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A Study of Death-Related Practices and Talks in a Chinese Muslim Village

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A Study of Death-Related Practices and Talks in a Chinese Muslim Village Space of mortality: a study of death-related practices and talks in a Chinese Muslim village Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Yuanhao Zhao, Ph.D. Graduate Program in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures The Ohio State University 2017 Dissertation Committee: Sabra J. Webber, Advisor Dorothy Noyes Mark Bender Morgan Liu Copyright by Yuanhao Zhao 2017 Abstract Because of the strong emotions and sudden ruptures caused by death in a community, expressive culture relating to death offers special contexts to study ethnic culture, social structures, and inequality. This dissertation analyzes death-related folklore, specifically, talks and practices about death, the deceased, funerals, and lethal supernatural powers in an ethnic Hui (Chinese Muslim) village in China. Analysis is based on my ethnographic fieldwork conducted from Summer 2014 to Summer 2015 in a Hui village located in Shandong Province. Using a folkloristic approach, I conduct qualitative study by analyzing folk narratives and beliefs in their spatiotemporal specificities. I interpret “death” as a power that produces specific social spaces shaping how different social agents interact. I argue that death related genres of expressive culture form social spaces where different social norm and hierarchies are highlighted and become susceptible to challenges. In these spaces, tensions between social groups are more open to discussion, and various social actors are mobilized to interact in order to confirm or contest, stabilize or liquidize certain social structure, be it of a family, a neighborhood, a community, a religious institute, or an ethnic group. The dissertation is divided into four chapters plus an introduction and a conclusion. Chapter 1 contextualizes one man’s death in the village. Each aspect of this man’s death is used to lead a discussion of one relevant methodological or theoretical concern. Chapter 2 discusses two funerals during which conflicts arise. I focus on intensive negotiations between mosque clergies and families of the deceased, ii arguing that conflict helps disclose tensions between the religious and mundane and consequently unsettles religious hierarchies. Chapter 3 addresses laymen’s critiques of religious men and even of the “symbol of Islam,” the village mosque. I suggest that religious space for many laymen in the village is most clearly manifest during death rituals and thus harsh critiques of mosque clergies tend to emerge during those moments. In Chapter 4 I look at how villagers relate lethal supernatural powers to the village landscape, to come to terms with death, and negotiate with, question or challenge death and even God. I conclude the dissertation by restoring “everydayness” to death, observing that although death ruptures social life and disturbs the everyday routine, it is also a resource for people to address social problems and sustain the vitality and stream of everyday life. iii Dedication Dedicated to my Mother and Father iv Acknowledgements During dissertation writing and years of study, many names shine like stars in the nightly sky to lighten my way in the darkness in my heart and mind. My gratefulness firstly goes to my supervisor Professor Sabra Webber. Professor Webber is the person who led me into the world of folklore study six years ago in 2010, when I firstly stepped onto the land of the United States. She has been supportive not only academically but also emotionally. I recall, and still expect enjoyable conversations with her on research as well as everyday life. I am grateful to my committee members, Professor Dorothy Noyes, Professor Mark Bender, and Professor Morgan Liu too. Professor Noyes is highly responsive. Her suggestions and comments on my chapter drafts contain theory application, methodology, structure and more. I learn from her not only how to revise my dissertation, but also valuable lessons of how to be a responsible and ethical scholar. Professor Bender gave precious suggestions on theories to read and writing styles. He never hesitates to show interest in my thoughts and plans, and helps me to realize them. The time and attention that he spends on me equal that he has on students in his own department. Professor Liu can be fearful sometimes as he makes detailed comments on the theoretical frame and structure of my dissertation. But I know working with him can improve my writing and help me gain new and alternative perspectives toward my own research. As the one in charge of graduate education in my department, Professor v Liu also cares about my progress in general and endeavors to resolve problems that I encounter along my years as a graduate student. Professor Margaret Mills is also an important person in my life as a student in The Ohio State University and a folklorist. She encourages me to express my ideas and is always interested in my work. After her retirement, I would still send my dissertation chapters and other articles to her for advice. During her brief visit to The Ohio State University in March 2016, she generously spent more than two hours discussing my chapters with me. Without my training with Professor Merrill Kaplan, Professor Amy Shuman and Professor Katherine Borland, this dissertation cannot be accomplished. Professor Kevin van Bladel, our department chair has been supportive too. He is always willing to listen and understands my anxiety. My gratitude goes to my friends, who cared about my mental and physical wellbeing during my dissertation writing, an all-consuming task that exhausts patience and energy. My long time friend Zhang Dongbo of Boston College has been supporting me emotionally by his sporadic calls. I enjoy our intellectual and trivial conversations alike. Probably Zhang Liao, Ph.D. student of History of Michigan State University, is the one to whom I talk the most, about my research, life, and happenings on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. I am thankful to have a friend who shares opinions in various political and intellectual issues, and has many concerns and anxieties in common with me. vi In Columbus, My folklorist friends and colleagues Cassie Patterson and Puja Wells offered me valuable opportunities to seek professional development during my dissertation writing. My friends in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures: David Bond, Shahreena Shahrani and her husband Paul, Ehsan Estri and his wife Afsane all encouraged me to keep up with my work and consoled me using good humor, delicious food, and most importantly, caring words. My friends in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures: Mario De Grandis, Jia Junqing, Li Cong and Mu Bing, my friend in Oberlin Collage Zhang Xin, my friend in the Department of History of Art Yin Yanfei and her partner Zhuang regularly checked on me and spent time with me. I owe them a lot for many heartwarming moments. Allen Tuazon is a name that should be mentioned too. Allen was my department colleague and friend. He used to stop by my apartment to invite me for a dinner or spoil me with a box of Chocolate Grahams, making fun of my English nickname: Graham. This loving soul however left us during my year of fieldwork, where I also observed other departures from This World. Without this experience, my dissertation would not have been the same. Although I only met Julian Halliday for limited times, he still generously offers to format and grammar-check my dissertation for me and demonstrates interest in my research. His support and care tell me that he is a gentleman with a warm and big heart. His cats are soothing too. vii Our Arabic program coordinator Mr. Hisam Elaqad and my colleagues in the department, Marite Labaki and Geri Atanassova also considerately shared teaching materials with me so that I could have more time for dissertation writing. Justin Acome, our department coordinator managed to assist me in many graduation related administrative issues such as arranging room for defense and preparing paperwork. My collaborators, living or deceased, in my communities of fieldwork should receive the most respect and thanks. This is a dissertation written for them and by them too. Their life stories nourished my ethnographic fieldwork as well as my mind as a folklorist and a human being. Many of their names cannot be disclosed, but they are still mentioned in my chapters: everyone with a pseudonym, but a real soul. The Mershon Center for International Security Studies and Center for Folklore Studies at The Ohio State University generously funded my fieldwork from 2014 to 2015. The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures offered me teaching positions through my years as a doctoral student. The Louise Loh Memorial Scholarship funded my fieldwork and follow-up visits to the village of my fieldwork in 2016. Without the resources they provided, I could not have managed to collect the attractive narratives presented in this dissertation. Finally, I want to express my love to my dear mother and father who most of the time have been far away from me with the Pacific Ocean in between, but always available for me on video chat applications whenever I need their practical suggestions or emotional support. All the long conversations or their silent late night company online in addition to my time with them back home for vacations and viii fieldwork are treasurable memories that are incorporated in my treatment of friends and mentors, and give me courage when facing difficulties in my writing and teaching. ix Vitae Education: 2017 Ph.D. The Ohio State University Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Interdisciplinary Specialty – Folklore Dissertation: Space of mortality: a study of death- related practices and talks in a Chinese Muslim village Advisor: Sabra Webber 2012 M.A.
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