Author Description

This book provides a timely contribution to our understanding of traditions and politics of identity in an important region of south China-southern Fujian. It provides new perspectives on the study of lineages, on the roles of tradition and women's status, as well as on aspects of cultural life in Fujian in the post-Mao era. All the papers collected in this book show the dynamic nature of traditions that are reproduced by different agents, with reference to the post-Mao social context. To ordinary people, traditions provide a sense of cultural continuity and remain important in their rhetoric. But in fact, traditions can be reproduced and practiced in different contexts and are in constant change. The papers discuss the politics of traditions and their relevance to local identities. They contribute to an understanding of the "revival" of traditions in post-Mao south China. Book jacket.