Singing on the river : : Sichuan boatmen and their work songs, 1880s - 1930s / / by Igor Iwo Chabrowski.

• Superior document: China studies ; v. 32
• Author: Chabrowski, Igor Iwo.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, [2015]
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Language: English
• Series: China Studies 32.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (331 p.)
• Notes: "Revised and enlarged version of an EUI Ph.D. thesis 'Tied to a boat by the sound of a gong' : world, work and society seen through the work songs of Sichuan Boatmen (1880s-1930s)" -- Title page verso.

Singing on the River by Igor Chabrowski, based on Sichuan boatmen’s work songs ( haozi ), explores the little known world of mentality and self-representation of Chinese workers from the late 19th century until the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937). Chabrowski demonstrates how river workers constructed and interpreted their world, work, and gender in context of the dissolving social, cultural, and political orders. Boatmen asserted their own values, bemoaned exploitation, and imagined their sexuality largely in order to cope with their low social status. Through studying the Sichuan boatmen we gain an insight into the ways in which twentieth-century nonindustrial Chinese workers imagined their place in the society and appropriated, without challenging them, the traditional values.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- 1 The Social Origins of the Songs: The Eastern Sichuan Working Class, 1880s–1930s -- 2 The Sounds of the River -- 3 Mapping the River World -- Illustrations -- 4 Where Do We Belong? Selfhood and Menial Work in Sichuan Society -- 5 On Women and Love -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.