“Xinfang” (信訪, literally “letters and visits”) can be described broadly as a method of “appealing to those at the top to clear up problems left…

Marriage is one of the social institutions that is still playing an important role in many Asian countries. At least, that is what is shown…

Reviewing research whose subjects echo one’s own work is a fascinating and stimulating exercise. Des lieux en commun resonates in fact with two ethnographic studies…

Since Hegel’s theorisation of China as a state without society, the debate surrounding China’s state-society relationship has been centred on crafting a definition of civil…

In this volume, Kaxton Siu sets out to investigate whether “China’s export-led industrialisation” (p. 14) provides a unique pattern of economic development. Bringing together more…

The Anti-extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement (Anti-ELAB) in 2019 was undoubtedly the most significant social movement in post-handover Hong Kong. Its unprecedented scale could be…

Introduction China has been very active in the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage (ICH hereafter) since the ratification of UNESCO’s Convention for the Safeguarding of…

Introduction Through the standardisation of styles, the study of past models, and the theorisation of gesture, from medieval times to present, the “classical tradition” of…

Introduction The sacred landscape of Inner Asia is constituted, among other elements, by holy cairns called oboo. Built on the top of mountains and hills…

Introduction Can traditional cultural practices thrive if they are commercialised? Or should the state protect them from “the market”? This debate has been at the…