Cultural Traditions And Economic Changes Of The Yunnan Hui Of Agriculture And Commerce

As one of the many ethnic groups in China, Hui people in Yunnan have a history of 700 years. It has walked through a tough road, just the same as what its motherland has experienced. Yunnan is a multi-ethnic province on the southwest border of China, and Hui People here presents its own features due to various reasons such as traditional culture, geographical condition, ethnic relation and other social-cultural conditions. Immigrated into Yunnan in Yuan Dynasty, Hui People started on agricultural and commercial activities, which were fully developed in Ming Dynasty and severely damaged in Qing Dynasty. Together with other ethnic groups, Hui people in Yunnan have made a significant contribution to the economic development of Yunnan by doing various businesses such as agriculture, industry, and trading.Looking at the 700 years development of Hui people in Yunnan, we find it was not only the history of ethnic relations, but also the history of economy and culture. Since the founding of People's Republic of China in 1949, all ethnic groups have been under a great change socially, culturally, politically and economically. So did the Hui people in Yunnan, especially after 1978 when China adopted open-door policy and implemented reform.As the leading group in the minority economy of west China, Hui people in Yunnan has accumulated a lot of experience in developing its cultural tradition and enhancing its economic development. Being second only to Northwest of China, Yunnan is the area where most Hui people live. Therefore, it would be significant to study Hui people's economic change in Yunnan. We can better understand Hui people's great contributions to China with a review on its arduous and fruitful striving history. In fact, a study on Hui people's agricultural and commercial development in economy will provide valuable experience for otherminority groups during their process of modernization.Adopting Methods from anthropology, sociology and history study, this thesis intends on exploring agricultural and commercial culture of Hui people in Yunnan and its economic change.While doing the research work, both macro and micro perspectives were adopted. From a macro perspective, the focus was put on Hui people's economic change during the past 700 years, which were divided into four periods, the starting period of agricultural and commercial activities in Yuan Dynasty, the development period in Ming Dynasty, the retrieving period in Qing Dynasty, and the different periods after the founding of P.R.C; From a micro perspective, a Hui town was taken as an example to show the mechanism of Hui people's agricultural and commercial tradition and its economic change. Both diachronic and synchronic studies have been carried out. Today is the succession of yesterday, and to understand today's Hui Society in Yunnan, we must understand the process of its historical development. Therefore, the thesis first starts with the immigration origin of Hui people into Yunnan, explores their cultural and economic change at different time; and then, it makes an comparison study of different Hui villages to find out their development models and gaps.The internal motive development theory is also adopted in the thesis. It holds that, besides production force, culture and religion are also great driving forces of the social development. The internal motive development first of all calls for the act of meeting people's value. Only when people hold a positive position and can express their will freely, can our society find proper ways to achieve its developing goal. Traditional culture always presents solutions to the development of Ethnic groups. By incorporating their traditional cultural system with modern development, we can lay a solid foundation for the further development of ethnic groups. In order to solve various problems of underdevelopment of poverty-stricken areas, we should pay more attention to the culturalfactors instead of material factors.Reviewing the history of Hui people in Yunnan, we find its development is closely related to its...