An Anthropological Study On The Inheritance Of Miao 's Silver Forging

Silver ornaments, as the symbol of Miao’s culture, imply the traditional culture and social historic memory of this group and the aesthetic of Miao’s people. They are not only indicate the social development process of Miao’s society, but also highlight the special local culture, aesthetic experience, values and emotions etc. of local people. In2006,"Miao’s silver ornaments handicraft art" is awarded "the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage." At the same time, three people, Ma Maoting and Long Migu in Fenghuang county and Yang Guangbing in Leishan county, were recognized as the inheritor. Population of Miao in Guizhou province occupied80%of the Miao nationality of the country; therefore, the Miao Silver ornaments in Guizhou province attracted the eyes of all researchers. In contrast, the study on Silver ornaments of Miao people living in Western part of Hunan province is much less, although the style and design of their Silver ornaments have the same quality with those in Guizhou province. Furthermore, in the past, studies about Miao silver ornaments and silver forging skill mostly focus on interpreting the custom, picture and handicraft culture of silver ornaments, or analyzing them from art craft aesthetic angle. There is no analysis on relationship among people engaged in inheritance activities and inheritance history of forging skills.Research on silver ornaments forging skills of Miao not only makes us understand the cultural connotation of the Miao silver ornaments, but also help us seek methods to conserve it in local area. To make this handicraft living, research on its inheritance activity must be carried out, which might be the one neglected by previous studies and is also a supplement to previous study.In this study, from educational anthropological perspectives, we survey Miao women (the users of Miao silver ornaments) using questionnaires, interview national intangible cultural heritage inheritors and local elite with full Miao knowledge, government officials and ShanJiang town villagers, participate in the whole process of making silver ornaments. Based on the knowledge of use of silver ornaments and inheritance of forging skills, we deeply analyze the inheritance activity of Miao sliver ornaments forging skills from educational anthropological perspective, and concluded the existing problems faced by the inheritance activity, as well as the cause, and methods for conserving and inheriting this excellent traditional culture (Miao silver ornaments forging skills). We also make a proposal that how to inherit and conserve excellent traditional handicrafts of other nationalities with the same problem faced by Miao silver ornaments.The main content of this article includes the following section:Chapter1:Background of inheritance of Miao silver ornaments forging skills. Make an introduction to history, language, religions and life customs of Xiangxi Miao; describe the basic situation of field work place, the history and modern situation of silver ornaments of Xiangxi Miao, the kinds and characteristics of their silver ornaments.Chapter2:Investigation on current inheritance situation of Miao silver ornaments forging skills. Make research on inheritance situation, market situation, ownership and usage situation, make statistics analysis on inverstigation results, and combine with the interviews with local Miao people, local elite with full Miao knowledge and government officials to make a conclusion on the existing problems faced by silver ornaments forging skills.Chapter3:Education and inheritance of Miao silver ornaments forging skills. Mainly analyze the mechanism of inheritance of the forging skills, feature of inheritance. Also analyze its educational anthropological significance from the individual and social educational function of inheritance of the forging skills.Chapter4:Thinking on Miao silver ornaments forging skills. In the new history conditions, how to inherit and develop excellent traditional culture such as the forging skills is the focus of this chapter. In the new situation, complete the function transformation is the base for inheritance of Miao silver ornaments forging skills; Economic function is the key for inheritance; and education is the life mechanism of culture inheritance.