Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the lineage and its organizational complement, the Shareholding Cooperative. It analyses associational life in Shenzhen, focusing on those forms where ritual comes to the fore, such as surname associations and extraterritorial chambers of commerce, both deeply rooted in Chinese tradition. The book introduces the notion of cultural governance that has become prominent in Chinese studies. Shareholding cooperatives can be regarded as an institutional manifestation of cultural governance, as they invoke and endorse traditional values which are disseminated among the residents in their areas, such as at the public schools which offer mandatory ‘national learning’ ‘guo xue’ classes. Cultural governance is enmeshed with the emergence of new elites, such as the villagers-turned landlords or the array of developers and construction companies, often controlled by immigrant Chaoshan entrepreneurs.