuable knowledge and wisdom. Yet, they continued to hold strong commitment to the basic tenets and values of the modernization ideology propagated by the state; this was indicative of the powerful penetration of the dominant ideology into deeper levels of consciousness. For many participants, the importance of the resurfacing peasant rituals lay in their function as a convenient venue for informal social networking and ritual display. Such values as simplicity and frugality that the socialist state had propagated with regard to ritual practices were no longer appropriate, now that the pursuit of material wealth was strongly encouraged by the state and conspicuous consumption was actively sought by most villagers.

Graduation Semester

1998

Type of Resource

text

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