拱心石与神王——施鲁克人的nyikang神与神圣王权的研究

In his famous book The Golden Bough,James Frazer mentioned one special custom found along the shores of Lake Nemi in Italy. The forest king who lived beside Lake Nemi, was not only once a prisoner, but also the murderer of his predecessor. Why did the King have to be killed? How could he be killed? This was the very starting point of James Frazer’s divine kingship study. This was in contrast to the common idea held in many cultures, that kings, or even gods, would die. However, in the most primitive societies, kings and gods also had a symbolic duty. People be-lieved that their king took the responsibility to maintain the order of society and the natural world. In that case, it was obvious that if the king became old and weak, the society and order would be in danger. The way used by primitive people to solve this problem was to kill the king when he became weak, and to rebuild this symbol of order through the accession of a new king. This worry about the loss of order and fertility, Frazer explained, was the reason why they choose to kill their king, who was also a god to them. To prove his theory, Fra-zer used many examples. Among them, the exam-ple of the Shilluk of Nilotic Sudan was the only real case of a people killing their king. All the kings were possessed by the spirit of Nyikang, who was not only a hero and king in their history, but also the god who created the universe of the Shilluk people. In Shilluk, it was not the king who ruled the country, but the spirit who possessed him. For that reason, once the king showed his weakness and age, he had to be killed or commit a suicide so as to keep Nyikang in a healthy body. This case was mentioned by James Frazer, re-examined by Evans-Pritchard, and discussed by Henri Frank-fort and David Graeber. The Shilluk people lived in Sudan, in the Ni-lotic area alongside the Nile River. Their kingdom consisted of y many hamlets and occupied by linea-ges. But all these hamlets and lineages shared the same king, who was believed to be the descendant of their semi-divine hero and first king, Nyikang. Nyikang was believed to bring the fertility of men, of cattle, and of the crops. He lived among his people and blessed them. He was a mythological figure who represented a changeless moral order and the stable structure of the state. The Shilluk people believed that the king was the embodiment of Nyikang, and, thus, shared his divinity. All the Kings were believed to be descended from Nyi-kang. The king could be killed for two reasons:when he could no longer satisfy his wives, it was time for him to die and make room for a more vig-orous successor; or he would be killed by one of the prince who coveted the shrine at night. There were many graves of kings and of Nyikang all a-round the kingdom, but all the Shilluk people knew that Nyikang was not buried in any of them, he would never die. The king, however, was the container of the Nyikang’s spirit. Thus, after his death, he was no longer divine, so his funeral would be a clan affair rather than a national affair. In Frazer’s opinion, Shilluk kings confirmed their rule and power by maintaining their connec-tion with the god, Nyikang. And, he gained divin-ity from this connection. However, this divinity was not permanent. In the same way, the stability of the Shilluk social order was also not permanent, so the complete failure of that power would cause the danger to the entire society. When the new king ascended the throne, the social order would be re-established. So, to kill the old king when he could no longer take responsibility for the whole of society was the way for the Shilluk to release the tension and handle the danger which resulted from their king’s death and to keep the social order. Several decades after the publication of The Golden Bough, Evans - Pritchard gave a talk at The Frazer Lecture ( 1948 ) . He looked at the Shilluk custom of killing their king together with the social structure of the Shilluk kingdom, and pointed out some of the unreasonable explanations made by James Frazer. He believed that this cus-tom, which Frazer explained as the way the Shilluk maintained the divinity of kingship, had political reasons and social functions. Based on his field-work, Evans - Pritchard described the political structure of Shilluk as follows: Shilluk hamlets consisted of one to fifty different families. Each hamlet was occupied by members of an extended family or a small lineage. The headman of a hamlet was also the head of a lineage in the settlement. All the Shilluk settlements composed a common polity, i. e. the land belonging to the Kingdom of Shillukland. There were two chiefs in the hierarchy between the king and the settlements. These were the Ger, who represented northern Shillukland, and the Luak, who represented the southern shil-lukland. Those two chiefs each ritually represented half of the kingdom, and they played a very impor-tant role in the election of the new king. Evans-Prichard discovered that there were very close con-nections between the kings, the princes and their villages where they were born. The pregnant wives of the kings would be sent back to their natal villa-ges to bear their children, and the princes were brought up by the headmen of their natal villages. Except them, all of the princes had their royal cli-ents ( Ororo) in the villages. These were the com-panions of the prince, so they would live in the capital with the prince if he was chosen to be the king, and would return to their village to guard the king’s tomb. This information will help us to see and understand the social structure of Shilluk soci-ety. The dual balanced structure of Shilluk society was represented by the southern-northern opposi-tion. We find that the Shilluk kingdom had a double configuration—one that was politically re-flected in its territorial division, which was divided into northern and southern parts, and the other one was ritually reflected in the rituals related to the cult of Nyikang. The king and the capital specific-ally stayed in the center. As Evans - Pritchard said, Northern Shillukland and Southern Shil-lukland were the arches of the kingdom of Shilluk, and kingship was the keystone. This duality was clearly represented in the election system and in-vestiture. The investiture of the new king would take place about a year after his election. Since this ceremony was meant to rebuild the social or-der, all the hamlets would participate in it. After the old king’s death, the spirit of Nyikang would no longer stay in his body. Instead, it would move to an effigy of a hamlet which was in a far north dis-trict of Shillukland. The effigy would be sent by the army of north to the outskirts of the capital, where there would be a ceremonial war with the king’s army. Since Nyikang was in the northern army, it was obvious that the king would fail. Then, the ef-figy of Nyikang would be put on the king’s chair. Then, the king would sit on the chair, and, as a result, the spirit of Nyikang entered into the body of the new king. Now, there would be another war— because Nyikang had entered into the body of the new king, the northern army failed, and, they would then take the effigy back to the shrine. This ceremony not only illustrated the tension be-tween the north and the south of Shillukland, but also the tension between the god Nyikang and the human king. And all these tensions were resolved through a unified kingship. We find that Shilluk society, no matter whether within the vertical and horizontal structure of the southern -northern op-position, or among the different hamlets, they all had different objects to show their loyalty. Howev-er, all these differences would be reduced when they faced a unified national symbol— Nyikang or divine kingship. The king did not belong to any single tribe or hamlet after the ceremony. He be-came the symbol of the happiness and continuity of all the Shilluk people. From this ceremony, Evans -Pritchard re -explained the reason for the special custom of the Shilluk. He asserted that in Shilluk society, the king’s death would cause chaos and many dangers. The king had died in the way they described be-cause they were afraid of exposing the tensions hid-den within the social structure. So, this tradition was only a political myth hidden under the facts. The second kind of death of the king was that he was killed by a prince. Evans-Pritchard believed that all Shilluk princes received support from their natal villages. If all the tribes had their own king, the Shilluk kingdom would definitely be torn apart. So, they still needed a center from which to build the whole kingdom, i. e. the kingship. In a king-dom of this kind, if the king attached himself to one hamlet, other hamlets would fight for their own rights. So, because the kingship was permanent and ensured the unity of the whole kingdom, it should be emphasized. In contrast to Evans-Pritchard’ s structural-functionist explanation, the American archaeolo-gist, Henri Frankfort, made his analysis of the customs of the Shilluk based upon the methodology of mythology. He compared the divine kingship of Egypt and Shilluk in his book Kingship and the Gods. And, based upon the process of the combi-nation and separation of the king and the gods, he discussed the function of divine kingship. In E-gypt, the pharaoh was called “the Lord of Two Lands”. This title involved two gods who were en-emies:Horus and Seth. They were respectively the Kings of Upper and Lower Egypt. Even when Seth had been defeated by Horus, it did not mean that he totally disappeared. This is because he had his own function within the existing order. Horus was not only a mythological figure, but also was one which reflected on the pharaoh. The pharaoh was always regarded as Horus or his embodiment. This idea is quite similar to the connection of Nyikang with the Shilluk king. However, in Egypt, there was another god who had a close connection with the kingship, that is, Osiris. In Egypt, the dead king was believed to change into Osiris, and the king on the throne, just as Horus, was regarded as the son of Osiris. Beside this connection, in the myths, Osiris was said to be the “Ka ” of Horus, which was something like energy, and for the king, it was somewhat like a kind of ruling power. This kind of father-son relationship also ex-isted among the Shilluk people. When Evans -Pritchard described the ceremony, he mentioned that Dak, the son of Nyikang, was also honored. However, in Shilluk, Nyikang meant all the kings, no matter whether dead or alive. What was more important is that Shilluk kings themselves were not gods, they were just processed by Nyikang, and it was Nyikang who was the real ruler. That was the reason why the accession ceremony of the king was so important. However, in the Egyptian view, the concept of kingship itself was more complicated than that of the Shilluk. All the Egyptian kings themselves were gods, and their orders, as god’s order, must be obeyed. So, although there was a stable kingship in the two societies, the roles played by the king were totally different. However, we can still find some basic elements of the divine kingship from these two cases. Because the king himself was a human being, he would definitely turn old and die. In order to resolve the social stress caused by the succession of the kingship, the kingship had to be stable. So, the king must have a relationship with the gods. It was the god and the kingship that maintained the unity of this structure. In 2011 , David Graeber published his paper titled The Divine Kingship of the Shilluk in which he used theories from political science to discuss the relationship between Nyikang and the Shilluk king . He tried to use this case to understand the e-mergence of the state and power. He compared the political status of Shilluk with their myth and cos-mology. He proposed three very important con-cepts:i) divine kingship which was absolutely dic-tatorial and had god-like authority—and was one in which this divine god went beyond the morality;ii) the sacred kingship which was ritualized and exemplary—this was a kind of prophetic and legis-lative king ; iii) violence and antagonism with no reason - the subject of the violence was the sover-eign and the people. All of these three concepts, David Graeber said, could be found in the Shilluk Kingdom. That was not because they were so -called primitive ethnic groups, but because this kingdom was a “Utopian State”. In other words, this kingdom, or the construction of its main cit-ies, was an imitation to the cosmic order, and, therefore, did not need a management institution to rule it. However, because this could never exist in the real world, violence appeared. David Graeber divided the kingship into two types: the divine and the sacred. In the former, the king was believed to be the god itself. And, in the latter, the kings were those who brought and created order. However, if order was set up by a king, it was asked whether or not the king himself still stayed within the order? So, the extreme type of sacred kingship would be the denial of the limi-tation of the king’s life. David Graeber suggested that the King of Shilluk did not have real power. The responsibility the Shilluk king undetook was the order of the whole cosmos. When he became weak, he could no longer judge and rule based on the cosmology. This is the reason why he had to be killed. We can see that the king who ruled the state according to the cosmology was more like a divine king, so his fate was that he must be killed by people. However, after he was killed, the for-mer “scapegoat” became the god and was wor-shiped by the people. The social order was rebuilt because of the king’s death, and in doing so he be-came the embodiment of the strength needed to re-build the social order. So, we can note that in Shilluk society, although people expect stability and order, they cannot allow the rule to become a central control and monopoly. The king should be in the center of order, but because the king would definitely become old, people tried to reduce the disorder through killing him. Due to the limitations of the king, he was trapped in the absolute authori-ty of the divine kingship, and the infinite order of the order. Hence, he was killed again and again. The appearance of the king was to resolve the dilemma within this society. He tried to build a U-topia, but was trapped in it because of his own limitations. Just like the kings were killed con-stantly, the conflict between sovereignty and the people would never stop. David Greaber pointed out that this constant opposition was the origin of state. This opinion totally refuted existing political theories, o matter whether they were that of Max Weber or of those who believe that it was through making law and rules to solve the conflict or the so-cial tensions in Africa, for their opinions were based on the perspective of nation state. However, in Africa, at least in Nilotic Sudan, they were u-sing this conflict to build their state. Graeber’s ar-ticle indicated that in the war between the sover-eign and the people, the sovereign is limited, and can never win truly. It reveals a new possibility for the construction of a nation state and political sys-tem. To sum up the discussions above, we have found that in those societies with divine kingship, the reason for the king’s divinity was because he undertook the people’s expectation of a stable soci-ety, and the fertility of crops, and livestock. Be-cause these expectations were not stable in them-selves, people either believed that their king him-self was a god, or tried to ensure that their king was in a healthy state. The similarity between them was that people had to keep the kingship stable and reduce the tension and chaos caused by the king’s death. From their fear of disorder and the fear of powerful order, we can even find a variety of ways of thinking about a perfect and eternal order, as well as on an imperfect and limited life. Thus the King always connected with a stone, for people al-ways expect a stable and changeless eternity.     

韩国全罗南道岁时风俗研究

Seasonal customs, also called“performances that take place within a one year cycle”, refer to a series of customs, patterns or norms practiced periodically and habitually on spe-cific days within the regular cycle of the four sea-sons. Seasonal customs are found in every month, such as the Spring Festival in the first month, Laborers’ Day in the second month, The 3rd day in the third month, the birthday of Sakyamuni in the fourth month, the Dano Festival in the fifth month, etc. ( all dates mentioned in this paper are in the lunar calendar) . As the years go by, the seasonal customs change constantly. Many of them have been faded as society has changed, and they have been replaced by National Holidays or other legal holidays which regulate people’s lives. In addition, as western and other cultures filter in, holidays like Valentine’s Day, and Christmas have stepped into people’s lives. Because these festivals are no longer linked with traditional religious meanings found in the old customs, and place more emphasis on entertainment, they have been accepted almost instantly, taking up social space, and changing people’s activities and behaviors. Apart from these, festivals in some particular areas became popular and spread nationwide as the result of na-tional policies. As an important constituent, seasonal customs can reveal the cultural state and spiritual world of a country or region. Jeollanam-do in South Korea, known as the treasure house of customs, possesses rich customs and heritage and various annual cus-toms can be seen here. This paper, by making a general investigation of the customs in Jeollanam-do, can help us further understand the state of this region’s history and ideology, and the cultural im-plications hidden within it. In the first month of the lunar calendar, the primary festivals are the Spring Festival, the First Day of the First Lunar Month, and the Fifteenth Day of the First Lunar Month. 1 ) In the Spring Festival, the most important activities are offering sacrifices to gods and ancestors, sweeping tombs, and paying New Year’s visits. People also believe that this is the proper time to avoid the“three dis-asters”, keep away night ghosts, burn hair, and go to fortune tellers, etc. There are also games played in this period, such as the see-saw and board-turning. 2) the First Day of the First Lunar Month cannot be counted as a traditional festival. However, a day’s rest is taken in the countryside when every house sticks spring couplets on their doors or pillars. These are pairs of long strips of paper on which auspicious words or sayings are written. 3 ) In traditional society, when farming dominated, people observed the Fifteenth Day of the First Lunar Month with grand ceremony, main-ly through engaging in entertaining activities. In Jeollanam-do, the festival atmosphere is warmly created by playing folk or peasant music, flying kites, playing tug-of-war games, or Gohssaum, and so on. In addition to the group activities, indi-vidual families might offer sacrifices in their hou-ses. Each village also offers sacrifices together, known as the Tangshan Sacrifice and Dragon King Sacrifice. There are various superstitions related to this day. For example, many people will buy a strainer and hang it at home, believing that it will bring blessings. Or, on the eve of this day people might set fires on field ridges, believing that this will bring a good harvest. People might also set up Changsheng or Changganzi, along the borders or milestones separating villages from each other, which are known as the patron gods protecting their territory. On this day the staple food is supposed to be“Wugufan”, literally“Rice with Five Grains”, which actually includes more than five kinds of va-rious grains. It is so-called because all the main grains are collectively called “five grains”. In ad-dition, people also cook the“Eight Treasures Rice Soup” which contains glutinous rice, Chinese dates, chestnut, honey, pine nuts, an beans, etc. In the second lunar month, there are the Laborers’ Day and the Yongdung Festival. On the 1st of the second month, Laborers’ Day, laborers used to be given a day’s rest when people made a kind of dessert known as “Agecake”. However, because no one hires laborers nowadays, this cus-tom has actually disappeared. It is said that on 1st day of the second month, Yongdung Halmoni de-scends from the sky, and returns there on the 15th or 20th day. Yongdung Halmoni is said to be the goddess in charge of wind, so, in fishing areas where wind matters a lot, people will offer sacri-fices to her. It is said that if Yongdung Halmoni descends with her daughter-in-law, the wind throughout the whole year will be too strong to guarantee a good harvest, but good sailings can be counted on if she descends with her daughter. On the 3rd day of the third month, women in Jeollanam-do bring simple cooking equipment to the riverside, and pass a pleasant day there. They mix glutinous rice powder with rhododendron petals to make pancakes which they call “flower pan-cakes”. While they eat, they sing songs about flower pancakes or other folk songs. Around 3 rd day of the third month, butterflies start to appear and “dance”. It is believed that if yellow butter-flies are seen first, the coming year will be smooth, but if white butterflies are seen first, there will be many funerals or other inauspicious things. On the 8 th day of the fourth month the birthday of Sakyamuni, many people go to the temples and hang Buddhist lanterns. The display of lanterns on that day is truly grand. It is attended mainly by women who pray for happiness, safety, good health, success and prosperity for their family members. In the temples, people perform the ritu-al of“circumambulating the stupas”, spending the entire night sleepless walking around the stupas, praising gods’ merits and credits, and repeating their wishes in their hearts. While circling the stu-pas, people usually listen to Buddhist chants,some places may play the traditional music with tradi-fional instrument. On the 5th day of the fifth month, on the Dano Festival, the following activities are found in Jeol-lanam-do. 1 ) wrestling, a competitive game played mainly by males; 2 ) swinging, played mainly by females; 3 ) washing hair with acorus calamus. It is believed that hair becomes smooth and shiny if washed with water boiled with acorus calamus. Therefore, many women wash their hair in this way on the 5th day of the fifth month. 4) imbibing herbal medicine. During the Dano Festi-val, all things on the earth are said to be suitable for medicine. There are drinkable herbal juices made from Leonurus heterophyllus, or Ay Tsao. People pluck all kinds of herbs and dry them for future use. The 15 th day of the sixth lunar month is Yudu Day. It is believed that if you wash your hair with clear stream water on this day, bad luck is kept a-way and you will not suffer heatstroke in summer. According to local folklore, the Dragon God and God of the field ditches check on the crops on this day, so no fieldwork is allowed, and a day’s rest is required. If people insist on going to work, it is said they will not have a good harvest. Rice cakes are also prepared on this day and placed in the crop fields as simple offerings to the Dragon God for a good harvest. In June, which has the hottest days in the year, the month is divided into the ini-tial, middle and final hottest days. In order to build up their health, people cook delicious gin-seng chicken soup by putting ginseng, jujubes and glutinous rice into the chicken’s abdomen. Or, for the sake of vitality, some men may drink a body-protecting soup, the so-called dog meat soup. The 7 th day of the seventh month is the Chilseok Festival. Since Chilseok is closely con-nected with the Chilseok God, every family will pray to the Chilseok God for blessings, or go to temples to offer sacrifices. In this festival some families may offer sacrifices to Chengzhu God as in other festivals, but not many offerings are required except for some rice and vegetable dishes. On the 15th day, the Baekjung Day, all kinds of fortune-telling activities prevail. All fieldwork stops and a day’s rest is taken. On this day people also prepare food to offer to the ancestors. The 15th day of the eight month, the Mid-Au-tumn Festival, is characterized by harvest and thanks-giving. Various activities can be seen in Je-ollanam-do, among which offering sacrifices and sweeping tombs are given priority, even more than during the Spring Festival. During the mid-autumn days everyone, rich or poor, makes Songbing, which is very much like a Chinese moon cake, and it is still the most representative festival food for the Mid-Autumn Festival Day. After finishing mak-ing the Songbing with newly harvested rice, people will carry them together with many fruits to offer sacrifices in the early morning and sweep tombs. Some people may go to the cemetery to pull weeds before sweeping tombs. At night, during the full moon, in order to liven up atmosphere, women will perform traditional dance . There is also a custom observed on the Mid-autumn day—married daugh-ters will meet with their own parents and relatives in a place located mid-way between the two homes. Sometimes, female neighbors may agree to meet with each other at a certain appointed place and bring food along to spend a pleasant day to-gether. The 9 th day of the ninth month is the Jungu Festival. It is no longer regarded as a particular festival, but it is still considered a lucky day. In the past, on this day, people would make wine, rice cakes and even medicine, out of chrysanthe-mums. Moreover, literati would appreciate poems as well as maple leaves, which were quite scenic. There are no special festivals during the 10 th lunar month, though this is considered a lucky month because many things forbidden in other months are permissible during this month. The 15th day is a day for some families to offer sacrifices to ancestors or drive away disasters. In rural areas, one of the family customs is for women to bathe and change their clothes before replacing the old rice in ancestor pot with newly harvested rice. This is re-garded as a recommended ritual to domestic gods of new rice. In the 11th lunar month, at the winter sol-stice, it is customary to have red bean soup, which is cooked with glutinous rice powder and red beans mixed together. Its red color is believed to protect people against evil spirits. People offer the red bean soup to their ancestors, and, splash it in front of doors, on walls, around the kitchen, and in their yards. This is all done in order to keep ghosts outside. The 30th day of the 12th month, New Year’s Eve, is the time to stay up late to see in the New Year. So, every house has lights on overnight. It is customary to visit elderly people and inquire a-bout their physical condition and to show care on this eve. This is called “paying an old year’s call”. In olden times, snow which fell in the 12 th month was put into bottles, and when the snow melted the water was believed to be a good medi-cine for curing heatstroke in summer. To sum up, seasonal customs in Jeollanam-do are multi-functional, including the following five aspects:1 ) worshipping the ancestors;2 ) praying for a good harvest and good fishing;3 ) keeping a-way bad luck and calling for blessings;4 ) sharing happiness and improving harmony;5 ) hygiene and health care. Folk customs in Jeollanam-do are diversified. While taken as the concrete outward representa-tions of seasonal customs, these folk scenarios car-ry distinctive features of local customs: 1 ) rural music is the most important factor constituting these seasonal customs by enriching the functions and connotations; 2 ) With its keen local charac-teristics, distinctive quality of including spells, and carrying a religious sensibility, games are part and parcel to seasonal customs; 3 ) Different cul-tural circles are accompanied by different customs and habits. So there are differences between inland and coastal or island areas, and even within the coastal area, differences can occur among particu-lar sea areas.     

楚克奇人的萨满信仰与社会变迁

The Chukchee in northeastern Si-beria have a longstanding historical tradition of shamanism which was closely integrated into their traditional society and way of life. In accordance with their different modes of subsistence, the Chuckchee are divided into two basic groups, the maritime Chukchee and the reindeer-breeding Chukchee. The maritime Chukchee lived a rela-tively settled life, and hunting sea mammals played an important role in their economy. The sea mam-mal meat was their main food, its skins and the i-vory from walrus were made into different tools, and the bones of whale were the main material used for building houses. A “unit” of maritime Chukchee was composed of people whose lives cen-tered around skin boats, and this group , included both Chukchee and non-Chukchee people. they all lived together, hunted together and organized their hunting according to a special rules. The reindeer-breeding Chukchee mainly lived a nomadic life. They ate reindeer meat, dressed in reindeer fur and lived in tents made of reindeer skins. The reindeer-breeding Chukchee formed social units composed of four to five families. They lived in scattered tents and grazed reindeer together. The unit also included some non-Chukchee people. I. Shamanism among the Chukchee The Chukchee believed that we live in a world with spirits. The world was filled with various spir-its, who could not be seenor touched, were always changing and lived a life similar with that of hu-mans. In other words, the spirits also raised rein-deer, hunted, married and bore children. Wicked spirits harmed humans by preying upon their souls or bodies. Sickness and disaster were caused by this. In order to cope with this kind of sickness and disaster, it was essential to invite a shaman to combat the wicked spirits, and in some cases, the shaman made sacrifices to please such wicked spir-its. In addition to these different kinds of spirits, there were also powerful deities, such as mountain deities, forest deities, and river deities. Such dei-ties were responsible not only for the small spirits who lived in the mountains, forests and rivers, but they also were responsible for the animals and plants that were there. People who lived in or nearby these places had to communicate with the spirits and supernatural beings living in the area before they used the area’s resources. Moreover, they had to communicate with the more powerful elements which controlled the universe. According to Vladimir Bogoraz ( Waldemar Borgorose) , shamanism among the Chukchee man-ifested itself as “Family Shamanism”, and “was still in its primary stage of development”. As such, it provided “the most characteristic, pure and primitive” features of shamanism. It was com-mon in the 1800 s and early 1900 s for males to play a leading role in most Siberian groups. Yet, in spite of male dominance in shamanism, female shamans were always considered to be“leading fig-ures in the shamanic field”. Among Chukchee and Koryak there is another kind of shaman where the male shaman takes the form of a female. This hap-pened when the shaman is possessed by the identi-ty of a female spirit. They received“the call of de-ity” to change their sex through visions. In general, Chukchee shaman experienced the call to become a shaman during their adolescence. The call usually came from shaman’s inner voice, based on which the “candidate shaman” estab-lished their relationship with deities. This sudden calling often confused the initiate, and they were not always so sure about their situation. They felt“shyness” and fear; lost interest in regular life, and were unwilling to work and communicate with others. They had no appetite, and slept a lot. They often stayed in their tentall of the time, or ran away when they went out for hunting or grazing their reindeer. Generally, young people were un-willing to accept the call of the deity. No matter if they were novice shaman or ex-pert shaman, both communicated with the “deity”through drumming and singing. Novice shaman practiced drumming, as well as singing, for long periods of time in order to master the skills–this required great patience on the part of the perform-ers. Ventriloquism was the Chukchee shaman’s specific “sorcery skill” in which they were ex-tremely skillful. Stabbing a knife into their belly was also one of the sorcery skills frequently prac-ticed by Chukchee shaman. II. The changes in Chukchee shamanism dur-ing the Soviet Period During the late 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet Union government established many schools in mi-nority regions. These newly built schools laid a firm foundation for their anti-shamanism campaign. Scholars during the Soviet period no longer regar-ded shamanism as an essential element embedded within a group’s economic life, social organization, religious life and festivals, but sought to destroy it through messages which spoke of “ideology” and“class”. As a result, Chukchee shamanism expe-rienced enormous, passive, cultural change which created a cultural breakdown. At the same time, shamanic culture also exhibited a state of conflict, resistance and avoidance to survival. After World War II, the Soviet Union govern-ment tried to advance the process of collectivization in the Chukchee tundraregion. Up to the early 1950s, almost all the pastoral reindeer were con-sidered state-owned. The Soviet Union government merged reindeer-breeding collective units and coastal hunting collective units, and established mixed “farms” in the Arctic Circle and along the Bering Strait’s coast. The residences of so many coastal Chukchee were demolished, and they were relocated to alternative settlements. In these new and larger settlements, they did not need tradition-al skills, so, they could only do manual labor. Since the 1960s, the ethnic consciousness in the Northeast Siberia region has undergone tremendous changes. Most young Chukchee people do not know whether their parents were from coastal-hun-ting or inland reindeer-breeding groups, which, as we know, were the basic distinctions among the Chukchee people. More young people rejected tra-ditional occupations, and were more willing to par-ticipate in “modern” work, and they increasingly identified themselves with the social-cultural norms of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, their economic life and social organization experienced big changes under the influence of the Soviet Union. The social support of shamanism was destroyed, although it still existed privately and underground. III. Shamanic cultural revival after the col-lapse of the Soviet Union After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, a large number of Russians “escaped”;they “killed reindeer, took away all the things that could be taken away”;the young indigenous people also left in order to find jobs outside. In order to rebuild the local economy, the autonomous communities began to try to establish an “obshchina” ( com-mune or society) . In that moment, when the locals were trying to understand the world around them and were looking for ethnic identity, they, once a-gain, needed their traditional worldview and spirit-ual support. In the areas where the shamanic tradi-tion had broken down, one could only rely on reading early European travelers’ records related to shamanism, or talking with old people to get infor-mation about shamanism, and by doing so, revive the once ruptured local beliefs and culture by hold-ing religious and cultural performances regularly. Generally speaking, shamanic culture today has lost its close links with the “special spaces”, as well as its close relationship with the communi-ty. As such, it is difficult for the tradition to repre-sent the strength of the whole society, control or rescue its people and provide prosperity, fertility and guarantee military success for its people. In other words, the essential structure of shamanism, whether it was the internal cultural significance or its integration with society and environment, has been broken and shattered. Fragmented shamanic heritage is the vivid portrait of its fragmented de-velopment stage. IV. Summary Traditional Chukchee economic life, social or-ganization, religious festivals and customswere linked with each other. As a whole, they worked together and created a social order for the Chukchee, and constituted the cultural cohesion of the Chukchee. Shamanism among the Chukchee was integrated into the history of the nation and its social context. Each Chukchee could participate in religious life. Therefore, this “family shamanism”and its “shamanism features” distinguished it from other forms of shamanism among the Siberian tribes. Chukchee people reacted very passively to Christianity when it reached there. Until the early 20th century, almost all Chukchee still adhered to their own shamanistic practices. During the Soviet period, Northeast Siberia experienced the anti-religious movement, collectiv-ization movement, compulsory residence resettle-ment movement, “scientific” reindeer-breeding and other foreign “progress” and “civilization”movements. Such “progress” and “civilization”were not familiar nor were they sympathetic to the indigenous people’s traditional life. The old way of life of the Chukchee was broken, the original so-cial relations were shattered. Therefore, the Chukchee and their entire culture were “re-formed”. Remains and practices of shamanism a-mong the Chukchee went underground, retreated from mainstream social life, and became an inti-mate way of healing. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many Russians“ran away”, and the young Chukchee al-so left their traditional homeland. The economic depression, population decline, and social erosion brought big challenges to the movement to “re-build” Chukchee society. As an attempt to bind local Chukchee people, the “obshchina” provided a possibility for reorganizing. Now, shamanism in Chukchee, just like other social organizations, is in a fragmented, theater-like state. The revival of shamanism in Chukchee in the future will not be u-nilateral, but rather rooted in its social and cultural revival system.     

从民间文学看哈尼族的传统生态观

The Hani’s rich folk literature has preserved their traditional culture. Interpreting it from the perspective of ecological culture may lead us to the conclusion that the Hani’s traditional eco-logical understanding is that of a harmonious rela-tionship between man and nature. This ecological understanding is similar to that of other ethnic groups in Yunnan, such as the Bai, Dai, Wa, Yao, Naxi, Jingpo, Bulang, and other ethnic groups, which shows that this ecological under-standing is common across the Chinese nation. Meanwhile, this ecological understanding has an enlightening role for human beings to keep the eco-logical balance in the present day. This article tries to investigate the deep connection between the Hani’s folk literature and the natural ecology, and reveals the Hani’s traditional ecological under-standing. 1 . The Hani’s traditional ecological under-standing is revealed in their folk literature The Hani have no fairy tales in the strict sense, their literature is a kind of“universal litera-ture” enjoyed by both adults and children. Howev-er, the Hani’s folk literature also created a roman-tic world similar to that of fairy tales. This “fairy tale world” is just the world of nature reflected in the Hani’s literature. The typical characteristics of this world are harmony and happiness. In this har-monious and happy world, mountains are a para-dise for man and all other things on earth. In this paradise, man is only a part of nature, they are not the spirit or the core of the world. Man, animals and plants have their own places, and their own happiness. Meanwhile, they support each other, and have a common development. In a word, man and nature have a highly harmonious relationship. When environmental protection and ecological bal-ance become a common topic in today’s discourse, one can gain some insight by reading Hani fairy tales and legends. Therefore, digging out the eco-logical beauty from Hani folk literature still has a practical purpose. How then does Hani folk literature describe the relationship between man and nature? We find that the Hani folk literature is full of stories con-cerning how the animals and plants save mankind. Many works reflect this idea: if mankind had not been assisted by the animals and plants, it must have died out long ago, therefore, man should show his thanks to the animals by protecting them. Be-cause the animals and plants saved man’s life, and man knew to show his gratitude to them, the rela-tionship between man and nature is always good in the fairy tales, although they live in their own ways, they never disturb each other — they have a totally harmonious relationship. Moreover, man can even marry animals and have descendants with them. The harmonious relationship between man, animals and plants is a basic theme of the Hani folk literature, as well as a basic part of the Hani eco-logical understanding. The relationship between man, animals and plants reflects not only a friend-
ship, but a kind of family relation, because they can even become couples, although the couples can sometimes suddenly turn hostile — they may have disagreements or even come to blows. When this happens, the deities could help to solve the problem— this is another aspect which reflects a harmoni-ous relationship between man, animals and plants. In the Hani folk literature, the harmony be-tween man and nature is also reflected in the mutu-al assistance between man, animals and plants. In this kind of literature, man, animals and plants are always equal; they not only have a common goal and the same standards for good and evil, but also have a common language, with which man, animals and plants are able to negotiate with each other, help each other and reap their own rewards. 2 . The cultural sources of the Hani’s tradition-al ecological understanding Although literature is a creation of the writer, it reflects social life. The writers’ imaginings can-not be separated from the practicalities of place, and folk literature has its own particularity. Folk literature is created by several folk artists from gen-eration to generation. It might be a result from sev-eral people’s discussions during the creative process or when the work is passed down, hence, it is typically collective work and has typically mass characteristics. Although the individual plays a significant role in the creation of a work, the content of folk literature does not always reflect a single artist’s idea, but the idea of a group. There-fore, we say that the harmonious ecological under-standing reflected in the Hani literature actually re-flects an overall awareness of the Hani people. Why did the Hani form this kind of common awareness, then? We believe that it is decided by the Hani’s living environment and common cultural resources. Most Hani people live in the mountain-ous or semi-mountainous areas between Mt. Ailao and Mt. Mengle. The living environment partly in-fluences ideology. Because of the level of inacces-sability, and self -sufficient life style, communi-cation among the different Hani villages is rare,
however, what they see every day in their living ar-eas are mountains; therefore, their similar living environment leads them to have a similar under-standing of the mountains. The Hani are a “migrated ethnic group”. Their ancestors originally lived in the remote north. Due to natural and social causes, they moved south. Following the cultural development and improvement of natural conditions, their popu-lation gradually increased. After they stepped into the mountainous areas of Mt. Ailao, they had im-proved material conditions and peaceful life, and the population dramatically increased. Later, they settled down in the broad area of the Honghe and Lishejiang drainage basins. The Hani’s history of migration and development indicates that no matter how large a population they have, and how they are scattered, their culture has the same origin. Therefore, tracing the origin of the Hani culture is very important to understand why the Hani share a common awareness of the harmonious relationship between man and nature. Another point worth noting is that the Hani are called as an “Ethnic Group of Stories”. The Hani like telling stories, and making up stories, therefore, there are many popular stories among the Hani. This is because Hani have no writing, which makes the essence of the Hani culture lie in their oral stories. The ancestors’ stories, and their wisdom are all spread and handed down through these stories. The Hani stories actually play act as cultural carriers, burdened with the task of preser-ving culture, and playing an educational role. It is due to the influence of the ancestors’ traditional culture that the Hani have kept an awareness of maintaining a harmonious relationship between man, animals and plants. Then, which factors in the Hani’s cultural origin have promoted this awareness and made it exist for a long time? This article separately discusses the impact of the origin of the heavens, earth, man, animals, and plants, as well as the understanding of animism to this awareness.
In the Hani’s traditional religion, animism is a basic tenet. The Hani believe that the universe is created by the gods, and all things on earth are brought about by the gods. These deities infuse the things in the universe with a spirit; man cannot hurt other things, including those things without life;and the proper relationship between man and nature is harmony. A harmonious relationship means to obey the deities’ will, and is a special representation of their worship. Some people be-lieve that the formation of this kind of understand-ing is directly related to the ecological environment in which the Hani live. They live in the mountain-ous areas and conduct farming work from genera-tion to generation. The forest and water sources are their basic production materials. While using and transforming nature, they must protect and respect nature. Only in this way can an ethnic group un-dergo constant development in a difficult environ-ment—this already has become common knowledge during the process of inheriting the Chinese culture in the past thousand years. And to the Hani peo-ple, this is their principle, as well as their life philosophy. The Hani’s understanding of animism is a kind of pantheistic ideology, which belongs to religious aspect and does not fit with materialism. However the understanding of animism plays a very big role in the Hani’s formation of a self-consciousness in protecting the animals and plants, and keeping the ecological balance. Its role is not limited to an in-dividual or a local area, instead, its meaning to the whole Hani area cannot be underestimated. Hence, we take it as one of the sources for the for-mation of the harmonious natural understanding of all Hani people.     

台湾排湾族头饰特征及文化内涵

Among Taiwan’s aboriginal tribes, the Paiwan has the most exquisite decorative adorn￣ments on their costumes. In addition to the decora￣tions of their clothing, they also give importance to the decorations on their headdress. Every group designs different headdresses according to social status— this also reflects the cultural identity of the group. The headdress is an external marker of ethnic culture, the carrier of ethnic customs and aesthetic consciousness, and it helps to transmit and promote traditional culture.
The Paiwan people have various forms and shapes of headdresses which are designed freely according to the designer’s artistic inspiration. However , the snake form can only be used by trib￣al leaders. The headdresses are mainly made from natural materials, such as eagle feathers, animal hides, animal teeth, horns, flowers, grasses, seeds, colored glazed beads, shells, ceramics, metal, etc. However, eagle feathers, animal hides, animal teeth, horns, and colored, glazed beads can only be used by leaders and nobles;common people are strictly forbidden to use these materials.
The social organization of the Paiwan and their festivals and sacrificial ceremonies determine their various headdresses. The headdresses and head bands of the Paiwan are made mainly from black or red flannel; the shape and the use of the materials reflect hierarchical differences. Head￣dresses can be divided into those of leaders, no￣bles, warriors and commoners.
The form of the Paiwan people’s headdress consists of strong layering;each is decorated with a variety of materials, creating a three-dimensional effect. The decoration of a moulded cottonmouth snake on the head band reflects the people’s snake worship, and also the group’s aesthetic conscious￣ness and worship of ancestors.
The decorative expertise and complex working process reflect the Paiwan people’s superb skills in weaving. The materials used for the headdresses of Paiwan people are mostly derived from nature, and strongly reflect regional characteristics.
Totem worship is characteristic of Paiwan reli￣gion, and it is a form which combines the worship of nature and ancestors. The forms of animals re￣flect the psychology of Paiwan people’ s original worship in which they depended on getting along with nature, and in which they placed their hopes in Totem worship.
The Paiwan have many myths, which is one of the characteristics of their culture. The forms of the sun and cottonmouth snake, which decorate the headdresses of the leaders, reflect that the sun is the creation of life. Chamilia beads are regarded as a class symbol by the Paiwan people, and have a protective function.
The first child of a Paiwan family, no matter whether it is a boy or girl, has the right to inherit property of his/her paternal or maternal home. One should also notice that the colors, materials, and forms of the headdress of Paiwan man and woman in the same class are the same.
In summary, the shapes and forms of the Paiwan people’s headdresses vary. They reflect the Paiwan people’s unique aesthetic consciousness, and embody the Paiwan people’s excellent tech￣niques in traditional decorative handwork. The use of colors represents the Paiwan’s optimistic attitude towards life. Materials are derived from nature, which reflects the group’s harmonious relationship with the nature. Headdresses are not only an exter￣nal form of decoration, but they also have profound cultural connotation and national consciousness. The class system, taking nature as beauty, worshi￣ping ancestors, their myths, and the equality be￣tween men and women reflected in the headdresses of the Paiwan people indicate the Paiwan people’s inheritance of tradition, natural worship and pur￣suits in life. The study of the artistic features and cultural connotation of the headdress of the Paiwan people can help to protect Paiwan traditional adornment technique, and enrich the requirement of diversity in headdress design.     

师儒与官绅：传统中国治水社会的士绅研究述评

Already for quite some time, the u-nique power structure of the traditional Chinese so-ciety has been viewed and discussed in the field of humanities and social sciences. Focusing on the status and role of its gentry class, Chinese and Western scholars have deeply researched the gen-eral characteristics of the political structure in the traditional Chinese society. And the analysis of the interaction between different social groups from the perspective of the traditional Chinese ‘hydraulic ’ structure has even gradually deepened and expand-ed this research topic. This paper looks at relevant research conducted by former scholars like e. g. Weber, Wittfogel, and Fei Xiaotong while attemp-ting to come to a more historic understanding of the relationship between the imperial power and the gentry class within the power structure of tradition-al Chinese society: this essay indeed focuses on the political status and social function of the gentry class in the traditional Chinese hydraulic society. Based on the research findings of scholars like Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Heinrich Marx, Weber pointed out that in Eastern societies there was a certain relationship between the autoc-racy and the local irrigation-based agriculture. And Weber believed that the relationship between the autocratic imperial power and the more local Con-fucian gentry was the key to understanding the po-litical structure of the Chinese society. At that time and place, the local water management-projects, other entrenched bureaucracies, the respected Confucian gentry, as well as the central imperial power were all intertwined together; this shaped a unique form of political power in traditional China. By borrowing Marx’ s concept of ‘the Asiatic mode of production’ , Wittfogel discussed the rela-tionship between ( i ) the political autocracy and ( ii) indigenous irrigation projects in Eastern socie-ties, seen from the perspective of political econom-ics. He proposed that the political autocracy was a result of the social functioning of hydraulic pro-jects, and briefly described the Eastern society as an ‘Oriental-authoritarian ’ society under the rule of an ‘absolute monarchy’ . In the eyes of Wittfo-gel, the traditional Chinese gentry was just a bu-reaucratic group attached to the totalitarian rule:their power did not draw from their own knowledge monopoly of value ethics and ritual standards, but solely from their power-relationship with the des-potic ruler. According to Wittfogel, the‘hydraulic society’ , totalitarian rule, bureaucratic groupings, and imperial power were all intertwined and togeth-er made up the government form of the traditional Chinese society. While Weber described the gentry as reputa-ble Confucian intellectuals, Wittfogel regarded them as mere bureaucrats firmly attached to the to-talitarian rule. In contrast with the Western schol-ars’ too simple view of the ‘gentry group’, Chi-nese scholars have emphasized that this ‘gentry group’ was an organism made up of bureaucrats and literati:they not only participated in local gov-ernance and cultural activities, but they also lived and passed on the inheritance of Confucian ortho-dox ideology. Fei Xiaotong stressed constantly that the tradi-tional Chinese political system wasn ’ t completely arbitrary;instead it was closely related to the so-cial class of the scholar-officials ( a combination of the bureaucrats and gentry within Chinese socie-ty) . Fei stated that the traditional Chinese society had a‘bottom-up’ or‘secondary/parallel’ track:this ‘informal track’ made it possible for the ordi-nary people to pass on their opinions to top level people. Guided by tao-t’ung ( Confucian orthodox-y) , the scholar-intellectuals were able to influence political power by expressing their opinions and by putting forward a set of ethical principles. Al-though they had no part in real political power, they still maintained a social prestige. As a buffer between imperial power and the common people, the scholar-officials could not only extend the pow-er of the monarch to the far corners of society, but they also could properly protect the interests of farmers through some informal channels outside of the system. In the view of Yu Yingshi, the scholar-offi-cials not only were royal officers but also teachers of the emperor: that is why they could exert con-straint to autocratic imperial power. Nevertheless, autocratic imperial power also constrained them. Even so, the bureaucrats and gentry kept alive the tao-t’ung in traditional Chinese political life, which safeguarded basic social values. However, the strength of tao-t’ung was always weaker than that of the royal power, therefore, Chinese society did have a tendency of ‘oriental despotism’ described by Wittfogel. In the study of Zhang Yahui, the scholar-offi-cial group was positioned right in middle of the so-ciety: this allowed them to work upwardly and downwardly. They thus could ( i) cooperate with the public to fight against the rulers ’ invasion of local life, and they ( ii) could compromise and a-gree with the rulers as to construct a new harmoni-ous coexistence model. His study reemphasized the historical role of the scholar-official group in keep-ing social harmony. In this study, the scholar-offi-cial group on one hand counterbalanced the central power’ s interference with local affairs, and on the other hand shaped more reasonable identities of the central power, acceptable for local communities. Zhang Yahui’ s study reminds us that-in the tradi-tional Chinese society-authoritarian rulers, the scholar-official group, and the public interlaced with, constrained, and supported each other, and thus constituted the overall picture of the traditional China. The scholar-official group thus was a major force in maintaining the social cohesion of the tra-ditional Chinese society. When indeed we consider both the ‘master-scholars’ and ‘bureaucrats’-the two special components of Chinese scholar-official class-we can better understand the characteristics of the vivid and interactive relationships between the rulers, the scholar-officials, and the local com-mon people. In other words, only when we recog-nize these two aspects of the gentry class, can we see the ‘unifying mechanism ’ of the traditional Chinese society;this allows us to develop a clearer social and historical picture of the traditional Chi-nese interaction between imperial power, scholarly power, and civil rights. To get to this new under-standing of the power structure of the traditional Chinese hydraulic society, we need to critically re-view all sorts of other simplified understandings of the period gentry group.     

四川少数民族村寨旅游扶贫模式转变研究

In 2012 , State Ethnic Affairs Com-mission of the People’ s Republic of China( hereaf-ter SEAC ) announced an outline concerning the protection and development of‘ethnic minority vil-lages with special characteristics ’ . The develop-ment of such villages is one of the important tasks of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission:this devel-opment aims to foster the conservation of ethnic culture and to accelerate the development of the ethnic areas in which these villages lie. On Sep-tember 23 , 2014 , the State Ethnic Affairs Com-mission announced guanyu minming shoupi zhong-guo shaoshu minzu tese chunzhai de tongzhi ( No-tice on the Naming of the First Group of China ’ s Ethnic Minority Villages with Special Characteris-tics):340 villages in total were inscribed into the list of this so-called ‘First Batch ’ , among which four villages of Sichuan province were included:( i) Jiefang village of Haqu in Leshan, ( ii) Mutuo Village of Maoxian in Aba, ( iii) Shangmo Village of Songfan in Aba, and ( iv) Guza Village of Seda in Ganzi. With the support of the so-called‘Poverty Al-leviation Policy’ , tourism in ethnic minority villa-ges has been booming; however, this has also re-sulted in a new series of related problems that need to be addressed. Tourism development obviously had reduced regional poverty. Since the 1980s, the promotion of economic development through tourism in the ethnic areas ( with a corresponding improvement of people ’ s living conditions ) has been widely accepted by society. Also in the prov-ince of Sichuan the ‘poverty alleviation through tourism’ policy has led to economic growth and has reduced the poverty of the people in the ethnic mi-nority areas. From 2011 to 2014, the SEAC has invested 57. 8 million Yuan in the development of ethnic minority villages in Sichuan province. This has led to the implementation of 73 projects and has benefited around 100,000 people, 7 indige-nous ethnic groups, and 11 prefectures and munic-ipalities in Sichuan. It seems that this‘poverty al-leviation through tourism ’ ( hereafter PATT ) has resulted in good economic and social effects. Ethnic minority villages in Sichuan share sim-ilar challenges: ( i) a low level of production and productivity,economic backwardness, simplistic e-conomic infrastructure, cultural narrow-minded-ness, a low level of education and personal devel-opment, and a fragile condition of local nature and cultural surroundings. Moreover, tourism has since deeply altered previous development models for these regions: this has also brought many new problems, like e. g. how to correctly distribute the newly acquired economic benefits and profits, as well as cultural and environmental protection is-sues. Many of these problems seem to be only tran-sitional;however, these challenges do ask for the necessary tweaks of the PATT policies. This article thus tries to review the model of PATT as imple-mented in the ethnic villages of Sichuan. The arti-cle explores its different stages/aspects:( i) adap-tation of goals, ( ii) the changing role of the gov-ernment, ( iii) an evolving profit model for local people, and ( iv ) evolving local talent discovery and activation. The first aspect of PATT is the change of the development goals. At first, the priority is to get rid of poverty through tourism. To initially boost local tourism, the government must make major in-vestments: enhancement of the basic infrastruc-ture, creation of a touristic brand and initial adver-tising for the ethnic villages. However, when the PATT has been effectively implemented, and reached a mature stage of development, i. e. the village has become relatively popular and annual numbers of tourists have reached a stable good lev-el, the goals must be adapted: economic develop-ment should change to sustainable development. The new goals would be a combination of local tourism and local related industries, such as handi-craft products, catering and other hospitality busi-nesses etc. When all of this takes place, the eth-nic villages and areas seem to be able to arrive at a green and sustainable development path. The second stage is the change of the role of government. As said, in the beginning large in-vestments in infrastructure, tourism marketing and publicity are needed. In this start-up stage, the village needs quite a lot of human and material re-sources. Without the financial and human aid of the government, it’ s very hard to change a local ethnic minority village into a tourist destination. Hence, the government should play a supportive role during the initial stages of tourism develop-ment, while taking the local villagers ’ will and ethnic culture into consideration: the government should consult with the villagers and encourage the villagers’ participation in the whole development process. When indeed the PATT reaches a mature phase, the local people can take over. By then the locals have gained much experience;their attitudes and business skills have sufficiently improved so the government can take a step back, leaving the villagers to further develop the villages by them-selves. The third aspect is an ‘evolving profit model for local people ’ . During the initial stages of PATT, it’ s all about developing basic tourism pro-jects: at this moment, the main profit models for businesses rely on ( a) ethnic culture projects with distinct characteristics, ( b ) establishing high quality modes of the tourists route, and ( c) pro-moting the unique name and fame of the villages. However, when PATT reaches a mature stage, the villagers themselves must further develop and maintain their unique brand and fame. As said, the government takes a step back while local peo-ple are to develop new related sustainable profit models. The fourth issue is the further evolution of‘local talent discovery and activation ’ or‘talent mechanisms’ . Before the initial stages of PATT in Sichuan, the local villagers of the ethnic minorities had been engaged in traditional agriculture for many years;hence it was difficult for them to tran-sition into modern industries such as tourism and hospitality. Moreover, there were very few locals who had any knowledge of this tourism/hospitality industry. E. g. only some elderly people conducted simplistic tour guide practices for tourists: they were unable to provide any in-depth explanations of the traditional ethnic customs and culture due to language barriers. Thus, outsiders ( including gov-ernment staff and tourism professionals ) had to come in and provide advanced concepts, methods, and training. More importantly, a new ‘local tal-ent team’ had to discover and activate local people with tourism talents/abilities. This allowed for a genuine local tourism industry to come into exist-ence and further evolve. However, when PATT reaches a mature stage, the government should re-turn the economic benefits back to the local people and give them the dominant right to further self-de-velopment. A newly developed professional middle class will then allow the local people to further de-cide on the future of the ethnic villages. After the initial ‘local talent discovery and activation ’ , a more mature ‘talent mechanism ’ should be formed. Led by the best local talents, people from all circles should be encouraged to take part in the further development of the local villages and areas:this allows for greater stability and continuity, while new talents can develop more. This article has analyzed the implementation and adaptation of PATT in the province of Si-chuan, including the ( i) adaptation of goals, ( ii) the changing role of the government, ( iii) an evol-ving profit model for local people, and ( iv) evol-ving local talent discovery and activation. Howev-er, the development of ethnic minority villages still seems to face many difficulties and challenges, and need to be studied and discussed more.     

现代文明背景下的传统文化传承——以“羌族文化进校园”活动在四川汶川县的实践为例

Modernization and globalization have already become the central themes of contem-porary China. As the carriers of traditional ethnic culture, ethnic minority villages and families have inevitably been involved in this development trend. After school-aged children in ethnic minority fami-lies enter schools, they are separated from their o-riginal cultural environment; meanwhile, the school curriculum is entirely based on the modern western education system. As a result, traditional culture inheritance among contemporary China’s younger generations has been facing unprecedented challenges and crises. The project of ‘Ethnic Culture Entering School Activities’ , which has been implemented in some ethnic minority regions in recent years, can be considered as a beneficial effort to realize the live transmission of ethnic intangible culture by means of school education. ‘Ethnic Culture Ente-ring School Activities ’ , was first initiated in Guizhou province, and later was gradually expand-ed to Yunnan, Guangxi, Hunan, and other prov-inces that have a number of ethnic minorities. Al-though Sichuan province is home to many Tibetan, Qiang , and Yi peoples, this project was implemen-ted in Sichuan very late, thus there is little rele-vant research. Based on the investigations on the status of ‘Qiang Culture entering School Activi-ties’ at three schools in Sichuan’s Wenchuan coun-ty, this article summarizes the characteristics and existing problems in different schools for the trans-mission of ethnic culture so as to provide a reliable reference for related projects in the future. With a survey analysis, the author discovers that ‘Qiang Culture entering School Activities’ at these three schools show differences in terms of the richness of course design, the awareness of its im-portance, and implementation effect; meanwhile, those exiting problems not only reveal the perva-siveness of this project throughout southwest Chi-na, but also show the individual particularities caused by geographical location, school level, and main tasks. Moreover, when investigating these is-sues more deeply, four ‘hidden’ features can be summarized as follows:First, there are structural differences between ordinary elementary and middle schools and voca-tional schools. Vocational schools emphasize more on the transmission of ethnic cultures. Second, the traditional culture of local ethnic minorities has been inherited more naturally in the marginal regions than those more urbanized re-gions. Third, although they are all recognized as in-tangible heritage, different types of traditional cul-ture have an unequal development. The performing type such as singing and dancing shows the most superior transmission ability in ethnic culture; the second superior type is traditional handicraft while ethnic language is obviously the most difficult one in terms of the transmission of ethnic culture. Fourth, the ‘Ethnic Culture Entering School Activities ’ project in different ethnic minority groups has the unbalanced development even in the same region. In the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Auton-omous Prefecture, the Qiang elites generally com-plain that their minority groups have received far less favorable national preferential policies and are viewed with less importance than Tibetan people. The compiling of Tibetan textbooks, Tibetan lan-guage curriculum, and bilingual examination sys-tem are more conducive to the transmission of Ti-betan culture. Concerning the above mentioned problems, this article puts forward the following suggestions:first, the relevant administration should further in-crease the capital investment, and promote the training of teaching staff and school-based text-books;second, local education departments should set up an efficient assessment and incentive mecha-nism, and promote the formation of a social envi-ronment wherein ethnic cultural study has useful applications;finally, schools in ethnic minority re-gions should strengthen cooperation and exchanges among themselves, and build connections with rel-evant education administrations and research insti-tutions. The fundamental difficulty in implementing the ‘Ethnic Culture Entering School Activities ’ project lies in the fact that traditional culture has not been included in the examination content of the modern education system. Therefore, in the ele-mentary and middle school education, the primary goal is to increase the enrollment rate of students, while the transmission of traditional culture is noth-ing more than a slogan. In order to achieve the goal of integrating traditional ethnic culture into the modern education system, we must rely on the co-operation among education administrations, schools, families, and society as a whole, and constantly improve corresponding assessment and incentive mechanisms, thus jointly creating a so-cial environment that ethnic culture has useful ap-plications. Meanwhile, intangible cultural carri-ers, intellectuals who desire to disseminate their ethnic culture, and the parents of the students should all be encouraged to participate; by doing so, we can accelerate the spread of ethnic culture into local schools step by step.     

遗产理论重新建构的实践：博物馆由圣殿走向世俗

Western theories on cultural herit-age have been developing continuously in ceaseless debates, and these theories have experienced dif-ferent stages of emerging, evolution and decon-struction. At the same time, a reconstruction of‘cultural heritage theories ’ is now being imple-mented and even has gained a certain achieve-ment. Indeed, at present ‘museums ’ have be-come the playgrounds for the reconstruction of new theories: museums are being transformed from a‘palatial ’ heritage protection institutes into ‘an-thropocentric’ cultural service institutes by means of ‘audience engagement’ . Museums increasingly implement the reconstruction of cultural heritage theories. From the 8 th to the 12 th of August 2016 a training project on ‘audience engagement ’ -hos-ted both by the British Council and the Chinese Museums Association-took place in the ‘National Museums Liverpool’ group. Due to its preeminent geological position, professional teams of special-ists, and audience-oriented working mechanisms, the National Museums Liverpool has become a new paradigm for the world of museums. However, be-hind these visible developments, a process of cul-tural heritage studies has been providing a strong support and guidance. Going back to European ideology from the late 18thto 19th century, the ‘past’ was seen as an ob-ject to be studied, pursued, protected, or even re-built ( designing past landscapes, old buildings, and memorials) . This ideology became the starting point of ‘Eurocentric heritage studies ’ . Due to this background, initial heritage studies have been branded with phrases as‘Eurocentrism’ ,‘author-itativeness’ , and ‘sanctification ’; this view has affected a large number of museums in the world. However, heritage studies have been adjusting and evolving. Post-modern heritage theories questioned issues like ‘centralization ’ and ‘authoritative-ness’ , and instead refocused on concepts like‘people’ , ‘democracy ’ , and ‘pluralistic socie-ty’ . The advocacy of‘cultural diversity’ and sup-port of expressions of‘intangible cultural heritage’ are practical applications of this new development in heritage theories. Taking the National Museums Liverpool as a case, the first characteristic of this museums group is the easy accessibility of the location of the muse-ums:several museums are situated just besides the sea as well as close to the city shopping center. Still, other museums are located on the opposite side of this area, yet it is only a 20-minutes walk between the two sides. A second characteristic is a special ‘managerial/administrative mechanism ’ that allows all museums to be run in a certain way;at the same time curators remain at the core of the teams that conduct the projects in the museums. A third trait is that the museum audience remains the main focus of all operations in the‘National Muse-ums Liverpool ’ . The case of National Museums Liverpool shows that ‘museums ’ have become an important place for reconstructing ‘cultural herit-age theories’. By means of ‘free admission’ and ‘audience engagement ’ , the museums’ function has changed from a ‘sacred place for collecting, researching and rescuing the past’ to an anthropo-centric service institute: museums have shifted from an organization of ‘sanctification ’ to one of‘secularization’ . With this development of cultural heritage the-ories, the traditional model of the museums has been reconstructed and renovated:it seems to have restored the voice of the general public and of cer-tain non-powerful groups to preeminence. In addi-tion, the bowuguan tiaoli ( Museum Regulations) issued by the State Council of China in 2015 says that‘education’ is the primary function of a muse-um. This redefinition of what a museum is sup-posed to be, actually reflects a guiding ideology of changing the museum’s traditional status and iden-tity. It also emphasizes the museum’s need for au-dience engagement. All of this challenges the museum’s traditional function of ‘collecting, pre-serving, researching, and displaying’ . New social functions, such as‘public education’ and‘public cultural service’ , are thus constantly emerging into a museum. Although different names have been given to these new functions, ‘audience engage-ment’ is at the core of them. Generally speaking, as international museums are slowly transforming - guided by cultural heritage theories-domestic museums will also gradually change their predomi-nant ‘sacred position ’ and shift into museums of‘decentralization’ . Anthropocentrism and‘service to the people’ will increasingly be the new identity of present-day museums.     

云南少数民族老年妇女经济保障的结构性脆弱——社会性别视角

I. The current situation of ethnic minority women’ s economic security One of the most prominent problems faced by the international community is how to ensure the e-conomic security of the elderly, and how to help those elderly people who have lost the ability to work to be properly cared for. According to Yang Shijie’s investigation, 75% of the poor population in Yunnan are ethnic minorities, and of this fig-ure, minority women are more impoverished than men. 1 . The poverty rate in Yunnan is a little bit higher than the national average poverty level. Although Yunnan’s economic indicators have made considerable progress, they have yet to reach the national average because of the province’s ho-mogenous industrial structure, low level of indus-trialization, and high proportion of resource indus-tries. The average wage of workers in Yunnan is only 85. 85% of the national average wage, and the poverty rate is higher than the national aver-age. 2 . There is a significant number of elderly women without pensions, and their poverty rate is high in Yunnan. Due to the dual urban-rural structure of the social and economic system, as well as the design issues related to the social pension security system connected with employment, the number of elderly women without pensions is quite significant in Chi-
na. In ethnic minority areas, only 24. 12% of peo-ple over the age of 60 have a pension, among them, the number of women is considerably lower than for men, accounting for only 10%. Elderly women from ethnic minorities are further excluded from the social pension security system. Only a small population of elderly ethnic women enjoy the benefits of the system, and their average monthly pension is significantly lower than that of the men. Compared with elderly men, elderly women rely more on other members of the family. 3 . The high rate of widowhood brings difficul-ties to the elderly. According to a sampling survey of 10% of the national population in 2010 , the widower ratio is 29. 55%, and widow ratio is 70. 45% among eth-nic minorities aged over 60 . Ethnic minority women devote more energy to unpaid housework in their youth and middle age, and their chances of finding employment are low. This means they normally de-pend on their spouse when they become old, how-ever, the loss of their spouse makes them even poorer, and increases their risk of falling into pov-erty. 4 . The ethnic minority women ’s property rights are difficult to be protected. Because of the influence of outmoded feudal i-deas in the ethnic minority villages, women gener-ally have no right to inherit property. For example, among the Pumi, property is inherited by the men, and women generally have no right to inherit. The
case is the same with the Naxi ethnicity. In the in-heritance systems of the ethnic minority people in Yunnan, wives rarely have the right of inherit-ance;the custom of“passing property to the men, but not the women” is still quite prevalent. If the husband dies, the wife will not only find it difficult to inherit her husband’s property, but may also lose her own property, including land rights. This leads to a low rate of property ownership among widows. II. Analysis of the causes of vulnerability of the gender structure 1 . Cultural lag American sociologist W. F. Ogburn was the first to use this concept, which refers to the time lag between material culture and non - material culture in the course of social change. Generally speaking, change in material culture occurs faster than in non -material culture, and they are not synchronized, so there is a gap between them. Ethnic minority women in Yunnan have been af-fected by the patrilineal system up to the present day, which influences the thought and behavior of all ethnic groups, and gradually builds a psycho-logical barrier in the ethnic women’ s minds, con-straining their talent and creativity. Yunnan is lo-cated in China’s southwest frontier region, and the ethnic minorities live in remote and isolated moun-tainous areas, where the concept of the low status of women is ingrained, and thus not easily changed. 2 . The cumulative effect of education and em-ployment Compared with boys, there are different edu-cational expectations on or investments in the girls in the social culture, which brings disadvantages to women looking for employment of in their youth and middle age. Because they can generally only involve themselves in housework, it is not possible for them to accumulate employment experiences, and this leads to a negative economic status when they become old. 1) Low level of education. Due to the tradi-tional influence of “valuing sons over daughters”,
the number of ethnic minority women who have not attended school is significantly higher than that of men; the number of ethnic minority women who have never received an education is more than twice as high as the number of men. The phenome-non of early marriage and childbearing in ethnic minority areas is still prominent. Due to the influ-ence of early marriage culture, the girls do not generally wish to receive a higher education. Addi-tionally, because of the development of tourism, girls tend to drop out of school very early and in-volve themselves in business or becoming tour guides. All these factors lead to ethnic minority women’s lower level of education. Because they do not receive a higher, or even elementary educa-tion, women’s lives are concentrated around the family and housework. 2 ) Devotion to housework. The elderly ethnic minority women not only have to take part in agri-cultural production, but they also have to take care of the “left-behind” children whose parents have left to work in urban areas. For instance, De’ang women play an important role in family, social and economic activities; they have to bear the load of heavy housework every day, including carrying wa-ter, collecting firewood, cooking, feeding pigs, cattle and children, weaving, washing clothes and farming. The Bulang women, together with the men, have created the ancient Bulang culture, and women play the role of “main tentpole” in the housework and farming. According to our investi-gations of the Yi in Chuxiong of Yunnan province, Yi women spend on average over six hours each day on housework, and most men almost never par-ticipate in housework. 3 ) Unemployment or low paid occupation. Ethnic minority women’s degree of participation in social labor is low, however, their housework du-ties are taken for granted, and not recognized by the wider society, so their labor value is underesti-mated, even ignored. Due to their low level of ed-ucation and contribution to unpaid housework, a lot of ethnic minority women are unemployed. E-
ven though a small number of them are in employ-ment, their jobs are concentrated in the low in-come industries, and few of them are supported by social insurance. 3 . Traditional gender roles in the division of labor Because of the traditional gender roles in the division of labor, the social expectations for the women’s role is still family-centered. This means women have to bear a lot of housework duties and child rearing responsibilities. Due to women’s spe-cial physiological characteristics, women have a double burden: the responsibility of human pro-duction and social production. However, under the influence of gender inequality, women who have made great contributions to the development of so-ciety and humanity have been subjected to unfair treatment. Their contribution is regarded as a bur-den unique to women or indeed the women’s natu-ral weakness, and can even become a discrimina-tory factor in employment and promotion—this is a great injustice to women. In summary, it seems that the structure of the fragility of elderly ethnic minority women is a sim-ply an issue of sex difference, but it essentially re-flects the social system and conceptual culture of“valuing sons over daughters” which is ingrained in the minority areas, and is an issue of gender in-equality. III. Countermeasures and suggestions The elderly ethnic minority women are a spe-cial group in China’s aging population. This group shows a structural vulnerability due to such as in-fluences of ethnicity and regional location, eco-nomic conditions, educational level, marital sta-tus. From the perspective of social gender, this paper studies the economic security status of ethnic aged women, analyzes the problems of economic security for this group, and puts forward some poli-cy recommendations for improving the economic se-curity situation of the elderly women in ethnic mi-nority areas. 1 . The state should increase investment in tye economic development of ethnic minority areas in order to provide more jobs and solve the problem of employment of women. Economic development in the minority areas could provide adequate economic security to improve the living conditions of the eld-erly women in those areas. 2 . The concept of gender equality needs to be strengthened. Women should enjoy equal rights in education, and equal employment opportunities as men, as well as equal rights in the husband-wife relationship. In addition, we cannot simply take each gender as exactlythe same, but should under-stand the psychological and physiological difference between men and woman, and pursue gender e-quality in terms of society, personality, opportuni-ties, and rights. 3 . National policy should afford some recogni-tion to women and their capacity for childbirth. Due to physiological factors, women have to take the responsibility of childbirth and feeding the child, however, they also have to work . Women’s contributions to the family will inevitably lead to their inferior position in terms of social professional competition. Therefore, when policies are drawn up, the physiological characteristics of men and women should be considered, moreover, gender awareness and gender equality should be a part of various policies. 4 . Policies should protect women’s employ-ment rights, and ethnic minority areas should en-courage women to go out to work. The state should make policies to protect women’s employment rights, solve the problem of sexual discrimination which might exist in the workplace, and create e-qual employment opportunities so as to reduce the probability of elderly women from ethnic minority areas becoming impoverished . 5 . Improve the urban and rural pension sys-tem, and improve women’s pension insurance cov-erage rate.     

武当道茶文化研究

This article explores the promotion of tea culture at Wudang Mountain, a Daoist tem-ple complex in Hubei Province that is a popular tourist destination. At shops in temples and market areas, vendors brand their tea as Wudang Daoist tea, emphasizing its health benefits and connecting their teas to the Daoist discourse of life-nourishing ( yang sheng) practices. In their marketing materi-als and on their websites, the management of the Eight Immortal Temple Tea Plantation further cites folklore and mythic history to claim profound local roots for Wudang tea culture. In so doing, this company echoes the memory narratives of more fa-mous Chinese teas like Iron Guanyin and Dahong-pao. In China as elsewhere, convenient travel now puts people in contact with areas and peoples that a few decades earlier only a few non-locals explored. As a consequence of a global trend towards com-modification, members of local groups, including distinctive ethnocultural groups, now seek to create distinctive local brands for a tourist market. Corpo-rations now regularly mine local traditions to find i-tems that they can transform into commodities for a wider market ( Comaroff and Comaroff 2009 ) . One of Hubei’s richest tourism assets is the Daoist temple complex at Wudang Moutain, which draws pilgrims and tourists from China and Greater China. China’s State Council identified Wudang Moutain as a National Key Scenic Area in 1982 , and UNESCO added its ancient temples to its World Heritage list in 1994 . The Chinese govern-ment has worked with the Daoist Federation to de-velop Wudang’s temples and pavilions, which are spread over 400 square kilometers of mountainous terrain, into a major tourist destination. The gov-ernment tourist office promotes Wudang Mountain for its scenic beauty, its deep historical heritage, its religious culture, and famous martial arts. Al-though its tea culture is less renowned, local tea sellers claim that Wudang tea has a deep history and Daoist qualities. At Wudang Mountain, the Eight Immortal Temple Tea Plantation markets their tea as Wudang Daoist Tea, using history, legend, ritual, and sa-cred location to distinguish its green, black, and oolong teas from those produced elsewhere. They seek to valorize their teas through claims about the excellence of their growing environment ( not un-like the terroir of a fine wine ) and the historical depth of their tea history. They further use legend and mythic history to position their products, and associate their teas with Daoist traditions of health preservation, including martial arts. Finally, they use modern marketing techniques to promote their teas, including a promotional video directed by a In Ethnicity Inc, John and Jean Comaroff pro-pose that “commerce has been instrumental either in crystallizing or in reproducing the sociological entities (‘people’, ‘nation’, ‘community’ ) in which cultural identity is presumed to inhere”( Comaroff and Comaroff 2009:114 ) . In particu-lar, they conclude that people use identity-laden objects as a vehicle through which “ethnic con-sciousness is materialized” ( 33 ) . They focus on the modern discourse of intellectual property rights, including competing national claims to trademark signature products (122). Wudang tea vendors have used story, packa-ging, and performance to promote teas that evoke Wudang’s history, local traditions, and landscape. Hubei officials pay premium prices for the Eight Immortal Temple Plantation’s highest quality teas, but outside China Wudang tea is not well known. As global awareness of this world heritage site grows, Hubei’s Wudang Daoist tea series may find a place among the specialty teas now sold on the world market. But for now, Wudang Daoist Tea is an innovative brand that symbolizes a heritage that is simultaneously imperial, national, Daoist, and deeply local.     

康定锅庄文化遗产价值新阐释

The understanding of the traditional research of Kangding Guozhuo mainly covers four aspects:1 ) It is widely believed in the academic world that the Guozhuang ( meaning singing and dancing in a circle ) of Kangding was a unique product which combined politics, economics and culture together. 2) It was a specific business form based on the family unit, fulfilling multiple func￣tions such as an inn, a shed, a commodity inter￣mediary, an administrative office, a commodity transformation point, and a banking establishment. And it was also a place for cultural exchange be￣tween the Tibetans and the Han . 3 ) The formation of Guozhuang culture establishes a new element in the culture of the Tibetan-Yi corridor. 4 ) Zheng Shaoxiong mentions that the Guozhuangzhu ( the Guozhuang host ) had played an intermediary role in assisting the Tibetan businessmen to sell or pur￣chase goods - this helped to maintain the trade relations between the Han and Tibetans ( or their communication) . This kind of ingenious institu￣tional arrangement was a historical practice in keeping the balance of the relationship between different cultural communities, such as the Qing court, Tusi ( native officials ) and the Guozhuang host of Kangding. It reflects the wisdom in ethnic interactions, and can be borrowed in present ethnic regional autonomous system.
The above mentioned understanding is a result of study from the perspective of history, ethnology or economics. Although Zheng Shaoxiong’s re￣search was born from the old mindset, and pro￣posed the new value of Guozhuang cultural mecha￣nism, there is still a lack of research on this cul￣ture from such comprehensive perspectives as ur￣ban history, cultural anthropology, and economic anthropology. Thus it cannot fully reveal the fea￣ture and value of Kangding Guozhuang, a complex cultural phenomenon.
Based on existing data, past research, and fieldwork on the oral history of Kangding Guozhuang conducted in August 2013 , this article gives some new interpretations to the features of Guozhuang culture from an interdisciplinary per￣spective as follows:
1 ) The forever “48 Guozhuang” are a Kang￣ding urban memory, which displays the common cultural psychology of regarding Kangding as an important trade city of the Han and Tibetans; and Guozhuang carries a folk cultural memory of more than 200 years. After the gaitu guiliu policy ( re￣placement of native officials with centrally appoint￣ed officials) in the late Qing period, the number of newly appeared Guozhuang even reached 60 to 70 .“Although each of them had its own courtyard, and people also called them Guozhuang, they were still quite different from the 48 Guozhuang in the minds of the Kangding people”. This not only in￣dicates that the 48 Guozhuang within the orthodox system were deeply rooted in the hearts of the local people, but also reflects that Guozhuang were re￣garded as the most proper carrier for the communi￣cation between the Han and Tibetan during the late Qing period, otherwise so many Guozhuang court￣yards would not have appeared in history.
2 ) From the name to its architectural form, or function, a Guozhuang was influenced by the Han culture, however, it still had strong Tibetan char￣acteristics. Actually it could be regarded as a min￣iature of local culture of Kangding. Every Guozhuang had its own Tibetan name and Chinese name. The architectural style of the Guozhuang was actually different from traditional multiple -level blockhouse. There was always a courrtyard, and it was larger than that of Han. The vast court￣yard was not only a space for the Tibetan business￣man to cook food and boil tea, but also a space for organizing their entertainment activities, such as singing and dancing in a circle. You Tai, a minis￣ter of the Qing dynasty in Tibetan areas, recorded a grand dancing party organized by the local Tusi to welcome his arrival, which reflected the significant position of the Guozhuang in cultural activities. The upper-class of the Kham area, including Tusi and the Guozhuang host, tried to build a close re￣lationship with both Tibetan and Han in all means, including the title, kinship relation or customs, and successfully built up a central zone on which both sides can be understood. It was just due to the special geographical location and cultural tradi￣tion that made the reconstruction of a cross cultural buffer zone possible.
3 ) The managers of the Guozhuang were mainly the hostesses ( Ajia Kaba in Tibetan lan￣guage) , and this also reflected a kind of feminism in Kham culture. The tradition of the Dong nv guo ( East Kingdom of Women ) enabled the women to run their business in and out of the family. When the tea trade started, the Guozhuang host had to spend much of their energy on providing service to the Tusi, so the Guozhuang hostess took the re￣sponsibility of managing the business of the Guozhuang. Ajia normally controlled the initiative of negotiation in the Han-Tibetan trade, and they played the role of interpreters in the negotiation. There were many live -in son -in -laws in the family of the Guozhuang and this kind of marriage was even more popular in the period from the late Qing dynasty to the Republican era.
If we conduct an analysis of the value of Kangding Guozhuang from multiple dimensions, we would notice that the existence of the non-market interpersonal model in this institution, on some certain degree, had solved the problem of the lack of social cohesion resulting from marketization. From this angle, the value of Guozhuang culture in the improvement of the economic institutions of the market cannot be ignored.
This fieldwork also reflects the significant and comprehensive influence of the Guozhuang cultural heritage of Kangding. When viewed from this an￣gle, its value is incredible. According to the data collected from the fieldwork, all the people, inclu￣ding officials, scholars, businessman and ordinary people, are aware that the Guozhuang is a cultural heritage which has a high and comprehensive val￣ue. If the relevant government bodies could in￣clude it into the scope of heritage protection, and build it into a cultural space of intangible cultural heritage, it will have a much higher heritage val￣ue , and play an important role both in the econom￣ic development and construction of harmonious eth￣nic relationships.
The Kangding Guozhuang also played a role in the deconstruction of the Han - Tibetan social structure - this kind of value can not only be in￣troduced to the present world and influence the fu￣ture world, but also can be seen as a hub which connects the “ancient” and “modern” Han -Ti￣betan relations. Traditionally, there was a structur￣al rule in the communications between the Han and Tibetan, namely that “the Han and Tibetans are somewhat separated from each other ”, however, the Guozhuang model in Kangding deconstructed this Han-Tibetan rule. This was closely related to elements such as social composition, ways of life, marriage, family, kinship, and religious customs. The disappearance of Guozhuang also has its own causes, for instance, the absence of inheritors and failure in operation of this system. However, this article proposes that it is mainly influenced by the social reforms in the historical process. Hence, that is the reason why modern enterprises which re￣tain certain connotations of the Guozhuang could re-appear in the Kang area. In the survey, we no￣tice that some enterprises have already made efforts in this regard. In summary, Kangding Guozhuang had creatively formed a security institution with a more humanized nature, and played an important role in the alleviation of social tensions in ethnic areas. Contemporary society, composed as it is of people with multi-ethnic backgrounds, still needs this kind of “deconstruction”.     

学校教育中传承民族文化存在的问题及对策——以北川羌族自治县的学校教育为例

The Qiang are one of the most ancient ethnic groups in China, and their rich cul-ture is an important part of Chinese culture. Bei-chuan Qiang Autonomous County, in Sichuan province, is a unique Qiang Autonomous County in China, which has an exceptional foundation for transmitting Qiang ethnic culture through school education. However, the county’s transmission of Qiang ethnic culture through school education still faces some problems, such as lack of educational investment, poor teacher resources, lack of ethnic cultural inheritors, and students’ lack of ethnic self-confidence. In view of series dilemmas faced by Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County in trans-mitting Qiang ethnic culture through school educa-tion, this article proposes the following suggestions based on our investigations:1 . Increase the investment in school educa-tion In view of the lack of educational investment, we suggest the following measure be adopted: 1 ) increase educational investment from various levels of the government, especially increasing special in-vestment in transmitting Qiang ethnic culture through school education;2 ) raise funds from the public;3 ) have the schools engage in their own fundraising, and 5 ) make efforts to get foreign aid. 2 . Strengthen the investment in improving teacher resources In view of the problem of poor teacher re-sources, we suggest the following measures: 1 ) strengthen policy support from the national level, and solve the problem of poor teacher resources through training teachers in universities for nation-alities. 2 ) invite Qiang cultural inheritors to be teachers; 3 ) strengthen the technical training of the school teachers, and improve the teachers’ skills;4) add more teacher positions, and improve the treatment of teachers;5 ) encourage teachers to devote their life to the education and inheritance of Qiang culture. 3 . To promote the motivation for studying eth-nic culture In view of the students’ lack of motivation for studying ethnic culture, and the lack of people who go on to inherit the ethnic cultural heritage, we suggest the following: 1 ) Beichuan Autonomous County should help the young Qiang people to be locally employed through developing ethnic econo-mies, and to inherit ethnic culture via developing tourism with ethnic characteristics. 2) Family edu-cation should be closely connected with school edu-cation;3 ) to include an exam on Qiang ethic cul-ture in school entrance examinations in order to re-flect the importance of ethnic culture study;4 ) to add some ethnic culture courses in schools for na-tionalities. 4 . To strengthen the ethnic pride and confi-dence of Qiang students In view of the issue of Qiang students’ lack of ethnic confidence and pride, we suggest the follow-ing:1 ) open Qiang language courses in schools in Qiang areas; 2 ) enlarge the usage range of the Qiang language; 3 ) help students to understand the charm of Qiang culture, and let them feel eth-nic pride. 5 . To standardize and promote a common Qiang language In view of the issue that Qiang have no written language, their spoken language is too complicat-ed, and there are too many dialects, we suggest that the National Languages and Scripts Work Committee should work with Qiang scholars and ex-perts to create a basic dialect of the Qiang-a com-mon Qiang language, which should be promoted in school education, just like mandarin Chinese in school education.     

从民族志物品收集到东南海洋系文化构建——林惠祥先生收藏与展示实践（1929-1958）

Since the 1980s, critical museum studies have interpreted the‘collecting and exhibi-ting activities’ of a museum as both practical activ-ities as well as a persistent scientific and socio-cul-tural process, and have explored the natures of museum, including the logic and strategy behind these practices. Through reviewing Lin Huixiang ’s collecting and exhibiting practices ( 1929 to 1958 ) , this article aims to explore internal rela-tionships between ( i ) museum practices and ( ii ) the practitioner, all under a particular episteme. This article moreover presents the genealogy of Lin Huixiang ’s academic ideas, museum practices, and‘Southeastern-oceanic-cultural ’ research pro-jects;it covers his earlier activities of ethnographic object collecting and exhibiting practices all the way to the construction of the‘Southeastern-ocean-ic-culture-system ’ within the framework of the‘New Theory of Evolution’ . Seen from a critical perspective, a museum is not a neutral and objective institution but a space full of power and discussion. In addition, in our modern times Museums have become a controver-sial place: the museum’s nature has changed from a‘palace of knowledge’ to a representation-system composed of objects. Eilean Hooper-Greenhill uses the terms“effective history” and“episteme” to ex-amine the history of a museum, and divides it into three stages: ( i ) the irrational cabinet, ( ii ) a classical episteme, and ( iii) a modern episteme. Different epistemes directly influence the collecting and exhibiting practices. Susan Pearce points out that collecting activities express and shape the rela-tionship between the human and material worlds. She distinguishes between “gathering”, “hoard-ing”, and “collecting” and she emphasizes that the term “collecting” points to products of imagi-nation. This imagination metaphorically creates meanings by arrangement and it displays the known world. Therefore, the activity of collecting and ex-hibiting is always practiced under a particular epis-teme;in addition political standpoints, value judg-ments, and academic interests are involved when interpreting the meanings of the objects and the constructing the knowledge order. This article moreover conducts a systematic exploration of Lin Huixiang’s collecting and exhibi-ting practices as well as the genealogy of his aca-demic ideas. All is examined from three aspects:( i) ethnicity, nation, and ethnographic object col-lecting practices; ( ii ) the intellectual, display practices and Museum of Anthropology; ( iii ) the New Theory of Evolution and the establishment of the Southeastern-oceanic-culture-system. The first section of “ethnicity, nation, and ethnographic object collecting practices”focuses on Lin Huixiang’s collecting practices from 1929 until the end of the Second World War. He started to collect aboriginal human objects in Taiwan since 1929 and ethnographical objects in the South Sea since 1937 . As most anthropologists from that area and period, Lin Huixiang’s collecting activities were influenced by patriotism, the establishment of a Chinese anthropology, and by personal academic interests. Chinese anthropologists during the 1920s to 1940s, including Lin Huixiang, believed that nationalism and the ‘Great Harmony ’ would lead to Chinese independence and civilization. And his practices had real significance for China in war-time. On the one hand, these aboriginal objects from Taiwan and the South Sea were regarded as material evidence of an extant“barbarian” culture;this was helpful in understanding that the‘barbari-an’ culture was basically same as that of ours, which then would reduce our ethnic prejudice a-gainst the ‘barbarian’ . On the other hand, these objects also became a means for the public to un-derstand Taiwan, the colony of Japan; in fact, these aboriginal objects even became a symbol of anti-colonialism and aroused the people’s patriot-ism. The second part of “the intelluctual, display practices and Museum of Anthropology” turns to Lin Huixiang’s ideas about the enlightment through a museum and its exhibitions. Lin Huixiang indeed emphasized the educational function of exhibitions and the museum. He displayed his collections to the public, held several exhibitions starting in 1929 , donated all his collections to Xiamen Uni-versity in 1951 , and advocated the establishment of the Museum of Anthropology. Lin Huixiang pointed out that museums were educational institu-tions meant to spread knowledge, and he used specimens, charts, and models to educate the pub-lic. As an anthropologist, Lin Huixiang understood the meaning of an ethnographical museum as an in-strument for teaching, research, and social educa-tion. By reviewing Lin Huixiang’s ‘collecting and exhibiting practices ’ during the period 1929 -1958 , we can clearly come to understand his aca-demic ideas about the discipline of anthropology and about the Southeastern-regional culture. The exhibitions in the Museum of Anthropology of Xia-men University represent his endeavor to construct the Southeastern-oceanic-culture-system within the framework of the New Theory of Evolution. He showed archaeological specimens from the prehis-toric period to the historical period, as well as eth-nographical objects of China’s Southeastern region and Taiwan region, Indonesia, Singapore, India, and of Burma. All objects displayed in exhibitions were used to illustrate the rule of evolution, espe-cially the ethnographic objects that evidenced the primitiveness of human culture; this is helpful to us when exploring the origins of cultures. At the same time, Lin Huixiang compared the cultures of Northern China and Southeastern China, and iden-tified cultural traits specific to the Southeastern ar-ea, aiming to show cultural similarities among China’s Southeastern region and the Taiwan region, and Southeast Asia, which he called the“South-eastern-oceanic-culture-system”.     

香料与世界

Around 1500 , the world experi￣enced an explosion of exploration which greatly transformed the world for the next several hundreds of years. During this time, Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and other seafaring entrepreneurs sought new routes to India’s Malabar Coast and the Indonesian archipelago. The objective of their ef￣forts was mainly spice specifically pepper, cinna￣mon, nutmeg, clove, and a few others. In the en￣suing years, the Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Dutch would all seek to dominate the spice trade, employing an astonishing amount of blood￣shed and brutality to achieve their aims. They were undermined only by pirates, who would occasional￣ly plunder the spice boats, relieving them of their precious cargo.
The reason behind their desire to seek spice, was not only, and in fact, not even primarily, profits. In an age that poured its commercial ener￣gies into such un - poetical ends such as arms, oil, and mineral ores, the drive to obtain anything quite so quaintly insignificant as spice must strike us today as mystifying indeed. While historians of￣ten point to medieval Europe’s problems with ran￣cid meat, along with the mind -numbing repeti￣tiveness of its diet, as the source of spice’s early popularity, the main reason for desiring spice came down to one simple thing: mystery. Spices were, in a sense, magical if not divine, arriving by un￣known means from the vast blank spaces on the map, spaces populated by dragons, gods, and monsters. From mystery grew mystique. It was a seductive premise.
This article starts by examining the rise of Europe’s economy after the first millennium and the subsequent demand for Eastern luxuries. Ginger, mace, and other exotic ingredients quickly became status symbols among noblemen—not unlike furs or jewels—as well as staples in upper -class kitch￣ens, with nearly every dish deluged by seasonings, to the point where the medieval appetite for spice looked less like a taste than an addiction. It was also believed that ingesting spices was a way to im￣prove one’s health and that they could cure every￣thing from gangrene and paralysis to constipation and lung disease. Then there’s sex. Spice has long been associated with eroticism, including recent examples like the pop-music sex kittens the Spice Girls and the Spice soft-porn cable TV station. In the Middle Ages—when noblemen’s fear of infertil￣ity ran rampant—spices were widely believed to serve as aphrodisiacs. It was these very qualities, that led many medieval Christian leaders to de￣nounce spices—ginger in particular—arguing that their corrupting influence undermined monks’ vows of celibacy, with one mystic even comparing them to the forbidden apple of Eden. Others claimed their overuse could lead to drying out, derange￣ment, and even death. The most puritanical critics saw spice as nothing less than an affront to God, who had already met man’s basic needs by provi￣ding local foods, a gift cooks were now tampering with by introducing foreign flavors. Moreover, spice served as a medieval perfume, with the most spicy, most expensive varieties favored among the social elite. And spice was also used in mummifi￣cation and embalming techniques that continued in future centuries. For instance, the practice dates back to Ramses II, an Egyptian pharaoh who died in 1224 b. c.; an examination of his remains re￣vealed peppercorns stuffed up his large, and crooked nose, a discovery which startled scien￣tists.
Despite efforts by the Dutch to maintain their monopoly over spice plantations and prevent propa￣gation, products like cloves and nutmeg eventually spread to other regions of the world. This was largely due to Spanish and Portuguese smugglers—who reduced them to mere commodities and dimin￣ished their intrigue and notoriety, not to mention their cost. By the mid-1600s, pepper in particu￣lar had long since become available to the Europe￣an masses, prompting the nobility to lose interest. At the same time, crops like tomatoes and chilies, brought back from the New World, were broade￣ning the European diet and creating new options for cooks. A shift to simple, fresh, local ingredi￣ents—to foods that tasted like themselves—was un￣derway, a transformation nowhere as successful as in Italy, where simplicity remains the quintessence of its cuisine. As a result, the heavily spiced meals of the Middle Ages fell from favor. Once the province of aristocracy, spice became just the op￣posite. In the modern world, it tends to be the poor, not the rich, who eat spices.
While the history of spice from a Western point of view remarkably transformed the world, it should be noted that spice also underwent a quite different way of becoming modernized. In the re￣spect, spice in Chinese history constitutes a large part of the world history of spice.
Prior to the 15th century, pepper was regar￣ded as a rarity. In China it was as highly valued for medicinal purposes as ginseng and cassia bark are today. During the Tang dynasty, we find pep￣per mentioned side by side with stalactites, one of the most valuable drugs of the time. This is an in￣dication of how highly valued spice was. From that time onwards, the expression “800 piculs of pep￣per” came to be synonymous with riches and luxu￣ry. In China, the change in the value of pepper from being a precious commodity to one in common use came about as the result of several polices of Ming Emperor, including tribute trade, Zheng He’s voyages, and the scheme of supplying pepper instead of salaries to officials. The advent of direct dealings with the supply sources had a profound effect in China, and the circulation of other foreign commodities generally also increased greatly after these voyages.
From early Ming times, foreign trade, inclu￣ding that in pepper and sapanwood, was an Impe￣rial monopoly, closely guarded to ensure that all the profits went to the Emperor. One inevitable re￣sult of the importation into China of such huge a￣mounts of pepper, however, was that hitherto un￣developed exchange relations improved, though the equilibrium between demand and supply remained unsteady because of obstacles in the way of equita￣ble distribution. A sudden expansion of the selling market could only be expected to cause a dramatic fall in the price of pepper. This occurred much earlier than did the discovery of the direct passage to India by Vasco de Gama.
During the reign of the first Ming Emperor, Hong Wu, pepper and sapanwood were frequently given to subjects as a reward for services rendered, a practice first recorded in 1379 . During 1391 and 1392 , altogether 13 ,800 naval officers and soldiers on active service, and 12,000 soldiers engaged in ship-building were rewarded in this way, the lat￣ter receiving one catty of pepper each. In both ca￣ses these rewards, which were small in scale, were for completing tasks assigned. At the time of the enthronement of the second Emperor, Yong Le (1403), four catties of pepper, the highest pepper reward recorded, in addition to 30 ting of paper money, were given to a minor official for comple￣ting the Imperial seal. Considering the high value of paper money at that time, this showed that pep￣per was still treasured as a scarce commodity, and had not yet fallen into common use.
The effect of Zheng He’s voyages on the distri￣bution of pepper in the Chinese market is reflected by the form payments took in the early part of the Ming dynasty. In the 5th year of Yong Le (1407), following Zheng He’s return from his first voyage, came the first proclamation of an arrangement to supply the soldiers in all military stations in Peking with sapanwood in lieu of winter clothing. It is es￣timated that at least 250 , 000 army servicemen were involved. It was in 1420, after Zheng He’s fifth voyage, that pepper was first announced as a substitute for the clothing due to these same ser￣vicemen. However, the amount was by no means large:one catty and six ounces of sapanwood and four ounces of pepper were paid in lieu of a piece of thin silk material, and one catty of sapanwood and three ounces of pepper were paid instead of a piece of cotton cloth. The same scheme of suppl￣ying sapanwood instead of winter clothing was em￣ployed again the following year, 1421. At the same time it was proclaimed that part of the salary of all civil and military officials in Peking paid in the form of paper money was to be paid in sapan￣wood and pepper instead. Henceforth it was estab￣lished that the salary of officials should be paid partly in sapanwood and pepper, and it was clearly the pepper brought back by Zheng He’s fleet that was being used as substitute currency. Silver, pa￣per money, cloth, sapanwood, and pepper were interchangeable as currency.
Except for a very small amount retained for their own consumption, the officials would have had to sell most of their pepper on the market, which would inevitably accelerate the fall in its market price. By the mid-Ming period, spice that had been exclusively enjoyed by the upper classes, began to be popular among the commoners. The frequency of appearance of spice in dietary books, recipes, and daily life guides increased to an un￣precedented level. Pepper, especially, was broad￣ly used for cooking, pickling fruits, brewing, and making fragrant tea. The widespread application of perfume, as a typical merchandise from maritime trade, led to a profound transformation in people’s conception and style of everyday life.     

藏传佛教哲学思想对藏区社会和谐稳定的功用探析

The principles of the theory of de-pendence arising from emptiness of original nature;of the nature of the human mind, and, the equality of all sentient beings are important philosophical tenets held by the different schools of Tibetan Bud-dhism, and they all have profound ideological im-plication. Through various ways, including belief, promotion, advocation, and education, these three philosophical principles are subtly integrated in most Tibetan people’s ideological structure. This helps them to understand the nature of the uni-verse, purify their minds, and promote their realm of life. As a result, it helps them to deal well with human relations, the relationship between man and nature, and it promotes the harmony and stability of Tibetan society. In today’s society, although so-cial conditions have changed dramatically, these three philosophical principles still play an impor-tant role in promoting the social harmony and sta-bility in Tibetan areas.     

新农合对四川藏区的减贫效应分析

The New Rural Cooperative Medi-cal System ( hereafter NRCMS) in Tibetan areas of Sichuan was started in Wenchuan in 2005 , and by 2008 covered all of the province’s Tibetan areas. This paper studies the effects of the NRCMS on im-proving the health of and alleviating poverty for farmers and herdsmen in Tibetan area of Sichuan. Most parts of the Tibetan areas of Sichuan are located in high altitude districts. Thirty two coun-ties of these areas are classified as “National Pov-erty Counties”. Poverty and disease go hand in hand in these regions. Kashin-Beck disease and hydatid disease are the major endemics in the pas-toral and agro-pastoral areas of Sichuan. Endemic, infectious and chronic diseases are widespread in Sichuan’s Tibetan areas. More than 70% of pa-tients are workers from 20 to 60 years old. Disea-ses are more prevalent in women than in men. Kashin-Beck disease and hydatid disease are cur-rently incurable. Patients suffer from health prob-lems, which leads to a decrease in their income and the heavy burden of medical expenses. The new rural cooperative medical system alleviates the negative effects of farmers’ falling into, or back in-to poverty due to disease. However, the existing medical compensation mechanism is not sufficient to solve the problem. The greatest impact of NRCMS on the farmers and herdsmen in Sichuan’s Tibetan areas is that the system has gradually changed local people’s medi-cal behavior, as well as their underlying ideas a-bout medicine: they begin to believe in hospitals. In particular, more pregnant women are choosing to give birth in hospitals, which reduces the rate of infant mortality and postpartum diseases, and im-proves the health of women. Since the full coverage of the NRCMS in 2008 , the number of people participating in the system has reached the overall average level of Si-chuan province. By analyzing the data before and after the implementation of this system, and meas-uring the impact of the system on people’s health, it can be found that the NRCMS’s role in serving the vulnerable population, such as the elderly and infant children, is more marked. Since the implementation of the NRCMS, all administrative villages in Sichuan Tibetan areas have established village clinics, which solved the problem of a shortage of medicines and doctors in those areas. Farmers and herdsmen have conven-ient access to medical treatment, enhancing the ac-cessibility of medical service. After the implemen-tation of the NRCMS, the health of the elderly population in rural areas has improved. Infant mor-tality rates have dramatically fallen. The implementation of the NRCMS improved the medical service capacity of township hospitals and village clinics. And the NRCMS has brought the township hospitals and village clinics into its scope of compensation, which greatly promotes the utilization of primary medical services in Tibetan areas. The poverty reduction effect of the NRCMS can be analyzed from two aspects:Firstly, the im-
provement in health leads to increased income, be-cause good health can promote labor productivity. Meanwhile, the increase in income will in turn im-prove the overall level of health. Secondly, the in-patient and outpatient compensation rate is raised year by year, which reduces the medical fees of farmers, and prevents them from falling back into poverty.     

民国时期天山北麓东路城市多民族居民生活的变化

Although the Republican era of China did not last very long, it was a significant period in which China transformed from an agricul-tural to an industrial era, and from a traditional so-ciety to a modern one. During this period, not only did the politics and economics change dramatical-ly, but also the lives of urban residents. Although Xinjiang is located in the western frontier area of inland China, since the Qing dynasty, its politi-cal, economic and cultural connections with inland China gradually increased. Xinjiang is not an iso-lated region, it actually is located in the central ar-ea of Asia. So, its openness is very pronounced. Even though during the Republican era, inland China was gripped in the chaos of war, Xinjiang’s political, economic and cultural connections with the inland were never broken. Although sometimes the central government’s control in Xinjiang was not so strong, the central government’s policies had always impacted strongly on Xinjiang. In addition, due to the continuous migration of the inland popu-lation ( especially intellectuals, and political and military people) into urban areas, such as Dihua in Xinjiang during the Republic era of China, the politics, economics and culture of inland China had a big impact on the lives of Xinjiang urban res-idents. Moreover, Xijiang is neighbors with Rus-sia. Since the middle of the 19th century, Russia, whose industrialization and modernization occurred earlier and faster than China’s, often made political and military invasions, as well as cultural infiltra-tion, into Xinjiang. After the founding of the Sovi-et Union, its influence on the cities of Xijiang gradually increased. Especially during the period when Sheng Shicai managed Xinjiang, the influ-ence of the Soviet Union on Xinjiang was the stron-gest. In addition to political influence, economic and cultural influences became more pronounced, and numerous industrial and cultural products made in the Soviet Union were imported into Xin-jiang. This had a dramatic impact on the urban residents of Xinjiang. As a political, economic and cultural center of Xinjiang, Dihua was alive with many Russians who engaged in political, economic and cultural activities. Hence, their direct or indi-rect influence on the lives of Dihua residents was stronger than in other cities. At present, the research on Xinjiang during the Republican era of China mainly focuses on the political and economic domains , and less attention is paid to its urban life. However, the changes of modernization are not only reflected in the aspects of politics and economics, but also in the field of social life. Hence, to strengthen the research on the changes in social life in urban areas of Xinjiang during the Republican era of China is significant. The Republican era of China was an important pe-riod for Xinjiang society. Although if we compare it with the urban areas along the eastern coastal ar-ea of China, the impact of western culture on the lives of urban residents in Xinjiang during this pe-riod was not so strong, and the changes in social life also reflected multi - ethnic characteristics. The changes in urban life in Xinjiang were also an important part of the changes following China’s modernization. It reflected a both generalization and a diversity of the urban changes created by China’s modernization. In addition, one should note the impact of the changes in Xinjiang’s urban life during the Republican era on that of Xinjiang during the latter half of the 20th century. Thus, it is very necessary to conduct a research on the lives of Xinjiang’s urban residents during the Republican era of China. Xinjiang has been a multi-ethnic area since ancient times, a fact which contributes the ethnic diversity that characterizes the social life of Xin-jiang cities. During the Republican era, the mate-rial life of the various ethnic groups living in Xinjiang’s cities changed successively due to the impact of external cultures, and the wave of mod-ernization. However the changes to the material lives of the various ethnic groups were different. The content of material life is very broad. General-ly speaking, it comprises people’s daily life, inclu-ding clothing, food, shelter and transportation, all of which are regarded as basic essentials for peo-ple. In a period of scarcity of goods and materials, material life became the most important thing for most of the public. Hence, changes with regard to material life, to a large extent, is reflected in the changes in the social lives of urban residents. Generally speaking, compared with the situa-tion in the Qing dynasty, the clothing in Xinjiang cities such as Dihua exhibited a big change. How-ever , this change displayed multi-ethnic and diver-sified characteristics. Concerning the food culture of Dihua urban residents during the Republican era of China, it reflected more open, inclusive and mutually influential features. In other words, the existence of a diversified food culture and diverse development was an important characteristic of the time. Concerning shelter during this period, a big change in Dihua’s urban style was that some mod-ern buildings co-appeared alongside traditional style buildings, no matter whether it was in the pri-vate space or public space. Moreover, the trans-portation mechanisms also changed during this pe-riod. Roads for cars appeared in Dihua, which opened the gate for Xinjiang’s automobile age. During the Republican era of China, most ur-ban residents in Xijiang’s cities, such as Dihua, kept their traditional customs. However, there were also some changes due to the influence of ex-ternal cultures—these changes were presented as the characteristics of pluralism, diversity and a mixture of the old and new. Multiple ethnic groups concentrated in an area in the eastern zone line of the northern foot of Mount Tianshan. During the process of history, the different ethnic groups formed their own cultures and religious beliefs. In the Republican era of China, the various ethnic groups lived in harmony most of time, and the plu-ralism and inclusiveness of cultures gradually in-creased. Generally speaking, the lives and cus-toms of the Han in Xinjiang cities, such as Dihua during the Republican era of China, were almost same as those of the Han in inland China. On one hand, they kept many of their traditional customs;yet, on the other hand, they also gradually accept-ed some new ones from external cultures. The eth-nic minorities, such as the Uygur and Hui, were deeply influenced by Islamic religious culture. Their religious cultural life exhibited almost no change during the Republican era of China, and they, for the most part, maintained their tradi-tions. During this period, in keeping with the gradual consciousness of ethnic equality, although various ethnic groups kept their own traditions, and they did not reject each others’ traditions, and instead, there was some mutual exchanges among them. This made the urban culture more diversi-fied . Not only were the festivals of the Uyghur pop-ular among themselves, the Han were also invited to participate in them. Moreover, the Han’s festi-vals, especially the Spring Festival, Lantern Festi-val and others, were also gradually accepted by other ethnic groups, and, for example, the Uy-ghur, Hui, Mongolian and Kazakhs, and others all participated in these festivals. In the middle and latter period of the Republican era, the urban cul-ture of Xinjiang exhibited a sense of openness. Within the basis of maintaining their own ethnic cultural traditions, each ethnic group showed an opened attitude to new cultures, and, hence, ur-ban culture became more diversified and rich. During the time when agriculture was more dominant , traditional cities lacked of public cultur-al spaces. Hence, Buddhist monasteries, Taoist temples and mosques became the sites for organi-zing public cultural activities in the urban areas. Since modern times, the public cultural spaces in urban areas have experienced a great change. Parks, as a new mode of public space, began to appear successively in some important cities. At the end of the Republican era of China, the public cultural space of Dihua had been further expand-ed. In 1948, there were four such kind of public cultural sites in Dihua, such as Zhongshan Park, Hongyan Lake, Shuimo River, and Wulabai. In addition to these, the cinema also played a very important role in the new entertainment life of the urban residents of Dihua. In 1944, Dihua had three movie theaters which were run respectively by the government, a businessman and a Russian. Movies had a very direct impact on the residents’ vision and mind, especially on the youth. A new movie sometimes would change some people’s view of life or the rules of their behavior. In short, the Republican era was a dramatic period of change during which China transformed from a traditional agricultural society to a modern industrial one. Following the changes in politics, economics and culture, people’s material life and cultural life were also changed. Due to the vast territory, and uneven political and economic devel-opment of China, the changes differed in various regions. Xinjiang is a frontier area in western Chi-na. Its communication with the outside world was not so convenient. Hence, compared with the east-ern coastal region, the degree of change in Xin-jiang was lower, and the speed of change was also relatively slower. However, this kind of change ac-cumulated over several decades, so, with time, the changes also became very noticeable. Howev-er , due to the uneven regional development in Xin-jiang, the changes in some cities were slow while in some they were fast. Compared with other places of Xinjiang, the changes along the eastern line of the northern foot of Mount Tianshan, and taking Dihua as the center, were faster and more obvious in the Republican era. On one hand, Di-hua was more strongly influenced by the politics, economics and culture of inland China; and, on the other hand, Dihua was also influenced more di-rectly by the politics, economics and culture of the Soviet Union With the combined role played by the both sources, the material life of the urban resi-dents of Dihua, including clothing, food, shelter and transportation, as well as the customs, and cultural entertainments, changed dramatically. This change was not only similar to that of inland cities, but it also reflected regional characteristics of Xinjiang—the characteristics of ethnicity and di-versity wee more pronounced. In addition, com-pared with Tibet which is also in the western fron-tier of China, the changes brought by the urban modernization in Xinjiang was more dramatic. This was directly connected with Xinjiang’s geographical location, natural climatic conditions, as well as its political, economic and cultural development. Al-though Xinjiang lies in the western frontier of Chi-na, its transportation connections with inland Chi-na and the outside world were more convenient than those in Tibet. During the Republican era, the railways, highways and aviation routes devel-oped relatively well, the Xinjiang’s economic, and cultural connections with both inland China and the Soviet Union were also relatively close. In addi-tion, an important natural condition which also created good conditions for the opening up of Xin-jiang is that the elevation of most areas of Xinjiang is not high—the average elevation is around 1000 meters. Hence, the natural geographical conditions promoted a population flow between Xinjiang and inland China, as well as between Xinjiang and the Soviet Union. Moreover, after the settling of Xin-jiang province at the end of the Qing dynasty, the feeldings and unity with inland China were ensured from an institutional aspect. It was just under such kind of background that the lives of the urban resi-dents living in the eastern zone of the northern foot of Mount Tianshan experienced a dramatic change, and presented a characteristic of ethnic diversity, pluralism and mixture of old and new.