The present regime in China is actively engaged in attempting to reduce minority cultures to a contrived set of costumes and festivals. At the same time that the Chinese government uses modern methods of mass communication to carry out this programme, the Manzu minority is using the same technology to counteract government propaganda. This essay analyzes two videotaped performances, one a government program, the other an underground tape of a shamanic ritual, to argue that they present competing tropes of national and ethnic identity. These competing tropes in turn reveal tensions in the public sphere that keep Chinese identity fluid. To come to an understanding of these tropes, the essay considers the reactions of shamans and other members of the community in the context of a Manzu village. The analysis demonstrates the role shamanic ritual plays in maintaining a sense of Manzu identity.
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