Hakka Women in Tulou Villages

Sabrina Ardizzoni, Ph.D. (Ljubljana University), is Adjunct Professor of Chinese Language and Culture at Bologna University, Italy. She has published several articles on Chinese culture, translation studies, and a Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese for Italian Speakers. She has been conducting research on Hakka women in West Fujian since 2014.

• AcknowledgmentsList of Figures and TablesAcronymsIntroductionThe Theoretical Framework in the ResearchRural/Urban Dialectics in Twentieth-Century ChinaThe Han/Non-Han Dichotomy and the Nation-Building Process in Modern ChinaThe Hakka Ethnicity/Cultural IssueExisting Relevant StudiesThe Yongding Area, the Tulou Issue, and Modern ApproachesContemporary Studies on Hakka Women in Rural Villages in FujianThe Legacy of Gender Studies on Rural Chinese WomenMethodologyThe VillagesThe InformantsThe Present Book1 Into the Minxi Countryside1.1 From Collectivization to the Individual1.2 Demographic Changes: The Gender Perspective1.3 Out of the Countryside1.4 School and Girls’ Education1.5 Female Employment1.6 New Jobs1.7 New Ethics: The “Wise Wife and Good Mother” in Contemporary Terms1.8 Conclusions2 Hakka Culture2.1 The Hakkas: A Definition2.1.1 Migration: Historical Narrations and Social Group Construction2.1.2 The “Hakka Spirit”2.2 Hakka Family Culture2.2.1 Confucian Values in the Traditional Hakka Family2.2.2 Family as an Agent for Education2.2.3 Hakka jiapus and zupus2.3 Conclusions3 The Tulou as a Material Body and a Theoretical Body3.1 Introduction3.2 The Functions of the Hakka Minxi tulou3.2.1 Defensive Function: The Fortress3.2.2 Ecology: Harmony with the Environment3.2.3 Ethics: Perpetuating Family Cohesion3.3 Fengshui3.4 Myths and Legends3.5 A Tulou’s Walls Embody Hakka Lineage Culture3.6 Conclusions4 Contemporary Ritual Practices in Fujianese Hakka Villages4.1 Introduction4.2 Ancestor Worship4.3 Popular Rituals and Beliefs4.4 Female Deities4.4.1 Mazu: An Independent Female Deity4.4.2 Guanyin: a Powerful Protector4.4.3 Potai: The Woman Ancestor4.5 A Private Ritual: The Manyue Ceremony4.5.1 The First Manyue4.5.2 The Second Manyue4.6 Conclusions5 “Woman” as an Ethical Model in Confucian Traditions5.1 Introduction5.2 Zhongnan qingnü Culture and the Tradition of Rites5.3 The Nüjie Tradition5.4 Must-Reads for Women: Nüzi mengxue5.5 Conclusions6 Women in Hakka Tradition6.1 Introduction6.2 The “Strong Woman” Narrative6.3 The “Virtuous Woman” Narrative6.4 Traditional Marriage6.5 Folk Wisdom and Wen Education: A “Snowball” Effect6.5.1 “Zengguang xianwen” (The Expanded Writings of Wisdom)6.5.2 An Artistic Vehicle for Expressing Emotion: Shan ge6.5.3 The Ballad of the Hakka Woman6.6 Gender Inequality from a Historical Perspective6.6.1 Hakka Women in the Taiping Rebellion6.7 Conclusions7 The Twentieth Century: From the Tulou to the Modern World7.1 Introduction7.2 The Central Soviet and the Political Shift7.3 A Matter of Education7.4 Heroines in Revolutionary Times7.5 Conclusions8 The Image of the Hakka Woman8.1 Representations of Hakka Women in Contemporary Minxi8.1.1 Yongding Fulian8.1.2 Homepage8.2 A Twenty-First Century Model of a Twentieth-Century Hakka Woman: Jiang Yue’e8.3 Global Inspirational Models8.4 Conclusions9 ConclusionsReferencesAppendix: Chinese Place NamesIndex