Performing sacredness: The Touqi Public Memorial Ceremony as a cultural response to Chinese major disasters (2010–2019)

Abstract

In ancient China, the Touqi Memorial Ceremony was a customary practice that memorialized deceased relatives. However, during the early period of the People's Republic of China, the funeral system underwent reforms, and folk beliefs were temporarily labeled as superstition and largely dismissed. Nonetheless, between 2010 and 2019, the Chinese government held the Touqi Public Memorial Ceremony (TPMC) for victims of major disasters on the seventh day after their deaths. Therefore, this research aims to investigate how the state adopted this traditional ritual, explore the overall cultural response of the Chinese government to disasters, and examine the characteristics of disaster narratives. Taking a cultural sociological perspective, this study employs a social performance framework to unveil the cultural response in government disaster management. This process involves the transformation of traditional private and folk rituals into modern public memorial ceremonies. The TPMC can be considered an example of a widespread pattern of the state appropriating and adapting existing cultural forms, showcasing the government's endeavor to embrace a holistic cultural approach to disaster management. Analyzing the TPMC offers an opportunity to understand the governance strategies employed by the Chinese government.