The panacea of culture: the changing fortunes and careers of China’sDongbapriests

Abstract

Purpose– On the background of China’s turn to a market economy and a consumer-driven society, the purpose of this paper is to recount the fortunes of the age-old religion of the Naxi people and their farmer-priests, thedongba.Design/methodology/approach– Detailed ethnography, including participant observation, the collection of life histories and interviews.Findings– The might of the tourist industry dominates the changes in the profession of thedongbapriests, from a faith-based practice to a tourist-driven service; aided by a confluence of interests of relevant stakeholders: the Chinese state, the provincial governments, the Naxi elite. At the core is the transformation, in Chinese terms, from a superstitious religion to culture heritage.Research limitations/implications– Like all case studies and common to ethnographic-based research, the small scale of the research poses questions of generalizability.Practical implications– Shedding light on a little known aspect of the world’s largest economy is of high relevance to business and management scholars.Social implications– The transformation of thedongbademonstrates how major societal changes that happen within a couple of decades affect a society and its economy and a central career track within it.Originality/value– The case study testifies to the encounter of a major modern industry: tourism, with an archaic religion in a remote corner of China, and the transformation of the latter as result.