ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses more broadly the aesthetics and social implications of group formation in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and specifically three types of groups: the unintended crowd, cliques or quanzi, and the choreographed crowd. The choreographed crowd is what we’re used to seeing in the PRC during its periodic public displays of national unity and strength. Think back to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony, which is probably the most widely watched example of the PRC’s choreographed crowds. Throughout the ceremony, thousands of performers showcased what director Zhang Yimou called a “human performance” where “uniformity brings beauty” in a 2008 interview with Southern Weekend. To say that Zhang’s comments are troubling is a wild understatement, and to think that his probably purposefully inflammatory opinions reflect the reality of actual life in the PRC would be a grave methodological error for an ethnographer.
