South China Research Resource Station Newsletter = 華南研究資料中心通訊, 第九期

Villagers’ Community, Scholars’ Community: An Outsider’s View

Beatrice

G. Faure

(A four-day workshop co-organized by Xiamen University and the Center of Chinese Studies, McGiIl University was held in Fujian f i o m I I to 14 July, 1997. Participants visited villages and temples in Fuzhou and Putian regions in the daytime and had round-table discussions in the evening. The following is written by one of the participants, Beatrice, G. Faure, who is beginning First Year in

Social Anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science.)

This summer I saw China for the first

I

had been on short trips before, but

had always been occupied by the standards of hygiene, the food, or the comforts more time.

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than truly attempting to see the world beyond my well-being, and look at the ways of life of the local people. Of course, the China I saw was only a very small part of the whole country, as we visited a few locations in the South-eastem province of Fujian. However, what I saw was deeply fascinating, and, to an “outsider” in every way, it was a definite eye-opener.

I was an “outsider” in every sense of the word. Being the only “youngster” amongst a group of scholars, I was completely ignorant of their ways of thinking, observation, interests and points of view. I felt very much a “foreigner” in such an alien country,

I

was unfamiliar with everything from the food we were served in restaurants, to the ways of life of the local people. Hence this is an article not only about the ways of life in the villages that I found interesting, but also of the practices of the scholars on the same trip.

The first interesting thing I found whilst we were walking around the temples, was that the temples are not simply buildings that hold records of the past, but are in fact, places of importance even in daily life today. From listening to many historians talking about the temples in the past,

I

often had the impression that they were not so much in use today, but were record offices for the villages they served. However, as we travelled around, I realised that in fact nowadays they serve as some kind of community centres for the villages. They are places of worship, and certainly of record holding, as the communities’ achievements are well placed and

elaborately recorded for all to see. Moreover, they also serve as places for the community to meet and spend their spare time, especially for the non-working members of the communities, i.e. the elderly and the children. Often elderly men sat outside the temples on bamboo armchairs passing their time talking or playing various games (or looking at us strangely as we visited their temples). Old women looked after the very young children, whilst chatting to each other, or preparing special packages for worship. The children also hung around at these temples, they were always running around the buildings, playing amongst themselves, or observing us closely whilst we were visiting. Sometimes there were even people finding shelter at the comers of the temples. Therefore the temples play a vital role in the communities even today.

I was also an “outsider” in the literal sense of the word. Wherever we went we were greeted by interested looks and close observation. The elderly were enthusiastic in sharing their knowledge with us, whilst other members of the community looked on with interest in the way we dressed, the equipment we held, in the different members of our group.

The

children, on the other hand, were both shy and excited by our visit. Everywhere we went people were looking at us, the children would “subtly” come near us to have a closer look, and get very excited when I took their pictures. The reactions of the local people towards us were deeply fascinating. Some were excited, wanting to see what we were

about, others were indifferent to our arrival. Others still were surprised at the knowledge some members of our group had on their communities. On several occasions I wanted very much to talk to them, but unfortunately, not knowing their dialect, I had to rely on the basic skill of “looking friendly” and smiled instead.

As an outsider to the world of researchers and scholars, I was also fascinated with the different approaches each member of our group took to what we saw. As there were both historians and anthropologists in the group, their interests were very different also. Moreover, even within the same discipline, people took interest in different aspects of the things we saw. Many were immediately attracted by the inscriptions whilst others would take in everything. Some scholars obviously had their special interests and only took note of those aspects of the temples, whilst others were paying attention to what they found were unusual. Others still would collect all the data they could lay their hands on, whilst some would stand and soak up the atmosphere in each temple. However, the scholars were not as much interested in the places today, as they were interested in the villages, particularly the temples, nor were they very much interested in the temples as they stand nowadays.

I was also introduced to the world of meetings. I had never been in official academic meetings before, so this was yet another eye-opener. I began to realise the significance of these meetings. They were

places where ideas were exchanged, challenged, and developed. More importantly, they were where scholars met other members in their fields, learnt about what each other was working on, and where they could liaise with one another. I was struck in the midst of the meetings, that eventually some of the ideas discussed in these meetings would appear in their publications and that one day I might be reading about them in print!

I had learnt such a great deal in the short period of five days in Fujian that it is impossible to record them all in this article. Practically everything was new to me, from the customs of the local people, their particular religious beliefs, the Putonghua everyone spoke in the group, to the things that our group had observed. The only regret I had was that I had no background knowledge of the things we saw, and that I had not a particular aspect that I could focus on. As this was my first experience, I tried to take in everything I saw. As the days went by, I realised that I gradually paid more attention to the usage of the temples today, and the reactions we received during our visits. There is such a great deal to be learnt, from the religious beliefs and practices, the various gods and goddesses that were worshipped, to the details of customs and the games the local people played in the temples that hopefully I will have more chance to observe and understand them in the future.

Asian Business History Centre, The University of Queensland

Lai C h i - b o n g

The University

of

Queensland

Introduction

The Asian Business History Centre of the University of Queensland was established in November 1996 in recognition of the growing interest in the business traditions of Asia. Its primary aim is to strengthen links with international research centres as well as with the business community in both Australia and Asia. Moreover, the Centre will help the Australian business community to understand the Asian way of doing business.

The Centre is a cooperative venture involving academics from the University of Queensland and other major research universities. It brings together historians, economists and sociologists who have undertaken a wide range of research projects examining aspects of the business culture of East Asia. Although the Centre is a newly established institute, several international eminent business historians are already affiliated with it.

Publications

The Centre is currently sponsoring an electronic journal the Journal of Chinese Cultural

History, and proposes to develop the following publications: Papers on Overseas Chinese, trade, business networks and emigration, East Asian Business History discussion paper, and Asian Business History Series. The Centre’s Associates serve on the editorial board of the centre’s publications.

Collections

The Centre collects research materials related to Asian business history studies. A total number of 120 pieces of optical disks of Chinese archives and 30 volumes of the Title Deeds Files of Shanghai are in order. Other materials currently available in the Centre include Queensland Asian Business Weekly, World News, Library Holdings on Asian Business History, publications of Centre associates, and newsletters from major research centres

Affiliates

The Centre has three types of Associates: (1) Research Associates: including scholars in the field; (2) Corporate Associates: including representatives from the local business community; and (3) Student Associates: including graduates and advanced students in Asian Business History.

Projects and Activities

A particular strength among the researches conducted by staff associated with the Asian Business History Centre is Shanghai studies. They also supervise theses on Asian Business History in particular, and the economic history of Asia in general. Other areas of interest include Australian-Chinese relations, Japanese Technology and the economic organisation of South East Asia.

Research projects currently conducted by the Centre Associates include: (1) Ming- 13

Ch'ing Economic history; (2) Business in Shanghai: Past & Present; (3) Risk and Chance in Modem China; (4) Australian-Chinese Business Networks; and ( 5 ) Japanese Technology,

The Centre runs a series of public lectures on the overseas Chinese and Chinese Intellectual History with the Asian Languages Department. The Centre will also

run

occasional conferences or series of workshop on Business in Shanghai. Conference and lectures series run by the Centre in the years 1996-97 include:

(1) Business in Shanghai: Past and Present Conference (March 1997)

The conference was attended by a forum of scholars from around the globe. Topics covered include department stores, banking, stock market, technology transfer & commercial culture, contemporary Shanghai enterprises, and Shanghai capitalists in overseas trade. A conference volume is going to be published.

(2) Asian Business History Lecture Series (Semester I1 1997)

(3) Chinese Intellectual History Lecture Series (March 1996

-

May 1997)

(4)

The Overseas Chinese Seminars (Semester I1 1996

-

Semester I 1998)

Location and Contact

Asian Business History Centre, Room 527, Gordon Greenwood Building Department of History, The University of Queensland, 4072, Australia

For further details please contact:

Dr Chi-kong Lai, Director, Asian Business History Centre

Department of History, The University of Queensland, 4072, Australia International: 61-7-3365-6339

Fax: (07) 3365-6266

Email: [email protected] Ph: (07) 3365-6339

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35 Henson Street, Summer Hill 2130, Sydney, Australia.

E-mail: [email protected] Ph I Fax: 61 -2-97986674