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Violence, the State, and a Chinese Muslim Ritual Remembrance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2008

Maris Gillette
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Abstract

This article discusses how contemporary Chinese Muslims in the city of Xi'an remember a massive conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims that devastated northwest China in the Tongzhi period (1862–74) of the Qing dynasty. Every year on the seventeenth day of the fifth lunar month, local Hui hold a series of mourning rituals for the Muslims who died at that time. They recount stories about these events during the ritual and in other settings. The author uses Bakhtin's concept of “social heteroglossia” to explore the discursive features of three accounts of the violence, arguing that Xi'an Hui memories of this past show the influence of state-sponsored ethnic policies, a religious model of Hui identity, and a less formally articulated collective sentiment (what Raymond Williams calls a “structure of feeling”) based on shared experience. The author discusses how these discourses are disseminated and which factors generate the “structure of feeling” that colors contemporary Muslim accounts of the Tongzhi period, and reflects on the consequences of Xi'an Hui internalization of the state's framework for ethnic identity.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 67 , Issue 3 , August 2008 , pp. 1011 - 1037
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2008

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References

List of Characters

Ahong

阿訇

Baba

爸爸

Changxi

唱戏

Dajiu

大舅

Gedimu

格迪目

Guo nietie

过乜贴

Hanmin

汉民

Huazhou

华洲

Hui

回

Huihui lai le

回回来了

Huimin

回民

Huimin qiyi

回民起义

Huimin shi Musilin de yisi

回民是穆斯林的意思

Huiminfang

回民坊

Huini zaofan

回逆造反

Huizu

回族

Lao jiao

老教

Lishi yiliu

历史遗留

Manla

满拉

Meiyou qiyi

没有起义

Minzu

民族

Minzu chongtu

民族冲突

Minzu chouhen

民族仇恨

Minzu maodun

民族矛盾

Minzu shengcun

民族生存

Minzu tuanjie

民族团结

Nana

娜娜

Ni shi Huimin ma

你是回民吗

Panluan

叛乱

Pohuai minzu tuanjie

破坏民族团结

Qiyi

起义

Shaoshu minzu

少数民族

Shen

神

Shibian

事变

Tamen de pinwei jao

他们的品位高

Tongzhi

同治

Tusha

屠杀

Wei jiao xisheng

为教牺牲

Wenhua

文化

Wo jiaoren

吾教人

Xi Hui

洗回

Xie

鞋

Yeshi

野事

Zei

贼

Zha

铡

Zhenzhu

真主

Zhongguo

中国

阿訇

爸爸

唱戏

大舅

格迪目

过乜贴

汉民

华洲

回

回回来了

回民

回民起义

回民是穆斯林的意思

回民坊

回逆造反

回族

老教

历史遗留

满拉

没有起义

民族

民族冲突

民族仇恨

民族矛盾

民族生存

民族团结

娜娜

你是回民吗

叛乱

破坏民族团结

起义

少数民族

神

事变

他们的品位高

同治

屠杀

为教牺牲

文化

吾教人

洗回

鞋

野事

贼

铡

真主

中国

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