38 Practices of Guanxi Production = of guanxi production, these every construction that was shifting an the claims of others, that in turn 二 involved a type 2 Guest/Host Etiquette and Banquets a personhood own claims. The id Chao Gai, Since ancient times 'the strong guest must not exceed his host Strong I may be, but I've only recently arrived from distant parts. I cannot Lin Chong pushed him into the leader 's chair, "This is the time. Don' refuse. lAfter two pages more of discussion and deferral, the first four leaders are seated in the first four seats.] Song and Du should now be seated,"said Chao Gai. But Du Qian and Song n absolutely refused. They begged Liu Tang, Ruan the Second, Ruan the Fifth. and Ruan the Seventh to take the fft, sixth, seventh, and eighth places respec tively Du Qian then accepted the ninth chair, Song Wan the tenth and Zhu Gu From then on, the positions of the eleven heroes were fixed in Liangshan Marsh. Oxen an were slaughter gods of Heaven and Earth, and in celebration of the reorganization. The leaders ate and drank far into ight. They feasted in this manner for several days utlaws of the Marsh, Shi and Luo 1986: 135-138 When asked about the importance of seating at banquets, a retired cadre said,"etiquette emphasizes respect for position"(lijie jiangnu zunjing dengji), and suggested that I read Outlaws of the Marsh, a classic novel about Song d passage quoted above, devote considerable attention to practices of seat ing. Seating was also important in the guest/host etiquette and the ban of 88-go Fengjia. though the hierarchies and differed considerably. This chapter examines how Fengjia residents con- structed and manipulated guanxi and hierarchies through practices of banqueting and guest/host etiquette. anquetin (ya hosting g(zuoke)involved skills important to all types of production, Though most used these skills on occasion, some because of