Of Temples and Trees: The Black Dragon King and the Arbortourists

The intersection of tourism and religion as two more or less coherent systems of political-economic and symbolic-conceptual productions is premised on a crucial conceptual and physical domain, i.e. the sites themselves that are being visited by the tourists and pilgrims. What unites tourists, pilgrims and local worshippers is the act of visiting sites, which suggests that we might wish to call them by a unified term: site visitors. And their practice can be called site visiting. Using materials collected in the mid-1990s in rural north-central China (Shaanbei, northern Shaanxi Province), supplemented with more recent documentary materials, I shall show how a local popular religious temple dedicated to a certain Black Dragon King (Heilongdawang) succeeded in tapping into the expanding environmentalist discourse in China and grafting a treeplanting enterprise (a hilly-land arboretum) onto the existing temple complex, thus attracting visitors to the temple site from far and wide. This is a story of the transformation of a site that changes the overall configuration of the sitescape by incorporating elements that are new, which in turn attract new categories of site visitors (i.e. tree-planters or arbortourists). Many different kinds of social actors were involved in bringing together the disparate domains that are religion, forestry, environmentalism and schools. The case study I present is a tree-planting visit to the Black Dragon King Temple in 1998 of a group of environmentalist-activists and students from Beijing (18 hours away by chartered bus). It illustrates how the temple and the temple boss tried to capture ‘the powerful outside’ to bolster the temple’s legitimacy, how metropolitan and global environmentalism articulated with folk environmentalism, and how a certain kind of tourism (what I call arbortourism) interfaced with a religious site despite the fact that the site-visitors ostensibly ignored the religious attributes of the site, all the while with the full corroboration of their local hosts who also elected to only highlight the environmentalist agenda of tree planting and downplay the magical efficacy of the Black Dragon King. As a result of these efforts of mutual dissimulation a sort of theatre was staged, with a happy outcome for both parties. Ke

La channeling zone : religion populaire, État local et rites de légitimation en Chine rurale à l’ère de la réforme

According to official religious policies in China, the activities surrounding popular religious temples such as temple festivals are considered superstitions to be eradicated. However, during the reform period in the past thirty years, local temple leaders in many rural areas have been engaging in the politics of legitimation to protect and expand their communities’ temples and related activities. At the same time, the de-centralisation of political power in China has resulted in wide-spread rent-seeking practices among local state agencies. The convergence of these two interests, from the rural communities on the one hand and from the local state agencies on the other, has produced a “channeling zone” of benefits flowing in opposite directions and that cover a wide range of sectors (e.g. heritage protection, commerce, education, forestry, tourism, etc.), resulting in the consolidation of legitimacy for popular religious activities. This article presents the case study of a rural temple, the Black Dragon King Temple, in Shaanbei (northern Shaanxi Province), which exemplifies the intricate processes and mechanisms of such a politics of legitimation. The ethnographic highlight is a “plaque-hanging ceremony” that took place during the annual temple festival that marked the transition in status of the temple from superstition to officially-recognised religion.La politique officielle chinoise en matière de religion considère les activités populaires autour des temples religieux, telles les fêtes de temple, comme des superstitions devant être éliminées. Cependant, durant les trente dernières années – l’époque des réformes –, les leaders de temple se sont localement, dans de nombreuses zones rurales, lancés dans une politique de légitimation afin de protéger, voire d’élargir, leur sphère d’activité. En même temps, la décentralisation du pouvoir politique en Chine a provoqué le développement de pratiques rentières de la part des autorités locales. Ensemble, ces deux processus ont produit une channeling zone d’avantages opposés autour d’une vaste gamme d’activités (la protection du patrimoine, le commerce, l’éducation, la gestion des forêts, le tourisme, etc.) aboutissant à un renforcement de la légitimité des activités religieuses populaires. Cet article présente le cas d’un temple rural, le temple du Roi Dragon Noir au Shaanbei (dans le nord de la province du Shaanxi), qui met en lumière les rouages d’une telle politique de légitimation. Le processus a atteint son apogée lors d’une « cérémonie de pose d’une plaque » qui eut lieu pendant la fête annuelle du temple et marqua le changement de statut de ce dernier, autrefois lieu de superstition et désormais sanctuaire d’une religion officiellement reconnue

Cumulus : A Preface

This special issue is the result of a workshop organised by the two co-editors and held at the School of Oriental and African Studies (Soas) in London and St John’s College in Cambridge, on 28-30 June 2017. The workshop carried the same name as this collection : Cumulus. Hoarding, Hosting, Hospitality. Our aim was to explore further the limits and usefulness of the concept of hospitality, which had in recent years become a voguish keyword in anthropology (threatening to replace the Maussian g..

'Supra is not for women' : hospitality practices as a lens on gender and social change in Georgia

Peer reviewe

Ritual Terroir

The French term "terroir" has entered the English language carrying more or less the same viticultural and culinary references. Despite its close English-language cousin "terrain" and "territory", terroir is a lot more than things having to do with the earth. It is a particular and dynamic "compositional assemblage" (Chau, 2012) of all elements that contribute to the unique qualities of a product (be it wine, foie gras or mushroom): climate, weather, topography, soil, precipitation, drainage, exposure to sunlight (duration, direction, intensity, etc.), disasters, ecology (including flora and fauna), human intervention (e.g. irrigation, fertilisers, weeding, introduction of cultivar and other bio-elements, fermentation and other procedures, craftsmanship and handling), etc. The deliberate, modern-day construction and privileging of terroir is a reaction against "soulless" mass production, against food and drink with no traceable origin because they have been industrially produced (with the help of globally-produced chemical fertilisers and feed), mixed and packaged. I propose to look at the production of power-laden religious sites through the lens of "ritual terroir", using examples from Chinese religious practices (drawn from my own fieldwork). Just like food and drink, some religious practices are extremely translocalisable and, even as they are always adapted to specific local conditions as they spread across the globe (e.g. Zen Buddhism, evangelical Christianity, Tibetan Buddhism, post-colonial and post-Cold-War Islam), many thrive precisely because of a delinking between the practices and any particular site or terroir. On the other hand, some other religious practices are resolutely spatially grounded in the production of specific religious sites and draw spiritual power from these sites. I will present the case of the Dragon King Valley (Longwanggou) in northcentral China to illustrate the workings of ritual terroir. Like all local cults, the reputation and efficacy of the Black Dragon King depend on an ensemble of site-specific features that combine geographical and human input.Le terme français « terroir » est entré dans la langue anglaise en s’appliquant à peu près aux mêmes références viticoles et culinaires. Malgré ses proches cousins anglais terrain et territory, « terroir » signifie bien davantage que le seul rapport à une « terre ». C’est un « assemblage » original et dynamique, composé de tous les éléments qui contribuent aux qualités uniques d’un produit (vin, foie gras ou champignons) : climat, météorologie, topographie, sol, précipitations, drainage, ensoleillement, sinistres, environnement (flore et faune), interventions humaines telles l’irrigation, l’usage d’engrais, le désherbage, l’introduction de cultivars et autres bio-éléments, la fermentation et autres procédures de bonification, la fabrication et la manutention, etc. Construction intentionnelle et moderne, le « terroir » s’inscrit en réaction contre une production de masse jugée « sans âme », contre des aliments et des boissons sans traçabilité d’origine parce qu’ils sont produits à l’échelle globale, à l’aide d’engrais chimiques ou d’aliments industriels, puis mélangés et conditionnés. Je propose d’étudier la fabrique de sites religieux à forte intensité à travers le prisme du « terroir rituel », à partir d’exemples de pratiques religieuses chinoises tirées de mon propre travail de terrain. Tout comme la nourriture et les boissons, certaines pratiques religieuses sont très faciles à transposer d’un lieu à l’autre et, en dépit de leur capacité à s’adapter à des conditions locales, leur prospérité mondiale (qu’il s’agisse du bouddhisme zen, du christianisme évangélique, du bouddhisme tibétain, de l’islam postcolonial et post-guerre froide) repose précisément sur la déconnexion entre ces pratiques et leur site ou leur terroir d’origine. À l’inverse, certaines pratiques religieuses s’enracinent de manière décisive dans l’espace de sites religieux spécifiques dont elles tirent leur puissance spirituelle. J’analyse ici le cas exemplaire de la Vallée du Roi Dragon (Longwanggou), au centre-nord de la Chine, pour illustrer ce travail du terroir rituel. Comme tous les cultes locaux, la réputation et l’efficacité du Roi Dragon dépendent d’un ensemble de caractéristiques, tout à la fois géographiques et humaines, spécifiques à ce site.El término francés "terroir" entró en el idioma inglés aplicando aproximadamente las mismas referencias culinarias y viticolas. A pesar de sus primos cercanos terreno y territorio inglés, "terroir" significa mucho más que una simple relación con "tierra". Se trata de una "mezcla" original y dinámica de todos los elementos que contribuyen a las cualidades únicas de un producto, vino, foie gras o setas: clima, meteorología, topografía, suelo, precipitación, drenaje, insolación, desastres, medio ambiente (flora y fauna), intervenciones humanas como riego, uso de fertilizantes, deshierbe, introducción de cultivares y otros bioelementos, fermentación y otros procedimientos de mejora, fabricación y manipulación, etc. De construcción intencional y moderna, el "terruño" es parte de una reacción contra la producción en masa considerada "sin alma", contra alimentos y bebidas sin trazabilidad de origen porque se producen a escala global, utilizando fertilizantes químicos o piensos industriales , luego mezclados y empaquetados. Propongo estudiar la creación de sitios religiosos intensivos a través del prisma de la "tierra ritual", utilizando ejemplos de prácticas religiosas chinas extraídas de mi propio trabajo de terreno. Al igual que la comida y la bebida, algunas prácticas religiosas son muy fáciles de trasladar de un lugar a otro y, a pesar de su capacidad para adaptarse a las condiciones locales, su prosperidad global (ya sea budismo zen, cristianismo evangélico, budismo tibetano, poscolonial y posguerra fría) se basa precisamente en la desconexión entre estas prácticas y su sitio o tierra de origen. Por el contrario, algunas prácticas religiosas están enraizadas decisivamente en el espacio de sitios religiosos específicos de los que derivan su poder espiritual. Analizo aquí el caso ejemplar del Valle del Rey Dragón Negro (Longwanggou), en el centro-norte de China, para ilustrar este trabajo ritual de la tierra. Como todos los cultos locales, la reputación y la eficacia del Rey Dragón Negro dependen de un conjunto de características, tanto geográficas como humanas, específicas de este sitio

A Most Awkward Sphere: The ‘Religion Sphere’ (zongjiaojie 宗教界) in Modern and Contemporary China

Video of full lecture with presentation slides edited into the video.Adam Yuet Chau, Senior Lecturer in the Anthropology of Modern China, University of Cambridge - Adam Yuet Chau examines the curious yet extremely potent concept and operations of the “religion sphere” in modern and contemporary China. Unlike the institutional setup of the official religious associations, the religion sphere (subdivided into the Buddhism sphere, the Protestantism sphere, etc.) is a fuzzy sociopolitical domain in which (and with which) the public/political presence and significance of China’s religious “communities” are negotiated. He explores the emergence, constitution and transformation of the religion sphere as it co-emerged with other spheres in China, and show how Chinese nationhood as well as Chinese secularity (paradoxically) have been crucially constituted by the religion sphere. However, when compared with other spheres, the religion sphere is a most awkward sphere (you will know why it is so if you come to the lecture!). Broader still, Adam argue that the “sphere-ization” of Chinese society is one of the most interesting and exciting topics to study if one wants to understand how Chinese society works, especially relating to state-society relations.Cornell East Asia Program1_euclb8y

Culinary subjectification: The translated world of menus and orders

The idea for this article began with a couple of innocent questions: How would one translate the word "menu" (i.e., restaurant menu) into the native languages of people without any experience of restaurants and menus? And how would you explain to them how ordering from the menu works? It quickly became clear that translating the word "menu" entails not only translating the world of restaurant-going and ordering from the menu but also our (i.e., ideal-typically Western) very conceptual and social world, which is another way to say that what seems to be a humble piece of paper listing a certain number of dishes is itself made by the world in which it is found and in turn contributes in a significant way to making that world. In this article I examine the restaurant menu as a world-making social and translocutional / transinscriptional technology (the menu as menu-logic and cosmo-menu). As a kind of text act that is situated at but one of many "iterative/inscriptional stations" along an indeterminate and continuous chain of translocutions and transinscriptions, the menu highlights the temporal dimension of all kinds of translations (translingual, intralingual, transmodal, transcultural, etc.)