Social Maintenance and Cultural Continuity—Folk Religion among the Tu Ethnic Group in Northwest China

Abstract

Despite economic development and social changes, folk religion in China has not died out, but has survived and has even experienced a revival. Oscillating state policies have in general had a strong impact on religion in China. Though there is no official recognition of ethnic folk-religions, the state classifies them positively as manifestations of local cultural heritage and in this context has supported—not stifled—public folk religious practices among the Tu. This study deals with folk religious’ practice among the Tu ethnic group in Northwest China. The article highlights animist ontology as a theoretical perspective for analyzing the religious practices of the Tu ethnic group in China. The authors carried out anthropological procedures of participant observation and interviewing in the Tu community distributed in Qinghai Province and now present a portrait of the folk religion in typical Tu communities located in Minhe County and Huzhu County. The article also discusses the tripartite cosmology of the Tu and the positive interactions with national authorities. Quite apart from the issue of the impact of the state, the authors document, via prolonged ethnographic immersion in two regions, that the folk religion of the Tu is also closely linked to, and continues to have an impact on, daily life, particularly with regard to the construction and maintenance of ethnic community structure. This paper is organized as follows. First, we present ethnographic information on the religious beliefs and ritual practices of the Tu. The subsequent section then discusses how public folk-religious performances receive support from the state in the context of tourism and local economic development and how they contribute to the maintenance of community structure and social order. The conclusion summarizes the process by which ethnic folk religions have not only survived, but, in part as a result of state support for ethnic cultural heritage, experienced a revival.