Windfall Wealth and Envy in Contemporary China

This groundbreaking study examines the cultural manifestations of envy in China during the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, a period of unprecedented economic and social change.

List of contents

1. Introduction 2. The public discourse on envy after 1978 3. Windfall wealth and malicious envy 4. Admiring envy and coveted wealth 5. The ethics of avoiding envy and being rich 6. Luck, fate, auspiciousness, and the changing perceptions of wealth 7. Transcending envy and the hope for the family 8. Conclusion: Towards an anthropological theory of envy

About the author

Zhang Hui is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the Renmin University of China. She gained her PhD at the London School of Economics, UK and has been a visiting scholar at the University of Rome (Sapienza) and University of Warsaw for cross-cultural studies. Her research interests include anthropology of emotion, economic anthropology and urbanisation.

Product details

• Authors: Zhang Hui
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 20.06.2025
• EAN: 9781041065685
• ISBN: 978-1-0-4106568-5
• No. of pages: 158
• Series: China Perspectives
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Geosciences > Geography; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Sociological theories; China, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban, Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography, Regional Studies, Social and cultural anthropology, Regional / International studies, Contemporary China;Anthropology of Emotion;Ethnography