Sociocultural Anthropology and Chinese Studies

Author: Wang Mingming
Nationality: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: When writing this book, my main consideration was to provide a relatively comprehensive review of the arguments put forward by social anthropologists from China and abroad in their studies of China. Additionally, I wanted to elaborate on the perspective of social anthropology and its application in specific research through this book. Chapter 1 offers a brief critique of the relationship between social anthropology and Sinology, aiming to introduce the "anthropological approach to Chinese society" to researchers in Chinese social sciences and to propose that the existence of the relationship between social anthropology and sinological anthropology is itself a problem. Chapter 2 summarizes the theories of the Chinese community studies school pioneered by figures such as Wu Wen-yao and Fei Xiaotong, but also attempts to discuss them within the context of the methodological issues of social anthropological ethnography. The question of whether ethnographic methods are sufficient to represent Chinese society will also be linked to discussions about the future direction of Chinese anthropology. Chapter 3 provides a review of the theories of British anthropologist Maurice Freedman, who is often referred to as the "master of sinological anthropology." The focus is on the inherent dilemmas in analyzing the relationship between society and the state in Chinese lineage studies, primarily addressing the methodological and theoretical uniqueness issues that arise when social anthropology transitions from "simple societies" to "complex civilizations." Chapter 4 reviews the economic anthropological theories of G. William Skinner on Chinese rural society, and the questions raised still relate to the uniqueness of the theoretical and methodological approaches in Chinese social anthropology. However, the starting point is the weakness of the "rational economic man" model. Chapter 5 summarizes the discussions of social anthropologists on Chinese religion and rituals, and attempts to raise issues such as the relationship between China's large and small traditions, the relationship between tradition and modernity, and the relationship between history and anthropology, primarily involving the theories of Arthur Wolf, Emily Martin (Ahern), Stephan Feuchtwang, Steven Sangren, and Helen Siu. Chapter 6 observes the crisis of Western sinological anthropology from the recent theoretical shifts in social anthropology and the emergence of "reflexive anthropology," reiterating the complexity of the relationship between "sinology" and anthropology and its social theoretical background. Chapter 7 revolves around "indigenous anthropology," with the first part providing an overview of the indigenous anthropology movement that emerged in the West, and the second part offering a critique of Chinese indigenous anthropology. Through comparisons between domestic and international indigenous anthropology and a reflection on personal experiences, I attempt to propose several issues for further discussion in the future development of Chinese academia. Finally, I include an introduction to my recent research and a recent work in two appendices, providing an understanding of the main research orientations I have been experimenting with in recent years.