Health, Identification and Pleasure: An Ethnographic Study on the Self-Management and Construction of Taijiquan Park Culture Space

Xiujie Ma, Jing Xie and George Jennings
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Xiujie Ma: Chinese Guoshu Academy, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu 610041, China
Jing Xie: School of Humanities and Arts, Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance, Shanghai 201209, China
George Jennings: Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff CF23 6XD, UK

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-17

Abstract: The public space of a park is one of the most important carriers of social interaction and cultural practice in urban areas. Taking an ethnography of Taijiquan in Chengdu (China) as a case study, this article explores the production of Taijiquan’s “park culture space” (PCS). Our analysis revealed that the development of PCS not only transformed “public space” in the park to a “private space” through Taijiquan practice and exchange but also transformed “material space” in the park into “social space” with identification. We found that working on the process of self-managing Taijiquan’s “park culture space” included the democratic operation mechanism of communication and consultation, the cooperative operation mechanism of mutual benefit, and the incentive operation mechanism of balancing interests. Taijiquan’s “park culture space” was the reproduction of public space that was not only bonded with Taijiquan practice but was also reconstructed and expanded by Taijiquan practitioners. Furthermore, it involved the return of Taijiquan practitioners’ historical memory and collective life experience alongside the construction of Taijiquan practitioners’ group identity and the development of self-organization.

Keywords: public space; self-management; Taijiquan park cultural space; identity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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