A Study On The Social Network Of The Buyi Ethnic Group

Relationship has been seen as a part of the Chinese social fabric since very early times,and sociology on relationship has gradually developed into a major sub-discipline.Therefore,social network research plays a vital role in understanding the operation logic of Chinese society comprehensively.In addition,some specific social appearances emerges in the process of constructing a present social network of Chinese ethnic minorities.However,the research on social network of ethnic minorities in China based on social science approaches have been scare in academic circle.Correspondingly,based on the social network theory and the theory of ethnic group boundaries,this study selects a traditional Buyi village under a pseudonym W which in southwest China to do a case study by participatory observation and in-depth interviews,analyzes the differences among the way people behave in constructing social relationship network,their motivation and the actional characteristics of groups in different soical positions,and tries to explore the relationship between their social network and social mobility.The results show that the Buyi society is comprised of traditional,transitional and modern social relationship networks which is employing respectively by the peasants,the migrant workers,as well as by the elites who are at an advantage depend on their ethnic identity.This study not only presents the differences among the three social networks from the synchronic perspective,but also describes the construction process of the Buyi people’s social network from the traditional to the modern via the diachronic perspective.The empirical findings in this study contribute to existing knowledge of social networks and provide a new understanding of the social development of other ethnic minorities in China.