Handbook of Chinese Popular Culture (review)

Reviews 293 tions ofMing and Qing paintings"] [Exhibition Catalog] (Shanghai: Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Press, 1994). 2.A general discussion ofpopular culture is found in Chandra Mukerji and Michael Schudson, eds., RethinkingPopular Culture (Berkeley: University of California, 1991), pp. 1-54. Felicity Lufkin kindly called my attention to this reference. 3.The linked themes of internationalism and sinicization have a parallel with the notion of influence, which has been revised in recent scholarship. 4.Jan Nattier, Once Upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy ofDecline, Nanzan Studies in Asian Religions (Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1991), 1:90-94, 103, 137. 5.For example, in the entry for catalog number 60, the reference to color plate 27 should be 25; cat. no. 76's color plate is 31, not 32; the color plate for cat. no. 66 should be 32, not 30; cat. no. 291S color plate is 15, not 29; the plates for cat. nos. 49 and 53 are 26 and 27, not 25 and 26; and finally, the plate for cat. no. 75 is no. 30, not 31. m Wu Dingbo and Patrick D. Murphy, editors. Handbook ofChinese Popular Culture. Westport and London: Greenwood Press, 1994. ix, 409 pp. Hardcover $75.00, isbn 0-313-27808-3. Handbook ofChinese Popular Culture is designed to be used as a reference book. As such, it covers a wide range oftopics, ranging from food, drink, and medicine to religion, sports, and transportation. A book ofthis size poses difficulties for fair evaluation because the reviewer has to have the erudition of an encyclopedia to do justice to each essay. There is no doubt that this book fills a great need. Students of Chinese popular culture will find it very useful, especially since it includes a rather extensive bibliography on every subject covered in the volume. Most ofthe essays are written according to a standard formula: first, the history and origins of a given subject are traced; then there is a description ofits variations and its current status; and finally, there is a briefreview ofthe scholarly writings on the specific subject, followed by a bibliography. While informative, most ofthe essays lack analytical perspective. The authors are more concerned with describing "what" than with interpreting "why." In part, this is because the intended readers of this handbook are the general public, and y Riversiy nQt soieiy tne communiryofChina scholars. Of course, there is nothing wrong with aiming at a specific readership, but what I find troubling about this book is that as a reference tool it fails in places to provide reliable and accurate information. In some cases, errors and inaccuracies ofHawai'i Press 294 China Review International: Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 1996 abound. Taking die example ofWu Dingbo's treatment ofthe cinema—since this is a subject that I am more familiar with—one can find numerous mistakes and questionable statements. For instance, Wu's discussion of Shen nü (Goddess), a film made in 1934, is apparendy not based on an actual viewing ofthe film. Nowhere in the film is the protagonist shown being raped by the villain. Neidier does she become a prostitute after the alleged incident. Wu's narrative leaves readers with the opposite impression. I also find professor Wu's characterization of another film, Zhifen shichang (Face powder market), as the portrayal of "the miserable life of Chinese women," problematic. My disagreement has more to do with his basic knowledge of die actual film, or the lack ofit, than with a difference in interpretation. I am concerned that his description ofthe film may be based on a synopsis by someone else, and not on his own viewing of it. Of course, for those of us who have worked witii the cinema of China prior to 1949, the difficulty in getting access to films made in tiiat period is understandable —and we will be the last ones to be fastidious about discussions ofpre-1949 films mat are not based on actual viewings. But while die films themselves are difficult of access, the synopses and descriptions by film scholars are widely available , especially for the well-known titles that Professor Wu chose to discuss in his chapter. Therefore, there should...