Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain: The Story of a Secret Brotherhood in Rural China, 1939-1949

by Di Wang

In 1939, residents of a rural village near Chengdu watched as Lei Mingyuan, a member of a violent secret society known as the Gowned Brothers, executed his teenage daughter. Six years later, Shen Baoyuan, a sociology student at Yenching University, arrived in the town to conduct fieldwork on the society that once held sway over local matters. She got to know Lei Mingyuan and his family, recording many rare insights about the murder and the Gowned Brothers' inner workings. Using the filicide as a starting point to examine the history, culture, and organization of the Gowned Brothers, Di Wang offers nuanced insights into the structures of local power in 1940s rural Sichuan. Moreover, he examines the influence of Western sociology and anthropology on the way intellectuals in the Republic of China perceived rural communities. By studying the complex relationship between the Gowned Brothers and the Chinese Communist Party, he offers a unique perspective on China's transition to socialism. In so doing, Wang persuasively connects a family in a rural community, with little overt influence on national destiny, to the movements and ideologies that helped shape contemporary China.

Genres: China, History, Society

276 pages, Paperback

Published March 27, 2018

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

伴着这次川西行假期结束前翻完了这本记录川西风土人文的《袍哥》作者试图通过亲历者袍哥雷明远与记录者沈宝媛两种视角描述民国的川西的这个民间社会组织在农村社会的作用，以反清复明为起因《成都江湖海底》成为这个组织的根基，他们有一套自行的袍哥隐语和手势（隐语产生于一种特别的次文化，这种次文化在社会是被边缘化了的，而且它成为了交流和生存的主要工具），其主流本质是一种侠盗（《原始的叛乱》霍布斯鲍姆），侠盗活动一般有固定模式想维护传统，试图把传统的社会秩序恢复到“其原来应该的那个样子”，他们注定只是改革者并不是革命家，他们的活动本身并不会造成一种社会活动（1949年前报纸对于袍哥的文章一般是誉多毁少或者毁誉参半，而1949年以后的记载形成鲜明对比），虽然袍哥作为历史消失了60多年，但其延续三百年的组织在长期的生存和斗争过程中，形成的一整套意识，语言和行为模式1⃣️渗透到各种社会经济活动中形成一种独特的次文化。

[Oscar · Rating 4 out of 5]

开篇枪杀女儿的故事太shocking了，所以后面的描述显得平淡。不过选题和可读性还是不错的。对于近代的秘密会社，如一贯道、天地会，大概普通人还是可以想象的，所以大家的耳目一新程度并不高。正如在民国做清史一样，随着时间流逝，才能显现出价值。

[Chyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

印象深刻的是王笛老师解读文本和叙述故事的能力。沈宝媛对袍哥大爷雷明远一家的调查，无疑是一份简单的文本，但如何解读出深意和新意，并将其富有趣味的讲述出来，就是历史研究者史识和能力的体现。

[王棕 · Rating 2 out of 5]

@微信读书 很失望，经验材料上没有对燕京大学沈宝媛的学士毕业论文有突破；理论分析上没有明白写出来民国基层权力运作到底有什么特点，事件重构一章与要解决的问题几乎无关。

[Florence Loh · Rating 5 out of 5]

在豆瓣早早標記過這本書，因爲我的祖輩羅雲亥曾活躍在川楚交界，我根據家人的講述，猜測其角色也是袍哥一類的，武藝高強 俠肝義膽，在地方上頗有影響力，似乎開過鏢局/幫人押鏢。沈寶媛女士乃宜昌人士，我的相貌氣質與書中所附的沈年輕時的照片極像。沈女士在論文中對考察村落和人都使用的是化名，時隔八十年，對歷史好奇的讀者可能稍有遺憾，不過作者對地址的猜測也在書末有寫，衹是袍哥雷明遠的真實人物就不得而知了。

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

很有意思的历史，有助于理解社会秩序是如何维持的。

但写作有点拖沓

[k · Rating 4 out of 5]

good structure and very clear