He Zhao 赵鹤

This article takes the adaptation of the Peking Opera The Lucky Purse during the 1950s “Xiqu Reform” as a case study to analyze the evolution of ideas and concrete actions of Peking opera artists amid the transformation of dominant cognitive schemas through the lens of Cheng Yanqiu’s specific circumstances. This article introduces the concept of “artist persona” to encompass the embodied disposition system of Peking opera artists, including field, moral-emotional disposition, and professional knowledge systems. Cheng’s cognitive-action practice context reveals the dynamic co-construction of the “artist persona” with historical situations. The adapted The Lucky Purse regarded as a “flawed work” due to its failure to reconcile the oppositions between “specific-situated-nuanced-habitus” theory (universal human nature) and “class-habitus” theory, impermanence theory and exploitation theory, and the cyclical causality of reincarnation versus a linear progressive view of history. This research suggests that the reflections, adaptations, and struggles of individuals in bearing structural weight precisely highlight the inherent agential energy of actors in the process of creating and writing history.

This paper examines the collective actions and business strategies of peasants in the Wuchang region (of Heilongjiang) as the rice industry transitioned from large-scale production to brand development. The study finds that the formation of specialty industries is not merely the product of state-led, top-down interventions nor the result of local endogenous forces operating without state support; rather, it is a process of intertwined development. Even during the era of “politics dominating economics,” peasants exerted influence by controlling production volumes, thereby indirectly pressuring the state to adjust policies. As the market emerged, peasants also looked to the state to address new structural issues. The logic of peasant action is closely related to the space available for such action, and peasant agency is not merely a form of “resistance from the weak,” but rather a strategic form of interaction. In certain contexts, the spontaneous actions of individual peasants can also play a catalytic role. The developmental history of “Wuchang rice” is, in fact, a history of the evolving relationship between peasant agency and social structures. The key to fostering positive interaction among the relevant stakeholders lies in achieving a balance between these two forces.