This research discusses the relationship between Benzhu religious practices and local society in a Bai village, southwest China. Benzhu as a collective name refers to the various village gods around Dali region. Benzhu worship is described as representative of Bai culture and has existed since Nanzhao period. By focusing on the daily lives of the people, this research finds that beyond the ethnic discourse, Benzhu worship marks village boundaries, deals with problems in people’s daily lives and has significant meaning for social organization and operation. Family ties are linked and fractured through the mediation of the Benzhu temple, and the public space in the village community is constructed as well as maintained by the Benzhu temple. Furthermore, Benzhu worship can be used...[ Read more ]

This research discusses the relationship between Benzhu religious practices and local society in a Bai village, southwest China. Benzhu as a collective name refers to the various village gods around Dali region. Benzhu worship is described as representative of Bai culture and has existed since Nanzhao period. By focusing on the daily lives of the people, this research finds that beyond the ethnic discourse, Benzhu worship marks village boundaries, deals with problems in people’s daily lives and has significant meaning for social organization and operation. Family ties are linked and fractured through the mediation of the Benzhu temple, and the public space in the village community is constructed as well as maintained by the Benzhu temple. Furthermore, Benzhu worship can be used by different local actors such as the spirit medium or the Elderly Association to negotiate with their survival environment and their experienced world. The dynamic relationship between Benzhu worship and the local society is rarely discussed. This research suggests an understanding of local society out of the binary of minority—Han dichotomy; the investigation of how the society organizes people to cope with their living environment, and local actors’ responses to the social changes in different contexts.