Books by Di Wang

This is the first book-length treatment of the Paoge-a violent secret society located in a rural village near Chengdu, China. The book uses a filicide within the society as a starting point to examine the environment, history, culture, and organization of the Paoge and the structures of local power in 1940s rural Sichuan.

To understand a city fully, writes Di Wang, we must observe its most basic units of social life. In The Teahouse under Socialism, Wang does just that, arguing that the teahouses of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, are some of the most important public spaces-perfect sites for examining the social and economic activities of everyday...

A study of the lively street culture in Chengdu from 1870 to 1930, this book explores the relationship between urban commoners and public space, the role of community and neighborhood in public life, and how the reform movement and Republican revolution transformed everyday life in this inland city.

This study examines economic, social, political, and cultural changes as funneled through the teahouses of Chengdu during the first half of the twentieth century.