The Path to Sun Village: Gods, Ghosts, and People in a Post-Revolutionary Society

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Preface: A Village Path alongside China’s Highway of Development

List of Illustrations

1 Intermarriage Spheres and Affinal Networks

Part 1: Intermarriage Spheres: Social Change and the Expansion and Contraction of Intermarriage Regions

The Rural Social Space of Sun Village

The Situation of Intermarriage and Its Revision of “Common Sense”

Why the Distance of Intermarriage is Shrinking

Part 2: Affinal Networks: Continuity and Transformation in the Conventions of Marriage and Affinal Relations

Old Conventions in the Mao Era: Protecting Traditional Core Values of Marriage and the Family

“Walking Rites”: The Goodness of Uniting Two Surnames

Changing Conventions in the “Era of Black Marriages” and Thereafter

Conclusion: From “Many Branches” to “Deep Roots”

2 The Realms of Yin and Yang

Part 1: Synchronic Communities: Gods, Ghosts, and People in a Post- Revolutionary Era

From the Imperial to the Post-Revolutionary Era

“We are both Wretched Vagabonds in a Strange Land”

“Fallen to the Earth and Crushed to Dust, Only the Fragrance Remains”

When the Boundary between Yin and Yang is Breached: The Persistence of Affective Bonds between Ghosts and the Living

Synchronic Communities

Appendix to Part 1 of Chapter 2

Part 2: Efficacy Depending on Faith: The Scope and Cycles of Tongji Power

The Vast Distance between Heaven and the Living

“My Identity as a Woman”

Preference for Secular over Supernatural Decision-Making

The Authority of Each Medium Lasts Two or Three Years

Part 3: Pretending that Gods Exist: Relations between People and Gods in Collective Rituals

Block Divination

Yuanxiao at Yongjin Temple

Welcoming the Gods

“Going Out to Run around the Territory”

“Running Across the Arena” and “Calming Down to Dismount”

“Selecting the Next Year’s Ritual Heads”

Distributing “Boy Biscuits”

The Utilitarianization of Supernatural Relations in Collective Rituals

Part 4: A Thin Interface: The “Balanced Rationality” among Gods, People, and Horses

Keeping Pace to Entertain Gods: From “Using Horses for Work” to “Using Horses for Ritual”

The Tracks of a Thousand Troops and Ten Thousand Horses: “Horse Agents” and “Horse-Leaders”

In the Spring, Hooves Gallop Gaily: Horse-Leaders, Horse Markets, and Clients during Yuanxiao

Those on Horseback Cannot See the Situation on the Ground: Horse-Leaders, Horses, and Gods

Society and Culture as Matrix

3 Building Roads: “The Cultural Nexus of Power”

Accounting and the State

The Weakening of Popular Authority before 1949

Political Consolidation and the Resurgence of Religious Authority (1949–1985)

The Interaction between Popular Authorities and State Brokers (1985 to the Present)

4 “Beyond the Boundary”: A Countermovement to the Hollowing-Out of Rural China

Social Networks in a Peripheral Region

From Periphery to Center: The On-Site Concentration of Dajin Resources

Gaining the Upper Hand through Hometown-Based Economic Networks

The Mutual Activation of Rural Social Resources and Tongxiang Tongye Economy

A Countermovement against the “Hollowing-Out” of Rural China

Appendix: A Micro-History of Rural Society: Sun Village before and during the Revolutionary Period

I Livelihood

II Epidemics

III Clans

IV Water Resource Management

V “People’s Schools”

VI “Able-Bodied Men”

VII "Personages"

VIII Modern Schools

IX Bandits

X Land Reform

XI “Fording the Famine”

XII The “Socialist Education” Campaign

XIII The Cultural Revolution

Postscript

Bibliography

Index of Key Terms, Proper Names, and Place Names