Teahouse under Socialism

Wang Di

Description

To understand a city fully, writes Di Wang, we must observe its most basic units of social life. In The Teahouse under Socialism, Wang does just that, arguing that the teahouses of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, are some of the most important public spaces-perfect sites for examining the social and economic activities of everyday Chinese.Wang looks at the transformation of these teahouses from private businesses to collective ownership and how state policy and the proprietors' response to it changed the overall economic and social structure of the city. He uses this transformation to illuminate broader trends in China's urban public life from 1950 through the end of the Cultural Revolution and into the post-Mao reform era. In doing so, The Teahouse under Socialism charts the fluctuations in fortune of this ancient cultural institution and analyzes how it survived, and even thrived, under bleak conditions.Throughout, Wang asks such questions as: Why and how did state power intervene in the operation of small businesses? How was "socialist entertainment" established in a local society? How did the well-known waves of political contestation and struggle in China change Chengdu's teahouses and public life? In the end, Wang argues, the answers to such questions enhance our understanding of public life and political culture in the Communist state.

Sujets

• Histoire
• History of Asia
• China

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 juin 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501715556
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 13 Mo

Extrait

TheTeahouseunderSocialism

TheTeahouseunder Socialism

The Decline and Renewal of Public Life in Chengdu, 1950–2000

DiWang

CornellUniversityPress Ithaca and London

Thisbookhasbeenpublishedwiththeassistanceofaresearchgrantfrom the University of Macau.

Copyright©2018byCornellUniversity

Allrightsreserved.Exceptforbriefquotationsinareview,thisbook,or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Firstpublished2018byCornellUniversityPress

PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica

LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData

Names: Wang, Di, 1956– author. Title:Theteahouseundersocialism:thedeclineandrenewalofpublic life in Chengdu, 1950–2000 / Di Wang. Description:Ithaca:CornellUniversityPress,2018.|Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017040065 (print) | LCCN 2017040970 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501715549 (epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501715556 (pdf) | ISBN 9781501715488 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781501715495 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects:LCSH:Chengdu(China)—Sociallifeandcustoms—20thcentury.| Tearooms—China—Chengdu—History—20th century. | Socialism and culture—China—Chengdu—History—20th century. | Chengdu (China)—Politics and government—20th century. Classification:LCCDS797.77.C48(ebook)|LCCDS797.77.C48W355 2018 (print) | DDC 951/.38—dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2017040065

For my family

Acknowledgments

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Introduction:UrbanPoliticalTransitionsunderSocialism

PartI.TheDeclineofPublicLife,1950–1976

1.TheDemiseoftheChengduTeahouseGuildandtheFall of Small Business

2.StateControlandtheRiseofSocialistEntertainment

3.TheDeclineofPublicLifeunderMao’sRule

PartII.TheReturnofPublicLife,1977–2000

4.TheResurgenceofTeahousesintheReformEra

5.UrbanResidentsandMigrantWorkersinPublicLife

6.ThePowerofMahjong

Conclusion:TheState,theTeahouse,andthePublicSphere

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Contents

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Writingthisbookhasbeenalongjourney.Myinterestintheteahouses of Chengdu started in the 1980s when I studied the society of the upper Yangzi region, but it was a very hard task at the time because of a lack of sources. In the 1990s, when I conducted research for my dissertation on street culture in Chengdu, I discovered some good material and thought that I might write a hundredyear history of Chengdu teahouses. However, I decided to write two books on teahouses in Chengdu (divided by 1950) after I found the massive records from the Chengdu Municipal Archives in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As soon as the first book on teahouses in the late Qing and Republican periods was completed in 2006, I started to work on the current book. Unbelievably, the time has passed by so quickly, and it has taken more than ten years, the longest time I have ever spent on a book. Now, I feel so relieved to see that the book is going to be published. MythanksfirstgotoBillRowe.Theideaofstudyingteahouses started during my graduate years at Johns Hopkins University under his