CSAC Monograph 10

Perspectives on Chinese Society


Anthropological Views from Japan


Edited by Suenari Michio, J.S. Eades and Christian Daniels


The period since the Second World War has seen the rapid growth of anthropological interest in Chinese society. At first, most of the work was carried out in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Overseas Chinese Communities, but since the late 1970s, there has been an increasing volume of material from the People's Republic itself, much of it written by Chinese and Japanese scholars based in Japan. However, until now, this Japanese-based body of work has been little known elsewhere, mainly because little of it has been translated into English.

The aim of this book is to make more widely available a representative selection of recent work in this field. The seventeen papers originated from a research project into the cultural dynamics of relations between the Han Chinese and surrounding minorities, organised at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, and at a panel on recent Japanese research on China, organised by the University of Tokyo, at the 1992 Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association.
The book begins and ends with an historical overview of Japanese research into Chinese society and its relation to developments in anthropology elsewhere. The fifteen case studies in between survey the interrelations between kinship and marriage, imigration, religion and ritual, and the formation of ethnic identity. They are based on fieldwork among the Han Chinese and minority groups in the People's Republic, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

CSAC Monographs 10

Perspectives on Chinese Society

Anthropological Views from Japan

Edited by


Suenari Michio


J.S. Eades


Christian Daniels


Centre for Social Anthropology and Computing,
University of Kent at Canterbury, England

in association with

The Institute for the Study of the Languages and Cultures
of Asia and of Africa,
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo, Japan
1995

Contents


List of Contributors page vi


Preface page vii

1.
Chinese Anthropology in Japan: A View from Inside. Suenari Michio page 1

2.
The Dynamics of the Chinese Social System: Network Building without Group Solidarity. Wang Sung-hsing page 17

3.
An Immigrant Community in Northern Jiangsu: The Dafeng Land Reclamation Company and Farmers from Haimen County. Nishizawa Haruhiko page 29

4.
Daughters and the Natal Family in Taiwan: Affinal Relationships in Chinese Society. Ueno Hiroko page 48

5.
The Revival of Tradition in Northern Anhui: A Response to Social and Economic Change. Han Min page 67

6.
Changes in Perceptions of Ancestors: Field Data from a Rural Village in Northeastern China. Nie Lili page 92

7.
Types of Surname Association in Hong Kong: Their Precursory Organizations in China and the Development of Surname Associations in Contemporary Hong Kong. Yoshihara Kazuo page 105

8.
The Village of "Two Dragons" and the Village of "Dragon and Tiger": A Field Study of Fengshui in Two Zhejiang Villages. Oguma Makoto page 120

9.
Deified Ghosts: Popular and Authorised Interpretations of Religious Symbols. Mio Yuko page 136

10.
Separation from the Dead: A Case Study of Funeral Rites in a Teochiu Fishing Village in Malaysia. Kawasaki Yuzo page 156

11.
Uxorilocal Marriage among the Bai of the Dali Basin, Yunnan. Yokoyama Hiroko page 182

12.
The Ethnic Identity of the She and the Cultural Influence of the Hakka: A Study Based on a Survey of She Villages in Chaozhou, Guangdong.Segawa Masahisa page 191

13.
Becoming Chinese? Ethnic Transformation and Ancestral Tablets among the Puyuma of Taiwan. Suenari Michio page 204

14.
Worshipping Plural Ethnic Ancestors: Mechanisms of Change among the Sinicized Kvalan. Shimizu Jun page 225

15.
Christianity in Southwestern China: Mass Conversion among the Miao and Yi. Zeng Shicai page 248

16.
Father and Son, Master and Disciple: The Patrilineal Ideology of the Mien Yao of Northern Thailand. Yoshino Akira page 265

17.
The New Chinese Anthropology: A View from Outside. J.S. Eades page 274


Bibliography page 292


Appendix 1. Reports to Sen'nin no Kai page 327


Appendix 2. Character Lists page 333
Index page 349

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