Beijing from Below: Stories of Marginal Lives in the Capital's Center

by Harriet Evans

Overview

Between the early 1950s and the accelerated demolition and construction of Beijing's “old city” in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, the residents of Dashalar—one of the capital city's poorest neighborhoods and only a stone's throw from Tian’anmen Square—lived in dilapidated conditions without sanitation. Few had stable employment. Today, most of Dashalar's original inhabitants have been relocated, displaced by gentrification. In Beijing from Below Harriet Evans captures the last gasps of subaltern life in Dashalar. Drawing on oral histories that reveal memories and experiences of several neighborhood families, she reflects on the relationships between individual, family, neighborhood, and the state; poverty and precarity; gender politics and ethical living; and resistance to and accommodation of party-state authority. Evans contends that residents' assertion of belonging to their neighborhood signifies not a nostalgic clinging to the past, but a rejection of their marginalization and a desire for recognition. Foregrounding the experiences of the last of Dashalar's older denizens as key to understanding Beijing's recent history, Evans complicates official narratives of China's economic success while raising crucial questions about the place of the subaltern in history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781478008156
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	05/08/2020
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

Harriet Evans is Emeritus Professor of Chinese Cultural Studies at the University of Westminster and Visiting Professor in Anthropology at the London School of Economics. She is the author of The Subject of Gender: Daughters and Mothers in Urban China and Women and Sexuality in China.

Table of Contents

Illustrations ix

A Note on Use of Verb Tense, Spellings, Translation, Names, and Abbreviations xi

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Dashalar 21

Chapter 2 Old Mrs. Gao 42

Interlude 1 67

Chapter 3 Zhao Yong 74

Interlude 2 97

Chapter 4 Hua Meiling 104

Interlude 3 122

Chapter 5 Li Fuying 130

Interlude 4 153

Chapter 6 Zhang Huiming 161

Interlude 5 178

Chapter 7 Jia Yong 183

Interlude 6 200

Conclusion 207

Epilogue 225

Notes 227

Bibliography 249

Index 257

What People are Saying About This

Women and China’s Revolutions - Gail Hershatter

“Harriet Evans makes visible a world that has been hiding in plain sight—the packed courtyards and dense social networks of one of Beijing's poorest neighborhoods. Drawing upon many years of conversation with residents and archival research, Evans provides a compelling account of everyday struggles and pleasures in a community that has been shaped, and neglected, by state policies. Beijing from Below raises profound questions about the reach of an ambitious revolution, even within its own capital city.”

The Magic of Concepts: History and the Economic in Twentieth-Century China - Rebecca E. Karl

“Through a series of engaging and entirely unique ethnographic oral histories of the subaltern residents of a now all-but-destroyed Beijing neighborhood, Harriet Evans evokes a community, a fractured class, and a way of life that have now surely disappeared into the area's reconstructed shiny commercialism. Never central actors on any stage, and barely bit extras on the stage of Beijing's transformations, Evans's interlocutors are the kinds of people who disappear in any history. Her talent in rendering these left-behind urban denizens is astonishing. Beijing from Below makes a huge contribution.

Editorial Reviews

"By any standards, this is an extraordinarily rich work, and it is all the more valuable in illuminating a transformative period in Beijing's (and China's) history, foregrounding the stories of people and families whose voices are still relatively rarely heard."--Marjorie Dryburgh "Biography" (6/17/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"Beijing From Below impresses for the capacity to offer the space of discourse to those who are losing their physical space, amidst a steadfast urban transformation. The way Evans acknowledges and brings their voices to the core is as poignant as it is rigorous, making Beijing from Below a fulfilling reading, and an indispensable work for future research in the field."--Plácido González Martínez "Orientalistische Literaturzeitung" (7/7/2022 12:00:00 AM)

"Beijing from Below is an important work. . . . In a book rich in detail and analysis, Harriet Evans takes the reader into a respectful and considered examination of the lives of Dashalar's residents and their struggles to survive."--Anna Hayes "Asian Studies Review" (5/5/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"Beijing from Below utilizes thae anlytical rigor of ethnography to contextualize and theorize social experience without sacrificing the detailed and unique richness of each individual story.... The writing is compelling, and students of all levels (from undergraduate to graduate) would benefit from this ethnography."--Jenny Chio "China Review International" (11/17/2019 12:00:00 AM)

"[Beijing from Below] gives the reader the feeling of being fully immersed in the lives of the residents of Dashalar.... The book will be of great value to anyone interested in Chinese urbanization, memory studies, public history, civilizing processes, use of cultural heritage, politics of identities and agency of the urban poor."--Florence Graezer Bideau "The China Quarterly" (12/1/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"[Beijing from Below] is a must for anyone who has a warm heart for Beijing, or who is interested in how Chinese urban development affects the lives of the population.... Evans gives a face to the rickshaw drivers, sellers of tourist paraphernalia in Tian'anmen Square, the dishwashers in restaurants and other nameless people who populate Dahalar."--Judith van de Bovenkamp "China 2025" (12/2/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"A first-hand study which describes the lives of ordinary people at the grassroots, or more accurately at the urban roots, in the form of storytelling.... Only by reading the book can we appreciate the depth and detail of her findings."--Michael Sheringham "East Asia" (7/6/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"Harriet Evans's Beijing from Below presents an exceptional insight into the precarious lives of what Evans calls the 'subalterns of history'.... It is a valuable read for anyone interested in China's urban transformation and its effects on urban populations, subalternity and precarity."--Laura Vermeeren "China Information" (6/28/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"[Beijing from Below] is a first-hand study which describes the lives of ordinary people at the grassroots, or more accurately at the urban roots, in the form of story-telling.... Only by reading the book can we appreciate the depth and detail of [Evans'] findings...."--Michael Sheringham "Asian Affairs" (7/6/2021 12:00:00 AM)

"Harriet Evans makes visible a world that has been hiding in plain sight--the packed courtyards and dense social networks of one of Beijing's poorest neighborhoods. Drawing upon many years of conversation with residents and archival research, Evans provides a compelling account of everyday struggles and pleasures in a community that has been shaped, and neglected, by state policies. Beijing from Below raises profound questions about the reach of an ambitious revolution, even within its own capital city."--Gail Hershatter, author of "Women and China's Revolutions"

"Through a series of engaging and entirely unique ethnographic oral histories of the subaltern residents of a now all-but-destroyed Beijing neighborhood, Harriet Evans evokes a community, a fractured class, and a way of life that have now surely disappeared into the area's reconstructed shiny commercialism. Never central actors on any stage, and barely bit extras on the stage of Beijing's transformations, Evans's interlocutors are the kinds of people who disappear in any history. Her talent in rendering these left-behind urban denizens is astonishing. Beijing from Below makes a huge contribution.--Rebecca E. Karl, author of "The Magic of Concepts: History and the Economic in Twentieth-Century China"

From the Publisher

[Beijing from Below] is a first-hand study which describes the lives of ordinary people at the grassroots, or more accurately at the urban roots, in the form of story-telling.... Only by reading the book can we appreciate the depth and detail of [Evans’] findings....

Asian Affairs - Michael Sheringham

Beijing From Below impresses for the capacity to offer the space of discourse to those who are losing their physical space, amidst a steadfast urban transformation. The way Evans acknowledges and brings their voices to the core is as poignant as it is rigorous, making Beijing from Below a fulfilling reading, and an indispensable work for future research in the field."

Orientalistische Literaturzeitung - Plácido González Martínez

By any standards, this is an extraordinarily rich work, and it is all the more valuable in illuminating a transformative period in Beijing’s (and China’s) history, foregrounding the stories of people and families whose voices are still relatively rarely heard.

Biography - Marjorie Dryburgh

[Beijing from Below] is a must for anyone who has a warm heart for Beijing, or who is interested in how Chinese urban development affects the lives of the population.... Evans gives a face to the rickshaw drivers, sellers of tourist paraphernalia in Tian'anmen Square, the dishwashers in restaurants and other nameless people who populate Dahalar.

China 2025 - Judith van de Bovenkamp

Harriet Evans’s Beijing from Below presents an exceptional insight into the precarious lives of what Evans calls the ‘subalterns of history’.... It is a valuable read for anyone interested in China’s urban transformation and its effects on urban populations, subalternity and precarity.

China Information - Laura Vermeeren

[Beijing from Below] gives the reader the feeling of being fully immersed in the lives of the residents of Dashalar.... The book will be of great value to anyone interested in Chinese urbanization, memory studies, public history, civilizing processes, use of cultural heritage, politics of identities and agency of the urban poor."

The China Quarterly - Florence Graezer Bideau

Beijing from Below utilizes thae anlytical rigor of ethnography to contextualize and theorize social experience without sacrificing the detailed and unique richness of each individual story.... The writing is compelling, and students of all levels (from undergraduate to graduate) would benefit from this ethnography.

China Review International - Jenny Chio

Through a series of engaging and entirely unique ethnographic oral histories of the subaltern residents of a now all-but-destroyed Beijing neighborhood, Harriet Evans evokes a community, a fractured class, and a way of life that have now surely disappeared into the area's reconstructed shiny commercialism. Never central actors on any stage, and barely bit extras on the stage of Beijing's transformations, Evans's interlocutors are the kinds of people who disappear in any history. Her talent in rendering these left-behind urban denizens is astonishing. Beijing from Below makes a huge contribution.

The Magic of Concepts: History and the Economic in Twentieth-Century China - Rebecca E. Karl

Harriet Evans makes visible a world that has been hiding in plain sight—the packed courtyards and dense social networks of one of Beijing's poorest neighborhoods. Drawing upon many years of conversation with residents and archival research, Evans provides a compelling account of everyday struggles and pleasures in a community that has been shaped, and neglected, by state policies. Beijing from Below raises profound questions about the reach of an ambitious revolution, even within its own capital city.

Women and China’s Revolutions - Gail Hershatter

Beijing from Below is an important work. . . . In a book rich in detail and analysis, Harriet Evans takes the reader into a respectful and considered examination of the lives of Dashalar’s residents and their struggles to survive.

Asian Studies Review - Anna Hayes