Violence and order on the Chengdu Plain : the story of a secret brotherhood in rural China, 1939-1949 /
Di Wang.
- Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, (c)2018.
- 1 online resource
Includes bibliographies and index.
Introduction : two stories joined in the Chengdu Plain -- A public execution -- A local band of the Gowned Brothers -- Spirituality and customs -- Secret codes and language -- Disciplines and dominance -- A tenant farmer and Paoge master -- Entering the Paoge -- The decline of power -- A family crisis and a rural woman's fate -- Fall of the Paoge -- Looking for the storyteller -- Untangling Paoge myth -- Appendix 1 : Paoge ranks -- Appendix 2 : Lei family tree -- Appendix 3 : selected ritual/festival events -- Appendix 4 : Chinese texts of sayings and poems -- Appendix 5 : brief comments on texts, myth, and history.