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About this talk

Ethnographic field notes from south-eastern China, taken in the period of vanishing imperial rule and the early republic, describe a lunar New Year custom in which village people assembled to form sides that started fighting, including pelting one another with stones. It is suggested that these dramatic New Year sessions expressed contradictory features characterising southern Chinese culture. Momentary explicit and brutal antagonism publicly displayed was an outcome of conflicting cultural tenets relating to the affinity between bride-givers and bride-takers. In terms of cultural semantics such relationships were understood as ambiguous and in an ambivalent way influencing the construction of social continuity into the future. Registration This event is open to the public and free to attend; however, registration is required. This event is taking place on campus and will not be recorded or live-streamed. Organiser This event has been organised by the SOAS China Institute . Image credit: Chengyu Wang on Unsplash

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