This book presents a view of social life in China and discusses different methods for studying contemporary China as a tool for introducing students to the study of popular culture. Through a diverse set of case studies, it introduces readers to a wide range of issues facing Chinese society.

1. Introduction Part One: Literature, the Cinema, and Authority 2. Hand-Copied Entertainment Fiction from the Cultural Revolution 3. Popular Cinema and Political Thought in Post-Mao China: Reflections on Official Pronouncements, Film, and the Film Audience Part Two: Marriage and the Family 4. "How Come You Aren't Divorced Yet?" 5. Love and Marriage in North Chinese Peasant Operas 6. My Mother's House Part Three: Religion, Ethnicity, and Propriety 7. The Catholic Church in China: Cultural Contradictions, Institutional Survival, and Religious Renewal 8. Recycling Rituals: Politics and Popular Culture in Contemporary Rural China 9. Pride and Prejudice: Subei People in Contemporary Shanghai 10. The Persistence of Propriety in the 1980s Part Four: Social Currents 11. Guerrilla Interviewing Among the Getihu 12. Value Change Among Post-Mao Youth: The Evidence from Survey Data