State and Society in the Contact Zone: Historical Anthropology and the New Qing History

Session Submission Type: Organized Panel Proposal Application

Abstract

Over the past two decades, two approaches have drawn broad attention and significantly influenced the study of late imperial China: historical anthropology of China and the “New Qing History.” The historical anthropology of China has a long tradition of illuminating the relationships between religious practice, belief, and social structure on a more or less local level and exploring the relationship between societies and the state using materials collected through fieldwork. New Qing historians incorporate non-Chinese archival sources into studies on ethnic sovereignty and the Central Eurasian aspects of the Qing empire. Inspired by both approaches, this panel attempts to explore the interaction with non-Chinese populations and institutions in the formation of Han Chinese society on the edges of Qing ethnic and socio-cultural boundaries, drawing together central archives and local documents in Chinese and non-Chinese languages. Through examining cases in Zhili, Fujian, Mongolia, and Xinjiang, the panel illustrates the roles of Chinese dynamics and non-Han agencies in the formation of Qing borderland societies.

Area of Study

• China and Inner Asia

Session Organizer

• Yuanyuan Qiu, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Chair

• Helen Siu, Yale University

Individual Presentations

• Lands, Succession, and Clans: Rethinking the State and Local of North China from the Eight Banners System - Yuanyuan Qiu, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

• Evade the State within the State: The Great Shabi and Mongolization of Han Chinese Settlers in Qing Outer Mongolia, 1768-1830 - Wei-chieh Tsai, Indiana University

• Double-edged Sword: The History of Shi Lang’s Chinese Lineage and Shi Lang’s Banner Lineage in Qing Dynasty - Cheng-Heng Lu, Emory University

• Changsha Marches West: Territorialization and the ‘King of Pacifying Hunan’ Cult in Xinjiang - Eric T. Schluessel, Harvard University

Discussant

• Takahiro Onuma, Tohoku Gakuin