TY - JOUR
KW - Ehuang and Nüying
KW - Feudal superstition
KW - Hongtong Zouqin Xisu
KW - “receiving Aunties”
KW - Intangible cultural heritage
KW - Local beliefs
AU - Z. You
AB - This article addresses conflicts over local beliefs in both discourse and practice in contemporary China, especially in the process of protecting local beliefs as China’s national intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in the twenty-first century. These local beliefs were stigmatized as “feudal superstitions” in revolution-ary China and were revived in public since the reform era started in 1978. With influence from UNESCO, the project to protect ICH has spread all over China since 2004, and many local beliefs are promoted as China’s national ICH. Drawing on my ethnographic case study of “receiving aunties (Ehuang and Nüying)” in Hongtong County, Shanxi Province, I argue that the catego-ries of “superstition” and ICH are both disempowering and empowering, and the new naming should allow for more space for local communities to achieve social equity and justice.
BT - Asian Ethnology
LA - English
M1 - 1
N1 - Publisher: Nanzan University
N2 - This article addresses conflicts over local beliefs in both discourse and practice in contemporary China, especially in the process of protecting local beliefs as China’s national intangible cultural heritage (ICH) in the twenty-first century. These local beliefs were stigmatized as “feudal superstitions” in revolution-ary China and were revived in public since the reform era started in 1978. With influence from UNESCO, the project to protect ICH has spread all over China since 2004, and many local beliefs are promoted as China’s national ICH. Drawing on my ethnographic case study of “receiving aunties (Ehuang and Nüying)” in Hongtong County, Shanxi Province, I argue that the catego-ries of “superstition” and ICH are both disempowering and empowering, and the new naming should allow for more space for local communities to achieve social equity and justice.
PY - 2020
SP - 137
EP - 159
T2 - Asian Ethnology
TI - Conflicts over local beliefs “feudal superstitions” as intangible cultural heritage in contemporary China
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85087134176&partnerID=40&md5=e879a06d679604360acc8375cbf5bba5
VL - 79
SN - 18826865 (ISSN)
ER -