Foil Of Social And Cultural History: The Republic Of China Jiangsu-zhejiang Region As The Center

This dissertation is a social and cultural history of tinfoil. Focusing on the tinfoil business in Republican Jiangsu and Zhejiang, I examine the rise of this special paper offering in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as well as its craft, and its network of procurement and distribution.Burning imitation silver ingots made of tinfoil formed an indispensable part in ancestor and god worship in many parts of China, but the tinfoil business was little known to the public until the Republican government decided to levy a heavy tax on it at the height of the Anti-Superstition campaign in the late 1920s.The social function and cultural meaning of tinfoil in the Chinese society, is best reflected in the study of its origin. On the one hand, the paper offering as a whole, being connected to Mingqi in the ancient time, was justified in the economy of the Confucian ritual. However, people against the using of paper offering often questioned this discourse. On the other hand, the folklore in Zhejiang and Jiangsu had it that this business could be traced to the first emperor of Ming Dynasty, which hinted that the popularity of tinfoil was due to the popularity of silver in Ming Dynasty.The major producing areas of tinfoil in Zhejiang and Jiangsu Provinces were Hangzhou, Shaoxing and Ningbo; while Shanghai, due to its significance as an international port in this region, soon became a crucial connecting point, in the whole network of this business. The study of this regional network reveals that, contrary to the impression created by the Anti-Superstition discourse, the tinfoil business represented a dynamic network of procurement and distribution, both domestically and globally, which was interwoven with the cultural needs of local society.Lastly, the study of the relation of the government and the tinfoil industy at the height of the Anti-Superstition campaign shows, the revenues generated by this "sin" tax were used to pay for military affairs and higher education. The tax caused tensions between the central government and local business interests and also between elites and commoners. Whatever the agenda of the authorities, the local business managed to not only survive the campaign but also boom with the local society. This shows a perplexing picture of the Anti-Superstition campaign in Republican China.