A Time to Heal or a Time to Kill
Xiaofei Kang
May 18, 2023 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197654477.003.0002 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Historical analysis |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the Communist Party's campaign against shamans in Yan'an used paired journalistic accounts and shamanic confessions to brand ritual healing a "murderous business," aiming to establish the Party's epistemic authority over shamanic practices. The propaganda, drawing on patriarchal and sexual rhetoric, positioned the Party as a new ritual master claiming to protect rural women's reproductive bodies for the incipient Party-state. |
Abstract
Abstract Chapter 2 analyzes the campaign rhetoric against shamans, the mainstay of religious life in the Yan’an region. The campaign took male shamans and their ritual power as the chief targets of attack. The Party newspaper strategically paired journalists’ accounts with shamans’ own confessions to condemn ritual healing practices as “murderous business.” Two parallel narratives were designed to establish the Party’s epistemic authority over shamanic practices. Drawing on traditional rhetoric of patriarchy and female sexuality, the propaganda strove to establish the Party as the new ritual master that would save rural women’s reproductive bodies for the health of the incipient Party-state.