Talking Toads and Chinless Ghosts

The Politics of "Superstitious" Rumors in the People's Republic of China, 1961-1965

Bibliographic Data

ID5850201
AuthorsStephen A Smith (0000-0003-1067-0801, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume111
Issue2
Pages405-427
Publication date2006-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe American Historical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-8762 • E-ISSN: 1937-5239
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1086/ahr.111.2.405
OpenAlexW2095745534
LanguageEN
Citations received26

SINCE THE DEATH OF MAO ZEDONG in 1976, there has been an astonishing revival in the People's Republic of China of what the government calls "feudal superstition"; this in spite of the fact that under Mao the regime waged a fierce onslaught against the "four olds"-old thinking, old culture, old customs, and old habits-especially during the Cultural Revolution. The 1980s and 1990s saw a rush to rebuild temples and ancestral halls, the resurgence of spirit mediumship and exorcism, renewed interest in divination and geomancy, the reemergence of heterodox religious cults, notably Falungong, and the appearance of "jade emperors descended from heaven." 1 The rapidity and extent of this upsurge in once-proscribed beliefs and practices raised questions about the power of the Maoist state, suggesting that despite its intensive propaganda campaigns and bouts of repression, its capacity to remold popular thinking and behavior was much less than scholars had once supposed. This, in turn, raised questions about the nature of the beliefs and practices that revived during the era of economic reform. Were these manifestations of a tradition that had been preserved unscathed in the face of turbulent socioeconomic and political transformations? Or were these substantially new configurations of beliefs and practices adapted to the changed power relations of the reform era? 2 One form of "feudal superstition"-what the authorities call "superstitious rumors"-maintained a vigThis article was written during spring semester 2004 while I was a fellow at the International Center for

Ancient history · China · Economic history · Exorcism · Feudalism · Heaven · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Sociology · State (computer science) · Superstition · Anthropology · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Law · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

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