This article deals with the delicate relationship between vernacular practices and offi-cial discourse in rural China .In regards to geo-mancy (fengshui), rituals, gifting, and corruption discourse , for instance , official representations are often inconsistent with local practice .While it is very common to invite ritual masters for family celebrations and to give money gifts at such occa-sions , these practices are often described in public discourse as backwards and corrupt .Hence it is not appropriate to be too forthright and blunt about such things towards outsiders .When I first arrived in the villages of Bashan in Enshi , and asked a-bout fengshui, people often told me that they would not invite geomancers when building houses— yet in reality, I found out later , almost everyone did precisely this .The reason is that these practices are slightly sensitive , because they are seen as core features of peasant backwardness and feudal superstition .Peasants are keenly aware of such outside representations , and therefore share a sense of complicity , which makes itself visible in gestures of outright denial , but more commonly in embarrassment, irony, and cynicism.