A Study Of Yizu's Funeral Culture In Caoqing Village Of Yunnan Province

Funeral culture of Yizu in Caoqing village is a kind of compound culture formed by the Yizu in constant adaption to its surrounding environment since the bureaucratization of native officers.As a group ritual,the funeral rites of Yizu has its vivid national characteristics which is also a significant component of Yizu national culture.The local Yizu's burial take coffin burial as its traditional form to inherit,which has intricacies rites,rich and varied cultural connotation,vividly deduced the scene of entertaining gods and sending souls.It is a kind of cultural performance that deeply conveys the people's desire for the blessing of their ancestors in nowadays and plays significant roles as social integration,social interaction and social education in Yizu society.The traditional funeral culture has been reformed after the implementation of cremation policy.The simplification of rite is the most direct external expression,and the recessive culture has also been changed under its impact which display various culture features such as "cultural coincide,traditional cultural decline,and the modernization of funeral supplies,quartet parties presence,the interaction between state power and local culture,reorganization of interpersonal network,the change of life and death and belief system and so on." Funeral transform has a certain impact on culture itself,social development and cultural subjects.The causes for advancing funeral culture reform contain both internal and external factors.Among the external factors,national strength play a major role in advancing but it is not a single decisive factor because the deepening of ethnic interaction has gradually blurred the ethnic boundaries,and offer conditions for the funeral reform,while the location factors speed up the pace of reform.Among the internal factors,the change of cultural subject's concept and rational choice on account of pursuing the maximum benefit are also very significant.As a long-term cultural practice,the funeral ceremony of the Yizu in Caoqing Village has its unique value.The adaptability and phased characteristics of cultural development determine that funeral culture must be constantly adjusted with the development of economy and society,and it has always maintained consistent development with national policies in the process of modernization.This process also leads to disharmony in cultural development.The modern contradiction in cultural development can realize creative transformation.The key lies in the fact that the holders of national culture should learn from their own culture system and rely on modern information technology to realize the continuation and complementary development of national culture.