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OverviewIn traditional Chinese cities, a lively street culture was an important part of popular culture, and street life was central to the daily lives of city dwellers, especially the lower classes. By examining street culture in Chengdu, an under-studied inland city, during the transformative decades between 1870 and 1930, this book explores the relationship between urban commoners and public space, the role that community and neighborhood played in public life, how the reform movement and Republican revolution changed everyday life, and how popular culture and local politics interacted. Drawing on a rich array of Chinese and Western sources - including archives, local newspapers, personal records, folk literature and field investigation - the author argues that life in public spaces was radically transformed in Chengdu in the early 20th century, and that this resulted in the reconstruction of urban public space, the recreation of people's public roles, and the redefinition of the relations between ordinary people, local elites and the state. The author thus opens a new way of understanding Chinese urban society and culture during these transformative years. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Di WangPublisher: Stanford University Press Imprint: Stanford University Press Dimensions: Width: 15.50cm , Height: 2.70cm , Length: 23.50cm Weight: 0.667kg ISBN: 9780804747783ISBN 10: 0804747784 Pages: 376 Publication Date: 28 July 2003 Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General , Undergraduate Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of ContentsCommoners and Public Space; The Street; Street life; Commoners and Social Reformers; Reshaping the Street and Public Life; Street Control; Commoners and Local Politics; The Struggle for the Street; Street Politics.ReviewsThis is an engaging and wonderfully readable account of everyday life and popular culture in an indigenous Chinese city at the time of social transition and political turmoil. The book is a fine example of how China's national politics affected the lives of the common people in a particular region. Wang is passionate about his subject, discerning in his analysis, and robus in his presentation. Dozens of photos and drawings, carefully selected from early twentieth century local pictorials, missionary books, and personal collections, provide good allies for the text. Students of Chinese urban history will find this book both riveting and edifying. -- American Historical Review ...the book offers a wealth of information about local customs and traditions in inland China and never fails to keep one engaged. - Journal of Chinese Political Science This is an engaging and wonderfully readable account of everyday life and popular culture in an indigenous Chinese city at the time of social transition and political turmoil. The book is a fine example of how China's national politics affected the lives of the common people in a particular region. Wang is passionate about his subject, discerning in his analysis, and robus in his presentation. Dozens of photos and drawings, carefully selected from early twentieth century local pictorials, missionary books, and personal collections, provide good allies for the text. Students of Chinese urban history will find this book both riveting and edifying. - American Historical Review Overall, the book is well researched, carefully documented, and masterfully crafted. - Asian Studies Review This carefully researched study is a fine example of the kind of fine-grained social history being produced by the new generation of young Chinese historians. - The China Quarterly The descriptive power of the book (aided by carefully chosen drawings and photographs) helps us visualize an important city in transition. Sharp analyses throughout make sense of practices and institutions otherwise obscure to many of us, such as 'bamboo-branch poetry,' 'chicken-feathers inns,' the 'Climbing High to Escape Disease Festival,'...to name a few examples covered in this encyclopedic and engaging work. - Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies ""...the book offers a wealth of information about local customs and traditions in inland China and never fails to keep one engaged."" - Journal of Chinese Political Science ""This is an engaging and wonderfully readable account of everyday life and popular culture in an indigenous Chinese city at the time of social transition and political turmoil. The book is a fine example of how China's national politics affected the lives of the common people in a particular region. Wang is passionate about his subject, discerning in his analysis, and robus in his presentation. Dozens of photos and drawings, carefully selected from early twentieth century local pictorials, missionary books, and personal collections, provide good allies for the text. Students of Chinese urban history will find this book both riveting and edifying."" - American Historical Review ""Overall, the book is well researched, carefully documented, and masterfully crafted."" - Asian Studies Review ""This carefully researched study is a fine example of the kind of fine-grained social history being produced by the new generation of young Chinese historians."" - The China Quarterly ""The descriptive power of the book (aided by carefully chosen drawings and photographs) helps us visualize an important city in transition. Sharp analyses throughout make sense of practices and institutions otherwise obscure to many of us, such as 'bamboo-branch poetry,' 'chicken-feathers inns,' the 'Climbing High to Escape Disease Festival,'...to name a few examples covered in this encyclopedic and engaging work."" - Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies The descriptive power of the book (aided by carefully chosen drawings and photographs) helps us visualize an important city in transition. Sharp analyses throughout make sense of practices and institutions otherwise obscure to many of us, such as 'bamboo-branch poetry, ' 'chicken-feathers inns, ' the 'Climbing High to Escape Disease Festival, '...to name a few examples covered in this encyclopedic and engaging work. -- Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies Author InformationDi Wang is Professor of History at Texas A & M University. He is also the author of The Teahouse: Small Business, Everyday Culture, and Public Politics in Chengdu, 1900-1950 (Stanford, 2008). 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