MONUMENTS OF GRIEF: VILLAGE POLITICS AND MEMORY IN POST-SOCIALIST RURAL CHINA1

A small bridge project in rural China became a corruption scandal and burdened villagers with a huge debt. Seeking reason and justice from government officials, villagers encountered only obfuscation and frustration. At the same time, a void left during the Chinese Cultural Revolution by the destruc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEthnology Vol. 46; no. 1; p. 41
Main Author Wu, Ka-ming
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh - Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education 01.01.2007
Subjects
Bridges
Celibacy
Chinese
Corruption in government
Cultural identity
Memorials & monuments
Memory
Politics
Rural areas
China
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Summary:A small bridge project in rural China became a corruption scandal and burdened villagers with a huge debt. Seeking reason and justice from government officials, villagers encountered only obfuscation and frustration. At the same time, a void left during the Chinese Cultural Revolution by the destruction of an arch to chastity, a village monument, became a gathering place for mythical legends, stories of loyalty and betrayal, and speculations on the fate of the community. Forced to retain a pre-reform identity of rural residency, yet confronted with a market economy constrained by arbitrary state regulations, the bridge and the lost arch are spaces where villagers reconstruct their memory of Maoist governance, evaluate meanings of political relations, and project their image for fairness and a responsible state. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0014-1828
2160-3510