Dangan Castle, Co Meath, Ireland, 1840.jpg

Dang'an () is a Chinese word meaning "archived record/file". Used in the political and administrative context, it means a permanent dossier or archival system that records the "performance and attitudes" of citizens of mainland China. Together with the current system of household registration, the Hukou system, it has been an important part of the government's efforts to maintain control of its people. Majority of the records are kept by the local archive bureaus, some by the State Archives Administration of China at the national level.

Contents

The Dang'an includes personal information such as physical characteristics, employment record, photograph, etc. However, it also contains many other documents that would be considered private in some other cultures. According to Wang Fei-ling and other sources, this includes appraisals by supervisors and peers, academic reports from primary school to university, professional credentials, any criminal convictions or administrative penalties, club/society memberships, employment records, and political history (such as Youth League and CPC membership and assessments). Some of the material is composed by the subject. Even the death certificate and eulogy may be placed in the file.

There are two copies for adults: one held on behalf of their work unit by its supervisory organization, and the other at the local Public Security Bureau (PSB). Access to dang'an is strictly controlled. Citizens do not usually see their dang'an, although they may ask a Communist Party member to check it for them. Alterations may only be carried out by special cadres, and when combined with the custom of guanxi the result is that, "Personal revenge, false entries, and special favors are thus part of the game."

A Montreal-based human rights group has claimed that the PSB is in the process of computerizing the hundreds of millions of dang'an.

Significance

During the Maoist era, these dossiers were consulted by work unit officials as they made decisions about the major life events of those under their control. Urban residents were assigned jobs by the state. Thereafter, permission from the work unit was needed for marriage, childbirth, and transferring the dang'an (i.e., changing workplace). During the Cultural Revolution era, they were even used to determine which individuals and families would be sent to carry out manual labour in the countryside, under the ''theory of bloodlines''. As late as 2003, academic Zhou Jinghao could write that, "A work unit controls employees basically through the dang'an (personnel dossier) system. An employee cannot transfer to another work unit without his dang'an."

As Chinese economic reform has proceeded, the situation has been less clear-cut, as the dang'an system conflicts with market-oriented labour contracts. Graduates have been able to choose their own employment since the mid-1990s in most regions (the latest, Tibet, in 2006), and marriage has not required work unit consent since 2003. Some private companies in prosperous Guangdong do not even require access to the files, which remains with the employee's neighbourhood committee. However, individuals may still be granted or denied passports, promotions, and other benefits based on information in their dang'an. According to BBC
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