Society for Comparative Studies in Society and History Manchu Widows and Ethnicity in Qing China Author(s): Mark C. Elliott Reviewed work(s): Source: Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Jan., 1999), pp. 33-71 Published by: Cambridge University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/179248 . Accessed: 16/02/2013 12:10 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. Cambridge University Press and Society for Comparative Studies in Society and History are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Comparative Studies in Society and History. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded on Sat, 16 Feb 2013 12:10:34 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ManchuWidows and Ethnicity in Qing China MARK C. ELLIOTT Universityof California,Santa Barbara Like women in many parts of the world whose husbandspredeceased them, widows in Chinawere free electrons,unbound elements in the social chemistry. Economically vulnerable,ritually superfluous,and at the same time socially destabilizingand sexually threatening,they were archetypalliminal figures- marginalized,caricatured, and feared.This has made the widow a good subject for literarycritics, anthropologists,and historiansinterested in the way that so- cieties treatwomen and in the way that treatmentof widows in particularis in- tended to ward off or contain potential disturbanceto the status quo.