Tusi System And Cultural Identit

As a country characterized by cultural identification,China has established itself during the past 5,000 years as a community of Chinese people with a“multi-cultural integration”.It is because of its cultural identification that China has been standing out in the world till today.As a vital factor contributing to Chinese people’s cultural identification,the Tusi System(Tusi,a term initially used to mean the chieftain,or tribal head)or Chieftain System,had an existing history of over 600 years from China’s Yuan,through Ming,to Qing Dynasties.The System had played a positive part in the governance of ethnic groups in the frontier areas during that period.The study on the Chieftan System has been conducted over the past century,and has yielded abundant fruits in terms of institutional summary,theoretical exploration and case studies.And in recent years,a research approach of cultural identification has been warmed up,integrating the tribal system into cultural identification.It is found,however,that these researches are more of a political orientation than academic or cultural,leaving in-depth analyses and efforts to be yet made.The epoch-making event in 2015 of western Hubei Province’s Wuling mountainous area made the initiative,namely,the Tangya Chieftain Tribal Relics was approved and listed in the “World’s Cultural Heritage” by the United Nations Organization for Education,Science and Culture(UNESCO)for its clarified orientation,integrated function and structure,and striking regional features.The listing of this relic site--a which bears universal values in historical,artistic and scientific realms--has served as a unique case for the study of Tusi System and cultural identification.This paper aims to seek for the possible route by which China’s frontier ethnic groups identify themselves with,and integrate themselves into,the “multi-cultural integration” pattern of the Chinese civilization.To achieve this,Tangya Chieftain Tribal Relic Site was chose for case study based on the cultural structurism,and with such research approaches as historical literature,archaeological documents and field investigation.The research on Tangya Tusi relics was conducted in four aspects:physical(material)culture,institutional culture,behavioral culture,and mentality culture.In terms of physical aspect,it reveals--by exploring the features of the very relics at this site,its then agricultural production,business conducts and traffic conditions--that physical culture is the prerequisite of cultural identification.In terms of institutional dimension,a thorough review is made of the historical development and features in the Tusi System,and of the institutions of politics,economy and education in the Tangya Tusi period--with a focal analysis of its“governance by local custom and etiquette”.It generalizes that institutional culture is the guarantee of cultural identification.In terms of cultural facet,it is argued that behavioral culture is the basis of cultural identification by investigating into local people’s daily diets,marriage,funeral and wedding.And in terms of mentality,the relic site is examined from the perspective of its planning and layout,building styles,and local folklore.It comes down to the values and beliefs,esthetic interests and ways of thinking,before arriving at the generalization that mentality culture is the essence of cultural identification.The paper follows to contend--by looking into the historical background for local chieftains to be converted to government-nominated officials,into the mental changes of both chieftains and local people,and into subsequent social development afterward--that the transformation of chieftains to bureaucrats is a must in cultural identification with the central mainstream.It is proposed,by means of a comprehensive and thorough analysis of Tangya Tusi relic site,that Tusi physical culture is the prerequisite of cultural identification,that institutional culture is the guarantee of cultural identification,that behavioral culture is the basis of cultural identification,that mentality culture is the essence of cultural identification,and that the transformation of chieftains to bureaucrats is a must in cultural identification.It is also contended that the chieftains being transformed into governmental officials is an advisable approach for the ethnic chieftain regions to identify themselves with the nation’s mainstream culture.Meanwhile,it is suggested that the material-institution-behavior-mentality evolutionary process should be considered as a feasible route of cultural identification for the Chinese community with a “multi-cultural integration”.