Street Criers
A Cultural History of Chinese Beggars
Published on 6. October 2005
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-0-8047-5148-3 (ISBN)
Description
This is a rich and comprehensive study of beggars' culture and the institution of mendicancy in China from late imperial times to the mid-twentieth century, with a glance at the resurgence of beggars in China today. Generously illustrated, the book brings to life the concepts and practices of mendicancy including organized begging, state and society relations as reflected in the issues of poverty, public opinions of beggars and various factors that contribute to almsgiving, the role of gender in begging, and street people and Communist politics. Panoramically, the reader will see that the culture and institution of Chinese mendicancy, which had its origins in earlier centuries, remained remarkably consistent through time and space and that there were perennial and lively interactions between the world of beggars and mainstream society.
Reviews / Votes
"This is an important read to anyone interested in topics associated with Chinese urban studies, Chinese labor, or Chinese underclasses." - The Chinese Historical Review "Lu's study will serve as a useful point of departure for further research into the world of the Chinese underclass. It also has much of interest for other aspects of Chinese society." - Journal of Asian Studies "...an elegantly written book easily accessible to a broad range of readers..." - The China Journal "Faced with a lack of reliable data, Lu has chosen to employ as broad and variegated a host of sources as possible... all intermingle[d] to illustrate a history both colorful and entertaining. The amount of material uncovered is quite astonishing and easily proves Hanchao Lu's most salient point: beggars may have been socially marginal, but they did play an important role in the cultural imagination of late-imperial and Republican China... Lu presents the reader with a view of social life that is often overlooked, and his book plays an important role in reminding us of some of the costs of China's search for modernity." - China Review International "This is a well-researched, clearly presented, and carefully analyzed book, and a wonderful narrative history of beggars in modern China... In addition to a profound analysis of beggar issues, Lu gives us colorful stories of beggars struggling for their survival. This book offers us greater knowledge of lower-class people and their social environments, and should be recommended to scholars of China, students who are interested in China, and general readers." - International Journal of Asian StudiesMore details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Palo Alto
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Cloth
Illustrations
2 tables, 20 illustrations, 1 map
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
549 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8047-5148-3 (9780804751483)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Hanchao Lu is Professor of History at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Content
Contents @toc4:Illustrations and Tables iii Preface iii @toc2:Introduction 1 1. On the Rivers and Lakes 000 2. Sympathy Versus Antipathy 000 3. Legend Has It 000 4. Coping with Mendicants 000 5. Ruling the Street 000 6. The Wisdom of Mendicancy 000 7. Men's Limbs and Women's Mouths 000 8. Chairman Mao Picked on a Beggar 000 Conclusion 000 @toc4:Character List 000 Appendix: The Sound of Mendicity 000 Notes 000 Bibliography 000 Index 000 @fmct:Illustrations and Tables @fmh1:Map @fmli:1. China at the Turn of the Twentieth Century 000 @fmh1:Figures @fmli:1. Beggar of the Longhua Pagoda 000 2. Beggar figurines 000 3. Worshipping a patron saint 000 4. Emperor Zhu 000 5. Han Xin 000 6. Wu Zixu 000 7. The Eight Immortals 000 8. Beggar foster father 000 9. A beggar's "waist plaquette" 000 10. Children at a Beijing soup kitchen 000 11. A beggar headman 000 12. A night watchman 000 13. Beggars on government duty 000 14. The God of Fortune 000 15. New Year's spectacle 000 16. A funeral procession 000 17. Sidewalk petitioner 000 18. Snake charming 000 19. Mother and child 000 20. Competing with a dog for food 000 21. Lai Dongjin in Mao's hometown 000 @fmh1:Tables @fmli:1.1 Vagrants in the 1931 Yangzi River Flood 000 1.2 Shanghai Beggars' Previous Occupations and Incomes 000