The mortuary rituals in a Chinese village
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Date
1993
Authors
Chen, Gang
Major Professor
Advisor
Huang, Shu-min
Committee Member
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Research Projects
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Abstract
This study is based on the ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a village in Sichuan Province in July and August, 1992. The major purpose of the fieldwork was to collect data on the mortuary practices and beliefs in the village through interviews, particpant-observation, and a literature search. The study of the sociocultural structure in the village reveals the nature of this rural community and the world view of the villagers, leading to a better understanding of the peasants' life in contemporary rural China. The detailed description of funeral sequences in the village illustrates the differences between mortuary rituals in this village and those observed in other Chinese communities. Analysis indicated that the current sociocultural structure in Xiejia Village consists of two distinctive components: traditional practices and beliefs, and the newly introduced ideology and values by the party-state. Traditional mortuary practices will continue to play an important role in the social life of Chinese rural communities, but will be more and more formalized and ritualized as Chinese rural communities move toward modernization.