article
Erasing the dead in Kaixiangong: ancestry and cultural transforms in southern China
Cambridge journal of China studies • 10 (2) • Published In 2015 • Pages: 38-52
By: Aijmer, Göran.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is an examination of the ancestral cult at Kaixiangong based on the foundational ethnography by Fei Xiaotong (1946). The author comments on the absence of village ancestral halls, the shallow genealogies of the villagers (five generations), and the above-ground cemetery among the mulberry trees growing on the dykes separating the rice fields. He also notes the importance of the stove god who protects the domestic sphere of married-in women and, by association, their natal (cognominal) agnates. These facts are seen as indicating the relative importance of affine in the village's dual economy of rice cultivation and silkworm production. Fei (1946) is included in eHRAF.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cereal agriculture
- Religious and educational structures
- Kinship terminology
- Burial practices and funerals
- Cult of the dead
- Spirits and gods
- Sacred objects and places
- Prayers and sacrifices
- Priesthood
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Han Chinese
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- East Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard; 2019
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- not applicable
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1936
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Kaixiangong (Kaihsienkung), Wujiang, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
- NotesAdditional notes
- Göran Aijmer
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 52)
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Peasantry--China--Yangtze River Valley
- Yangtze Valley--Social life and customs
- Villages--China--Yangtze River Valley