This book focuses on the transformation of meanings of ritual as practiced and maintained by local Miao people from the late Qing dynasty to the contemporary period in China. The author draws on ethnographic research into the life and beliefs of ritualists, ritual performances, and ritual spaces in west Hunan province. Voices from classic Chinese texts, local gazetteers and modern villagers' narratives are brought in to explore different layers of meanings of ritual in the Miao's life across time and space. The chapters touch on questions such as: How do local ritualists shape the meanings of wedding through dialogic singing? How does ritual work to transmit and maintain local cultural values and practices? And how does intercultural interaction since the late Qing dynasty transform the ritual space in the village? The book will be of particular interest to scholars of religion, anthropology, and China studies.

Yu Hua is an Associate Professor in the Institute of Language Sciences at Shanghai International Studies University, China. Her specialty is cultural anthropology, sociolinguistics and linguistic ethnography, with a focus on linguistic landscape and heritage studies in contemporary China.