Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.4, 2013

 

On the Survival of Popular Ideas in Daily Life: An Extended Analysis of the Cao'e Culture in Early Modern Times                           

(Abstract)

 

Xiao Tian

 

Unlike the written texts that transmit elite ideas, the ideas of the masses depend mainly on daily life for their survival. A typical example is the Cao'e culture prevailing in Caojiapu and neighboring areas in Shangyu County, Zhejiang, in early modern times, with its stress on filial piety. An extended analysis of this culture can help reveal the mechanisms by which such popular ideas survive. In terms of the means of their survival, these concepts present themselves naturally in social interaction through oral transmission, ceremonies, etc. In terms of intellectual resources, their material tends to come from the penetration of daily life by the official ideology, which is often converted into a version that is familiar, understandable and acceptable to ordinary people. In terms of their social basis, popular concepts such as filial piety fit in well with the logic of the way people at the grassroots construct their local order. An organic combination of the three, i.e., social interaction, the day-to-day agenda and the course of local life, constitutes the unique mechanism by which popular ideas have survived since early modern times, reflecting the general features of the survival of traditional Chinese concepts. An analysis from this perspective indicates a new path for the study of the history of popular ideas.