Bai Rural Communities, And Cultural Change Research

The dissertation examines the culture changes of Baizu group in Yuanjiang County through the research method of community study. Yuanjiang county is an autonomous county of the Hanizu,Yizu and Daizu, which is the main living place for Baizu group in central Yunnan. As a field place, Anding village is representative in ethnic structure, production way, living style, traditional culture and ethnic relationship among the nine Baizu villages at the local place.Since the late Qing dynasty(1875), villagers have been doing some small business besides fanning work because it is at the key access path in the depth of Ailaoshan Mountainous area. Especially after 1980s, due to its favorable geographical position as a centre of communication on the No.213 National Road and its rich reserves of nickel ore, the villagers had once taken the opportunity to run their small restaurants and hotels along the road. In the process of the development, the different generations of villagers have been communicating with the outside world, made their adaptation and adjustment to their livelihood at different stages.The changes of their economic life have influenced their material and spiritual culture simultaneously. The villagers have made some adjustments to the economic development actively. On the basis of traditional culture of the Baizu group, they have developed their own 'Anding Baizu culture" which is different from the Bai culture not only in Dali but also in other Baizu villages of Yinyuan.The dissertation consists of the following parts:introduction, body (five chapters) and conclusion.The introduction mainly tells the purpose and significance of the study, the relative researches at home and abroad, research methods used in this study and some concepts defined and so on.The body part consists of five chapters, which narrate the formation and changes of the community in an ethnographic way and analyze the relevant theories.The first chapter introduces the general community, including the history of Baizu in Yuxi city and in Yuanjiang county, the overview of Yinyuan town, and the natural and social environment and population of Anding village.The second chapter elaborates the changes of economic life over the past centuries of Anding village in term of time order. It throws light on the process from family farming, "go Bazi" economy, commercial town economy, "national road" economy to diversified commodity economy at a different time. The villagers have tried to adapt themselves to the different conditions actively. The third chapter summarizes the material and spiritual culture among the nine Baizu villages in Yinyuan county, covering houses, clothing, food, religious belief, festivals, language and ancient music and so on. Meanwhile, special attention is paid to Anding village in order to show more features. As a result of their adaptation to the natural, social and cultural environment, they have developed their own "Anding Baizu culture" with local flavor.The fourth chapter focuses on the changes of their marriage, family and funeral customes. The contents about marriage form, marriage procedure, divorce, separation, parenting etc. are introduced in the part. With the social development, the customes have had some changes. Influnced by the idea "Separate soon after the wedding most of the families are nuclear family in the villlage. In the funeral activities, not only the concept of clan but also the traditional moral values are further strengthened.The fifth chapter further shows the specific features of Anding people and Anding village based on the introduction of the above chapters. Their emphasis on education, attention to the independence of a child and persistence in ecological environment has made them differ from others.The conclusion of the study:In every period of development, villagers have changed their livelihood and led their economic life with the changes of external environment accordingly. The changes have not only improved their own life but also influenced their material and spiritual culture simultaneously. The historical memory of main culture of Baizu group determines the inheritance of the moral values and various customs. On the basis of traditional culture of the Baizu group, they have developed their own "Anding Baizu culture" which is different from main culture of Baizu group in Dali and other Baizu villages of Yinyuan. The social and economic change haven't made the villagers completely abandon their traditional culture, instead they have adapted themselves to their own environment, seek their status in their own development environment and keep a dynamic balance. This adaptation is not a passive adaptation, but the performance of subjectivity in the cultural adaptation and selection.