Between Land And Sea:Kinship,Livelihood And Folk Religion Practice In Huidong Society

This paper is an exploration of the kinship system and social structure of Xiao Zuo in eastern Huian county(Huidong).Huidong is also a typical Han society in the southeast of Fujian Province,it has become one of the topics of anthropology about southeastern China society because of its strange marriage custom that women staying at maternal house for a long time.Based on the fieldwork in Xiao Zuo,it is found that the strange customs are related to the results of the practice of kinship system in local areas and how the land-sea relationship in fishery community is expressed in social relations,fishing livelihood,folk beliefs,kinship and clan.During the practice of the kinship system,the local style.wedding ceremony,marriage form,birth customs,family relations,separation and inheritance of property have undergone complex changes,reflecting the recognition of the matriarchal line as a potential inheritance lineage by the whole society.The adoption happened in local matrilineal lineage and the proverbs of "a nephew can succeed his mother's brother"all illustrate the cognatic system of Xiao Zuo's kinship and are not inconsistent with patrilineal principles.In the spatial pattern and social structure,local community that mainly rely on fishing have to face the relationship between land and sea,such as the division of labor of" men governing the sea and women governing the lands",the ritual performance of the duality of land and sea in folk belief activities.With the aid of the cognatic kinship system as a language,the land-sea relationship is transformed into a practical behavior and becomes the rule of exchange of gift according to the cognatic system in fishery customs.With the social and economic development brought about by the technological change of fishery,and the movement of changing customs carried out by the national political system,the traditional marriage custom that long live in maternal house was gradually disappearing.But the cognatic relationship is still preserved,which has become an important field evidence for this research.Maurice Freedman's paradigm of clan research has shaped the southeast China society into a vertical succession mode with only paternal principle,covering the possibility results produced by horizontal marriage changing to the filiation rule,thus simplifying the kinship system.And the relationship between the sea and the land has not really been included in the study of the social structure of the Han people.Therefore,this study attempts to provide a new exploration path and case for understanding the variety and diversity of Han society,as well as the island and coastline society through a comprehensive investigation of Xiao zuo.