1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910796850203321

Autore

Wang Di <1956->

Titolo

The teahouse under socialism : the decline and renewal of public life in Chengdu, 1950-2000 / / Di Wang

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca ; ; London : , : Cornell University Press, , 2018

ISBN

1-5017-1549-6

1-5017-1555-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource

Collana

Cornell scholarship online

Disciplina

951/.38

Soggetti

Tearooms - China - Chengdu - History - 20th century

Socialism and culture - China - Chengdu - History - 20th century

Chengdu (China) Politics and government 20th century

Chengdu (China) Social life and customs 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Previously issued in print: 2018.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction : urban political transitions under socialism -- The demise of the Chengdu teahouse guild and the fall of small business -- State control and the rise of socialist entertainment -- The decline of public life under Mao's rule -- The resurgence of teahouses in the reform era -- Urban residents and migrant workers in public life -- The power of mahjong -- Conclusion : the state, the teahouse, and the public sphere.

Sommario/riassunto

To understand a city fully, writes Di Wang, we must observe its most basic units of social life. In The Teahouse under Socialism, Wang does just that, arguing that the teahouses of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, are some of the most important public spaces-perfect sites for examining the social and economic activities of everyday Chinese. Wang looks at the transformation of these teahouses from private businesses to collective ownership and how state policy and the proprietors' response to it changed the overall economic and social structure of the city. He uses this transformation to illuminate broader trends in China's urban public life from 1950 through the end of the Cultural Revolution and into the post-Mao reform era. In doing so, The Teahouse under Socialism charts the fluctuations in fortune of this



ancient cultural institution and analyzes how it survived, and even thrived, under bleak conditions. Throughout, Wang asks such questions as: Why and how did state power intervene in the operation of small businesses? How was "socialist entertainment" established in a local society? How did the well-known waves of political contestation and struggle in China change Chengdu's teahouses and public life? In the end, Wang argues, the answers to such questions enhance our understanding of public life and political culture in the Communist state.