Special Issue: Key Vernacular Concepts in Chinese Folklore and Folkloristics: Continuities, Ruptures, and Connections

Edited by You Ziying

Articles:

Key Vernacular Concepts in Chinese Folklore and Folkloristics:

Continuities, Ruptures, and Connections

You Ziying

ABSTRACT: This special issue examines key vernacular concepts in Chinese folklore and folkloristics through context-specific, interdisciplinary, and decolonizing perspectives. It explores the continuities, ruptures, and connections of nine key concepts—including temple festivals, ghost legends, women’s work/arts, genealogy, cultural carriers, community, everyday life, intangible cultural heritage, and traditions—within specific social, cultural, and political contexts. Featuring scholars from China, the US, the UK, and Australia, it fosters dialogues between English-and Chinese-speaking folklorists and outlines future directions in folklore studies. KEYWORDS: key concepts, Chinese folklore, folkloristics, diverse voices,

decolonization

Belief, Temple Fair, and Culture: Exploring Temple Festivals

in Chinese Folklore Studies

Liu Shoufeng and Yue Yongyi

Corresponding author: Yue Yongyi

ABSTRACT: Chinese temple festivals, which function as celebrations, fairs, and charitable events, are deeply rooted in vernacular religion, characterized by worshiping deities and doing good deeds. Over the past century, scholarly approaches to temple festivals have shifted from an economic focus on temple fairs to a pluralistic approach that prioritizes belief and sociocultural context. In the Intangible Cultural Heritage era, temple festivals have gained an expanded performance space, opening new avenues for folklore studies. KEYWORDS: temple festival, temple fair, vernacular religion, Chinese folklore, Intangible Cultural Heritage

Chinese Contemporary Ghost Legends

Chen Kuanhao 

ABSTRACT: Contemporary Chinese folk narratives about ghosts are abundant. However, due to the influence of feudal superstitions, research on ghost legends in China is rare. Additionally, ghost legends are often confused with ghost stories and rumors, and their relationship to urban legends is not clearly specified; all of this makes it harder to define ghost legends. Clarifying the differences between ghost legends and other similar genres is essential to understanding Chinese them. KEYWORDS: Urban legends, ghost legends, ghost stories, rumors, ghost

Nügong, A Key to Viewing Chinese Rural Women and Their Artistic Creations

Wang Junxia

ABSTRACT: Nügong is a keyword for Chinese society. Its meaning has changed from “women’s work” to a form of art. The study of nügong can be broadly categorized into historical orientation (primarily relying on textual materials) and contemporary orientation (mainly depending on ethnographic materials). Both have overlooked nügong practitioners in rural areas, who create an art of everyday life. Ethnographic research reveals the knowledge system of rural women’s artistic creation. KEYWORDS: nügong, women’s work, women’s arts, rural women, everyday life practice

Puxi: Genealogy as a Concept, Content, and Practice in China

Tan Meng 

ABSTRACT: The notion of “genealogy” (puxi 谱系) is crucial for understanding the origins and social structure of various ethnic groups worldwide. This paper examines how Chinese folklorists use genealogy as a concept, substance, and practice to claim that folklore studies’ paradigm shift and Chinese-Western academic interaction have changed genealogy’s meaning and application. The contemporary genealogy construction within cultural fever boosts folklorists’ initiative in disciplinary development and nation-building. KEYWORDS: genealogy, Chinese folklore, cultural construction, postmodernism, tradition

Wenhua Zaiti, ‘Cultural Carriers’: An Important Concept for Understanding PRC Cultural Trends in the 21st Century

Timothy Thurston 

ABSTRACT: Wenhua zaiti (文化载体, “Cultural carriers”) is a concept of increasing importance in contemporary China. Appearing in academic writing, state-run and social media, and the speeches of government officials, the term refers to objects, spaces, practices, and people that transmit cultural knowledge. This article traces the term’s development in the post-Mao period and examines how the concept authorizes specific interventions related to cultural practices around the country. KEYWORDS: Cultural Carriers, China, cultural transmission, cultural governance

Authentic-Mythic Hometown (原乡 yuanxiang): Community in the Development of Chinese Folklore Studies

Xiong Shiwei, Wang Yuan, and Yue Yongyi

ABSTRACT: Since the 1930s, Chinese scholars have begun to apply the concept of “community” and related methods in their research. This influence has contributed to a shift in Chinese folklore toward becoming a social science. At the same time, academic exchanges across disciplines and national borders, along with scholars’ genuine commitment, have redefined the boundaries of “community” from real to virtual, ultimately becoming an “authentic-mythic hometown” with distinctive Chinese characteristics. KEYWORDS: Community, Chinese folklore, P’ing-Chiao-Tsun, village, hometown

Richang Shenghuo(日常生活): The Repository of Chinese Folklore

Li Xiangzhen and Peng Reihong 

ABSRTACT: Richang shenghuo(日常生活) is the repository of Chinese folklore and traditional culture. The shift toward using the term richang shenghuo has brought new opportunities for the study of Chinese folklore, updating to some extent research paradigms, methods, and areas of inquiry. Centering on richang shenghuo, two research paradigms have formed within the field of Chinese folklore studies: Performance-oriented Folkloristics and Practiceoriented Folkloristics. KEYWORDS: Richang Shenghuo; Chinese folklore studies; performance; practice

Governing Culture Through Intangible Heritage:

Reconfi guring Folklore in Contemporary China

Zhu Yujie and Ma Xiaochun

ABSTRACT: This paper examines the implications of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) recognition for the development of folklore in contemporary China. It argues that ICH operates within intersecting power structures shaped by state agendas and global policy frameworks. The recategorization of folk practices, new mechanisms of knowledge production, and cultural objectification reflect broader shifts in governance. The listing and classification of heritage by administrative region, ethnicity, or religion fragment cultural forms and obscure their historical interconnections. These transformations reshape folklore studies as an interdisciplinary field. The paper contributes to anthropology, folklore, and heritage studies by critically examining ICH as a form of cultural governance. KEYWORDS: Intangible Cultural Heritage; ICH; Folklore; Heritage studies; China

Traditions without End: History, Power, and Change

You Ziying 

ABSTRACT: This essay examines major interpretations of traditions in folklore studies, situating them in ethnographic case studies in China and global Asias, and highlighting their role in addressing social justice, action, and change. It connects traditions to global issues like power, race, gender, and class within the new framework of global Asian folklore studies. I propose redefining traditions to integrate transnational, interdisciplinary, and intersectional perspectives, continually adapting to the changing world. KEYWORDS: traditions, history, power, change, global Asias