Aoyao’s Sweet Career:The Social Life Of Honey In Yao Mountains

As a traditional research topic in cultural anthropology,material culture represents the intellectual manifestation of the relationship between humans and nature.The development of human society is closely intertwined with the richness of things,and for the Aoyao society in the Dayao Mountains,honey is a quintessential example of this.The production and flow of honey not only contribute to the construction of people’s livelihoods but also play an indispensable role in building social interaction networks.This article investigates a village in Aoyao,taking honey as the research object,and analyzes how it transforms from a natural object into a commodity,flowing into the market,and constructing a new interpersonal interaction network,with significant implications for Yao society.The transformation of the Yao people’s way of life from collecting honey to domesticating bees is a contemporary manifestation of their traditional way of livelihood,which relies on the mountains as a source of sustenance.The production of Aoyao honey is driven by political,cultural,and economic factors,and the commercialization of honey is a cultural driving force that has transformed the understanding of its value.Through trade between ethnic groups,honey has transformed from a natural object into a commodity,flowing from the mountains to the market.Multiple stakeholders have jointly constructed a flow system for honey,giving it new social significance and promoting local economic development,bringing sweetness to Aoyao.By exploring the political,economic,and cultural history,we can see how humans and things choose and connect with each other.In the era of the "anthropocene," the social life of honey highlights the dynamic and complex entanglement and connection among economy,culture,ecology,and survival strategies.The intertwining and coexistence of humans and bees through honey reduce the separation between nature and culture,promoting the coupling between them.