Bride in Shangrila 花腰新娘

Recently I have been watching lots of new Chinese movies. By new I mean movies coming out during the past 5 years. One movie that really intrigued me was Bride in Shangrila (English Title), directed by Zhang Jiarui, and played by Zhang Jingchu and Yin Xiaotian as leading roles.

The story unfolded in an ethnic minority (Flower Belt Yi 花腰彝) setting in Southwest China. The plot was not too complicated and it involves a young Yi girl Fengmei and her relationship with her husband, and her passion for dragon dance, and ultimately her rebellion as a woman againist tradition and the social stereotype between masculinity and feminine. The scenary of the movie was extremely beautiful, capturing the essential beauty of the exotic and pure mountainous scenary of Southwest China. The music was extremely wonderful with very high-pitched Yi folk songs going all the way through the movie.

There are a few thoughts about this movie that is worthwhile to articulate a bit more. Many western anthropologists, such as Dru Gladney and Raulph Litzinger etc, talk about the dipiction of ethnic minorities in China more in a way as a cultural criticism by Han Chinese of the repressive Han Chinese Confucian culture as well as the previous totalitarian socialist state. This might be the case for movies and books coming out during the 1980s in the genre called Scar Literature (伤痕文学) . Usually, the ethnic minorities are portrayed as exotic and primitive, and usually very feminine ans sexual. Although one has to admit that some of these still can be found in Bride in Shangrila, there are however quite a departure from previous ones.

First is that the macrosocial structure of the movie is totally set in reform period market economy China. Thus one tension in the movie is the challenge of market economy on tradition and social mores among ethnic minority groups. In the movie we saw the urgency to make money and the fact some people from the village have already gotten rich were catalysts for the unfolding of the movie. Thus we can argue that in the post-socialist China, the relationship between ethnic minorities and the Han Chinese are increasingly conditioned by the imperatives of the market. The commodification of minority culture is increasingly gaining ground.

Second, is the apparent rendition of the patriotic part of the ethnic minorities. Indeed, in the movie, the idea of being part of the Chinese nation was not questioned at all, but rather some grand ideal that minority people are striving for. This is demonstrated through the desire of the village dragon dance group to win a provincial level competition and later to Beijing and became a national champion. This is indeed a very interesting issue that touches upon people’s self-identification and layered identity as both a minority, in this case Yi, and being Chinese (zhong guo ren).

Third, is the theme of feminist thinking. Fengmei, the heroine, was depicted in a very tom-boyish fasion. She is never afraid of her husband, and can challenge anybody that is in her way for success. Several times in the movie, Fengmei encouraged her fellow female dancers to rebel againist the traditional stereotype of being women in a minority village.

All in all, this movie is quite a good one that combines both tradition and modernity in a fast-change post-socialist China. Highly recommended.

My Prospectus Memo

Finally I wrote my prospectus memo and sent it to my supervisor. First Step!!! I am attaching it here, and as it is still in a very early stage and I might have to revise it, so all kinds of comments are enthusiastically welcome!!!

Prospectus Memo

Puzzle

The relationship between modernization and ethnicity remains a perplexing one. On the one hand, the process of economic development and industrialization can decrease ethnic heterogeneity and homogenize previously communal-oriented identities towards a common identity. On the other hand, the same process can also stimulate ethnic mobilization and rising ethnic identity over increasing competition over scarce resources. It is thus theoretically interesting to probe, under what conditions, the process the modernization would impact ethnicity differently.

Bearing this theoretical puzzle in mind, my dissertation will examine relationship between modernization and ethnicity in contemporary China. With the unleash of Open Up the West development strategy at the turn of the 21^st century, the Chinese “Wild West,” which is generally poorer and also home to most of the 55 officially designated ethnic minorities in China, became one of the center spots in studying China’s economic development as well as its nation-building efforts. It also should be noted that China, as a multi-ethnic state, is located in an awkward situation between striving towards becoming a “normal” nation-state and the reality of ethnic diversity and official policies supporting certain levels of autonomy and multiculturalism. It is thus interesting to examine how the fast pace of recent economic development and industrialization have on ethnic minorities living in the western regions of China. My dissertation will seek to answer the following questions: How do ethnic minorities react to China’s fast-growing market economy and nation-building processes? Do they cooperate, resist, or both? What is the role of ethnicity in their cooperation or resistance efforts?

The Independent and Dependent Variables

The independent variable is the recent modernization process in China – fast economic development and industrialization. The intervening variable is ethnicity. The dependent variables are ethnic minorities’ reactions to such a modernization process.

Data and Methodology

As the modernization process has broad connotations, it is important to find effective proxies to examine this process. One good proxy is big infrastructure construction projects. In particular I will look at hydro-power dams on the Lancang River (Mekong River) in Yunnan province. Because of the large scale impacts of these dam constructions on local people’s lives, such as population relocation, changes in people’s modes of production, as well as long-term environmental impacts, examination of people’s reactions to such projects should be quite fruitful for the purpose of my research. The other proxy is to look at the industrialization of the labor force. The idea is to examine whether, during the process of market liberalization and the industrialization of the labor force, employment segregation among different ethnic groups occurs.

My project will rely heavily on qualitative research at two fronts. First is through personal interviews and participant observation with affected people at two dam construction sites along the Lancang River. Second is archival research of employment statistics at selected ethnic minority autonomous prefecture and counties in Yunnan province, with the combination of interviews of government officials as well as ordinary people, both Han Chinese and ethnic minorities, about their perceptions and experiences of the labor market.

Potential Hypotheses

Conceptual Hypothesis # 1 – Reactions towards the modernization process follow along class lines. The idea is that poor and rural people are disproportionally affected, and their reactions to the dam construction and industrialization of the labor market are mainly based on their class background rather than their ethnic identity, whether they are Han Chinese or ethnic minorities.

Conceptual Hypothesis # 2 – Ethnic minorities are less prone to have positive views of the modernization process than Han Chinese. Simply put, because of their minority status, ethnic minorities are discriminated against during the modernization process, and therefore, they tend to resist more fervently than Han Chinese. As a result, ethnic identities are strengthened during the process, and we might be able to observe more mobilization among ethnic minorities, such as petition to high levels of government and local protests.

Conceptual Hypothesis # 3 – Ethnic identities are contextual and conditioned by social structure and group status in a given locality. Most of localities in Southwest China witness the conglomeration of multiple ethnic minorities, which means relationship among different ethnic minorities are not equal. Therefore, some ethnic minority groups are more likely to resist the modernization process than others. Historical memories of domination and subordination among different ethnic groups, preferential policies by the state, extent of assimilation by the Han Chinese, and levels of institutionalization of ethnic identity, i.e. religion and language, all these might factor into the reactions of different minority groups. Thus the purpose of this project is to examine, under what conditions, ethnicity plays a mobilizational role during the modernization process.

Theoretical Contribution

My dissertation hopes to contribute to broader theories on the complex relationship between modernization and ethnicity. Based on cases from Southwest China, it aims to specify certain conditions that might intervene between these two variables. It also hopes to engage theoretical debates on the contextual nature of ethnic identity. Furthermore, as China is caught in an awkward situation between striving to be a nation-state and the reality of multi-ethnic society and official multi-cultural state policies, my research also hopes to shed light on the nation-building process in China, which I think is also of comparative applicability in various third world multi-ethnic developing countries. In the meantime, my research might also of theoretic interest to theories of development in multi-ethnic societies.

Development and Ethnicity

I had a talk with my supervisor Prof. Dickson yesterday about my dissertation prospectus. Of course at this stage I don’t really have a clear idea yet so the talk itself was quite open-minded.  Bruce’s idea is that I shouldn’t confine my study on an ethnographic study of some ethnic minorities in a remote place in China, thats interesting but won’t get me anywhere in terms of publication and jobs.. More important is that my study will be able to talk to theories of comparative politics and contribute to people’s understandig of both China and beyond. Bearing this in mind, we talked about to frame my study on economic development in a multi-ethnic state and the role of ethnicity in such a modernization/industrialization process.  This indeed is interesting, it captures what I want to study, but also sounds very theory-oriented and can have broader applicability in most of the developing countries. Now the thing is to dig into the literature on development, which is the current priority for me…

Being Ethnic in Southwest China by Stevan Harrell

Anyway, although it is not a good feeling of being alone and lonely, I did read a lot. Finished a wonderful book by Stevan Harrell, an excellent anthropologist at University of Washington, about ethnicity in Southwest China. His treatment of different ethnic minority groups and their different relationship with the dominant Han is very nuanced and very insightful. Especially his argument that the Nuoso Yi’s antagonist reaction is not towards the Chinese state and the Chinese nation but simply towards the Han is to me very convincing. Harrell’s treatment of ethnicity in China avoided the cliche treatment of inter-ethnic relations in China such as minorities as the heroic force resisting the evil communist state and wanting to be independent etc. Highly recommend the book for people who wants to get a fuller understanding of the complexities of life in a multi-ethnic state as China.

Also some new ideas about my own research is also in the developing. Especially the one about economic development and the impact and reaction of different ethnic groups in yunnan. There is indeed room for an interesting puzzle, that is – why different ethnic groups would react different to the force of market economy and state’s strategies of economic deveopment? I am thinking of doing research in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture to examine three main ethnic groups, Han, Dai, and Hani. As a control group, I am thinking also going to Dehong Dai Jinpo Autonomous Prefecture. Its still a very rough idea, but I think its actually doable and looks interesting.

Some thoughts on China’s western development and its impact on ethnic minorities

China’s western provinces are the generally the poorest provinces in China and also home to most of the ethnic minorities. Recent years with the intention to reduce the gap between regions, the Chinese government started a grand-strategy called “Great West Region Development” (西部大开发）. What interests me is how this development strategy will have impact on the lives of ethnic minorities and especially their relationship with the state and the majority Han Chinese. It is indeed too broad at this current stage, but I hope I can find an interesting puzzle soon.

One area that is interesting is about those hydropower dams and relocation of people, little has been done on how ethnic minorities living in the river valleys or mountains were affected. Are they resisting? is so how? Whats state’s policy toward ethnic minorities in this regard? Are they the same as everywhere else or have special treatment?

Another area is about the marketization of labor, and the influx of both Han Chinese into minority regions and minorities coming into cities and towns and their interaction with Han Chinese. Read something yesterday about the Yi gangsters in Yunnan and Sichuan.

Yi at the Liangshan region looks really interesting, of long history of resistance to various Chinese dynasties and administrations. But I don’t have much knowledge in this regard, might be hard to dig into this one.

Dai are located along the Lancang River (Mekong river), wonder how is the situation of building dams on Mekong..

Still, no puzzle yet, these things are all too descriptive….