Panel 1: Identity Strategies of Marginalized Others in Late-Imperial China

The papers in this panel focus on the ways in which people in the political or social margins in late-imperial China carved out spaces in which they could live their lives as normative residents of their locality while honoring their distinctive identities. Those people ranged from newly-arrived immigrants in central China, to converts to Christianity in Qing Banners, to Sinophone Muslims. Whether through accident of birth or deliberate choice, the subjects of these papers lived in unique situations that were largely outside the political or social mainstream and had to forge their way in sometimes-hostile environments in order to live meaningful lives. Their resilience resulted in the creation of unique communities in late-imperial China that, while often deliberately obscured from the dominant imperial narrative, nonetheless contributed to the emergence of a rich cultural landscape across late-imperial China that went far beyond those narrow cultural limits. Their stories are well worth retelling. 

Chair: Michael Brose, Indiana University Bloomington

Panelists

Yiming Hu, Indiana University Bloomington
“Creating Brotherhood: Identity-Building by Uyghurs in Qing Hunan”
Hunan Province has experienced many waves of in-migration that has shaped its ethnic composition. That history came to a flash point in the Ming when old and new generations of migrants clashed over competing economic interests, and a clear distinction between “locals” and “guests.” A subsequent settler mentality marked Hunan in the high Qing as local gazetteers recorded more violent clashes between the locals and new immigrants who were predominately Jiangxi merchants. Hunan also experienced a major economic decline that stimulated the rise of local militia forces such as the Xiang (Hunan) Army, a state-sanctioned mercenary force. Many young Hunan males swore allegiance to the Xiang Army. A crackdown on the Xiang Army then stimulated a rise in secret societies in Hunan, fed by a bottom-up identity building process, as reviewed in this study of Hunan Uyghurs. 

Siying Li,  Indiana University Bloomington
“Becoming Undercurrents: Banner Christian Religious Networks in Early 19th Century Beijing”
This paper explores the historical background, dynamic processes, and implications of the transformations in the Beijing banner Christian communities in early 19th century Qing China. Catholic missions in Qing Banners became embroiled in a dispute with the Manchu court over views of service obligations and loyalty of banner converts. By the 19th century the empire’s stability was weakened by multiple religious revolts and the court shifted to accusing banner Christian converts of being members of subversive religious sects. In response, Beijing banner Christians gradually shifted from worshipping in missionary-dominated churches to scripturecentered underground house churches without missionaries or priests. Catholicism also expanded beyond banner elite circles to grassroots faith communities or religious networks that dissolved boundaries between bannermen and Han civilian Catholics. In response to those changes the Qing government strengthened the prohibition of Christianity in the Eight Banner society.

Jing (Maggie) Xu, Indiana University Bloomington
"Roots and Branches: Tracing the Evolution of Hui Scripture Hall Education in China"
The system of scripture hall education (jingtang jiaoyu) practiced by Sinophone Muslims (Hui) emerged in response to Ming China’s policy of ethnic assimilation and isolationism, which prevented overseas Muslim clerics from entering China. That system began with Hu Puzhao from Shaanxi, who recruited students to study in mosques after returning from pilgrimage to Mecca. His system eventually divided into different regional traditions in Shaanxi and Shandong, where students in Shandong focused on Arabic and Persian language and texts while students in Shaanxi primarily studied Arabic texts. Further divisions in texts, languages and approaches eventually emerged across China. This study examines the evolution of scripture hall education in the the broad 17th century in Shaanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu, Ningxia, and Yunnan, highlighting interconnections and distinctions that developed in specific geographic areas.