Alcohol indulgence in a Mongolian community of China

Alcohol Indulgence in a Mongolian Community of ChinaRecent ethnographic fieldwork in a pastoral region of Inner Mongolia indicates that alcohol use and abuse plays a more significant role in contemporary Chinese social process than has previously been disclosed in either domestic or foreign scholarship.By reporting and reflecting upon the practices, purposes, and consequences of habitual indulgence by male Mongolian herders in a particular setting, this article breaks down the monolithic conceptual category of "Chinese drinking" and reconfirms that alcohol-related problems are deeply embedded within broad social issues associated with modernization.by Dee Mack Williamsl!lThis is how anthropologists die, I thought, as I reached to control the knife that Suhe was thrusting in a drunken rage toward his older brother.My friend Suhe was biting and flailing with all the strength of an enraged forty-year-old Mongolian herder, while his relatives and I tried to separate the feuding siblings before their punches escalated into more violence.What I expected would be a routine household interview over drinks had suddenly exploded into a full-fledged domestic brawl, sparked by a tipsy argument over village politics.I knew that Suhe often became belligerent as he consumed liquor, but I had never seen him so emotional.Since I had come with him from another village, I was responsible for restoring the peace and removing him from his own mother's house.At least that was the way she saw it, as she barked repeatedly at me to seize the deadly weapon.Twice I managed to cajole and push Suhe out the door and onto my motorcycle before he knocked me aside, half sobbing and half ranting for me to leave him to his private affairs.At last I persuaded him to drive away with me on the promise that I would not interfere if he wanted to return under his own volition to bring closure to the family dispute.Despite some bloodshed, no one sustained a serious injury from the skirmish.This incident and many other alcohol-related mishaps during my year of fieldwork in a pastoral region of Inner Mongolia Grants from the NationalScience Foundation and the Committee for Scholarly Communication with Chinamadepossiblethe fieldresearch upon whichthis articleis based A postdoctoral researchgrantfromthe AmericanCouncilof LearnedSocieties/Chiang Ching