vol.22 (2026)
LIU Dan Department of Regional Studies, Key words: affinal relations, agricultural management, Hunan Province, China, rural areas, lotus cultivation, daily life, labor, equality This paper examines economic practices grounded in affinal relations through a case study of large-scale lotus cultivation in rural Hunan Province, China. In Han Chinese society, consanguineal ties have historically been valued more highly than affinal ones. Consequently, affinal relationships have long been overlooked in scholarly research. This neglect, however, does not mean that studies on affinal ties are entirely absent. Previous research has primarily examined these relations within specific ritual contexts—such as weddings and funerals—where they are strengthened and reproduced through gift exchange. Yet, while certain affinal roles, notably the maternal uncle, have received attention, other types of affinal relationships have often been treated collectively and without differentiation. Moreover, although affinal ties are frequently described as more fragile and ambiguously bounded than consanguineal relations, they can sometimes take precedence over blood ties in contexts of economic mutual assistance. In this sense, affinal relationships have been conceptualized as a relatively stable form of social capital. Nevertheless, existing studies have predominantly focused on non-everyday aspects, such as rituals and the accompanying gift exchanges. Although mutual aid among affines is commonly acknowledged, research that specifically investigates the everyday practices of economic mutual assistance within affinal networks remains limited. This gap in the literature raises the question of whether affinal ties can indeed be regarded as stable social capital. To address this question, this paper shifts the focus from the extraordinary domains of ritual and gift exchange to the everyday dimension of economic mutual assistance among affinal kin. The study investigates a management group engaged in lotus seed production in rural Hunan. Lotus cultivation requires substantial labor and financial investment, and the group operated through a management structure based on co-residence and collective labor. This organizational form evokes the collectivization period of Chinese agriculture, and debates surrounding labor and equality from that era provide important insights for the present analysis. Drawing on detailed ethnographic data, this paper elucidates both the formation and the operational methods of an agricultural management entity engaged in lotus cultivation. It also examines the tensions rooted in affinal relations that emerged in the distribution of labor and wages, as well as the ways in which notions of equality were articulated within the group. The analysis reveals that affinal relations possess a flexible and expandable character, encompassing a spectrum of conflicts and even “disposable” ties that are mobilized only temporarily. Thus, while affinal relationships facilitate cooperation in agricultural management, they also function as a flexible yet unstable “resource,” intersecting with practical labor arrangements and local conceptions of equality. |
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