Contesting the Yellow Dragon: Ethnicity, Religion, and the State in the Sino-Tibetan Borderland, 1379-2009

This book is the first long-term study of the Sino-Tibetan borderland. It traces relationships and mutual influence among Tibetans, Chinese, Hui Muslims, Qiang and others over some 600 years, focusing on the old Chinese garrison city of Songpan and the nearby religious center of Huanglong, or Yellow Dragon. Combining historical research and fieldwork, Xiaofei Kang and Donald Sutton examine the cultural politics of northern Sichuan from early Ming through Communist revolution to the age of global tourism, bringing to light creative local adaptations in culture, ethnicity and religion as successive regimes in Beijing struggle to control and transform this distant frontier.

Review:

Contesting the Yellow Dragon presents a masterful account of the mutual accommodation between Tibetan and Chinese religious traditions in Southwest China as seen in the processes by which the scenic area of Huanglong was transformed into a World Heritage site. The authors vividly portray the paramount place of religion in Chinese life, which today encompasses roles played by tourists and local women. This book will be of tremendous benefit to scholars in fields like history, anthropology, religious studies, etc. Paul R. Katz, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica