De la mise en œuvre des principes éthiques dans un village chinois : la pratique rituelle contemporaine des habitants de Huanglong kou 黃龍口 à Qimen 祁門 (province de l’Anhui)

Abstract

Research on the actual application of village ethical principles (lunli 倫理) not only presupposes a focus on specific practices but must also take into consideration, through sustained fieldwork, the “forms of awareness” of rural residents. This article is based on the village of Huanglong kou 黃龍口 , in Guxi 古溪 Township of Qimen 祁門 District—formerly part of Huizhou 徽州 Prefecture—, which has been the focus of long-term fieldwork. It aims to describe the actual situation of the ordinary ritual practices of the Wang lineage 汪氏, to reveal their significance, and to use this data to address three main questions: the vitality of these practices of a Confucian nature in the twenty-first century; the still effective importance to rural people of the ancestral halls (citang 祠堂); and the need to introduce innovations and transformations in the development of these aspects of traditional Chinese culture.