Scythe and the City: A Social History of Death in Shanghai

The issue of death has loomed large in Chinese cities in the modern era. Throughout the Republican period, Shanghai swallowed up lives by the thousands. Exposed bodies strewn around in public spaces were a threat to social order as well as to public health. In a place where every group had its own beliefs and set of death and funeral practices, how did they adapt to a modern, urbanised environment? How did the interactions of social organisations and state authorities manage these new ways of thinking and acting? Christian Henriot's pioneering and original study of Shanghai between 1865 and 1965 gives new insights into this crucial aspect of modern society in a global commercial hub and guides readers through this tumultuous era that radically redefined the Chinese relationship with death

Intro -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Introduction -- 1. Scythe and the City: The Measure of Death -- 2. Guilds, Charities, and the Community Management of Death -- 3. Funeral Companies and the Commoditization of the Dead Body -- 4. A Final Resting Place: From Burial Grounds to Modern Cemeteries -- 5. Foreign Cemeteries and the Colonial Space of Death -- 6. Invisible Deaths, Silent Deaths -- 7. Funerals and the Price of Death -- 8. The Cremated Body: From Social Curse to Political Rule -- 9. The Management of Death under Socialism -- Conclusion -- Abbreviations Used in the Notes -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.

Scythe and the city : the measure of death -- Guilds, charities, and the community management of death -- Funeral companies and the commoditization of the dead body -- A final resting place : from burial grounds to modern cemeteries -- Foreign cemeteries and the colonial space of death -- Invisible deaths, silent deaths -- Funerals and the price of death -- The cremated body : from social curse to political rule -- The management of death under socialism