Patriarchal Clan Of Hmong In Central Guizhou

In the literature on patriarchal clans, there are two different arguments on the roles and functions of clan. One view is that patriarchal clan is the main force in traditional society and it had always been playing an important role in autonomy in rural society during the period that state power was confined to county authority. With the combination with the rural culture, the clan permeated the rural society and remains to play an important role in rural grass root society so far, constituting the indispensible asset in rural democracy building. Another argument is that patriarchal clan as the appendage and preserver of feudalism, plays a negative role in the rural society in a backward, exclusive, personal and non-legitimate way. It will wane and wither away with the wave of democracy and will historically withdraw from rural society eventually. With a focus on the patriarchal clan of Miao Minority, this thesis makes an attempt to find out how the patriarchal clan is formed and how it evolves to adapt to social change.The clan form of ethnics is not the direct representation of blood relationship but the cultural construct under the blood relationships of different nations. Culture has reflected and represented human living mode and it both is the physical and mental accumulation and sediment of human history. The history of wars and migrations in relation to Hmong people has shaped the Hmong society into a both poor and egalitarian, both individualistic and collective oriented ethnical communities wandering between the heartland and hinterland of China. Such a history and cultural traits render the organizations of Hmong society operate around the ethnical existence and extension. Thus, the patriarchal clan that is connected by the blood relations, superimposed by the place based social relations and interest relations, actually is a basic unit of Hmong society. The patriarchal clan in Hmong ethnical minority in Central Guizhou has been represented in many ways, ranging from the settlements of people of same clan, life symbol composed of both son's and father's names, prestigious Zhailao (patriarch) or Lilao (civilian judge) and familial tree deeply memorized in the mind of necromancer, sharing of mountain and forest, slaughterhouse and graveyard despite of family separation, to the worship with the different sacrificial rites in different familial lines. These various representations of patriarchal clan consolidate their clan identity which differentiates themselves from other clan people and ethnical people. So, Hmong ethnical people have evolved gradually and spread over the world on the basis of common historical memory and ancestor worship that connect and consolidate the Miao ethnics as a whole.During the course of modernization, social organizations are very important to grass root society. Under the underdevelopment of social organizations in rural society, it is an important issue to cultivate new peasant organizations from the traditional rural organization for rural governance and development. Hmong patriarchal clan system very strictly regulates the life and social networking of Hmong people. People go through their life course from birth, childhood, adulthood to marriage and to elderly life and till to death under the culture of clan. The marriage taboo which bans the marriage between man and woman from a same clan generates distinct characteristics of a love freedom and no marriage decision making which however secure the healthy extension of Hmong ethnics. With the marriage coalition of different clans within the Hmong ethnics, Hmong society can reunite and aggregate the disperse clans. With the periodically rites of ancestor worship, the relationships among disperse individuals, families, clans and marriages are intensified. Through the ritual performance, Hmong clan sufficiently takes control of rural culture, then utilize culture to restraint the clan members'behaviors and to clarify their responsibilities and rights, eventually the whole Hmong society could be integrated and controlled.Through the field research and historical documents compiling, this thesis scrutinizes the regulating function, political function and cultural function of patriarchal clan of Hmong people in Gaopo region in central Guizhou. The thesis draws conclusions:The existence and growth of patriarchal clan is inseparable from the national background. The reaction and representation of clan organization are dependent upon the extent of the penetration of state power into rural society. When the extent of state power's penetration into rural society is lower, the clan will completely dominate the power of rural society. However, when the state intervenes in the rural society to a higher degree, the clan will actively adjust itself to the national change. At the Hmong village of Gaopo, due to a relative geographic isolation, steady culture, ritual cohesion, the traditional ethnical culture is still dominant. Gaopo Hmong clan as an authority beyond the national power, continues to play an important role in Hmong society, and is compatible to and supplements the official village committee at the village. My research indicates that patriarchal clan is not a transient phenomenon in modern society, and remains to be further researched and will not die at present.