Manchu "disappear"?

This thesis examines the ethnic identity of Manchu group in contemporary China's society through the research method of community study.Manchu is a special group among China's ethnic minorities. Culturally,without any distinct characteristics in terms of ethnicity, Manchu is quite similar,if not completely same,to the majority Han. Nevertheless,Manchu is also the second large minority group in China with its population over ten million.Moreover,with regard to group composition,ethnic identity and its structure,as the politically dominant group in Qing Dynasty,Manchu had been greatly impacted not only by the empire's institutional arrangements,e.g.the Eight Banners' system, but also by the Han nationalist social movements activated while the collapse of Qing Dynasty.In the process of China's transformation from traditional empire to modern nation-state,Manchus used to be labeled as"others in race"in contrast to Han people.Compared with immense number of research on"Manchu in history", my study focuses on"today's Manchus".Especially while it is overwhelmingly perceived that Manchu group has been"already highly sinicized",a realistic question necessarily to be answered:does Manchu really disappear?In order to observe the Manchu identity in the context of rural grassroots daily life,Wulajie Manchu Township has been selected as the community sample for this research.Ula Town(Wulajie)was the capital of the Ula Tribe of Haixi Jurchens in Ming Dynasty and is always a Manchu compact community.Besides rich historical architectural vestiges,demographically,there are roughly 40%local inhabitants are with officially recognized Manchu identity among whom many are from the clans for generations.Data collection of this thesis is based on my fieldworks in Wulajie and its subordinating villages.The villagers' narratives demonstrate the grassroots' imagination towards Manchu ethnicity,both internally and externally.Those imagination pictures draw a framework of analysis consist of genesis,structure,mechanism and characteristics of Manchu identity.The historical memory of kinship situates in the core of Manchu identity with its material carrier of pedigree."Updating pedigree"is the most important ritual for the families attributing to the same kinship with various activities concerning traditional beliefs and customs,e.g. shamanic ceremony.Due to special historical experiences,the identity confusion between Manchus and Bannermen is still a radical debate in rural communities.A family of Han bannerman's descendents has been stressfully examined in this thesis through which their special identity swaying between Manchu and Han has been explored. The more significant impact toward ethnic identity are derived from the realistic formal institutions and the social actors' subjective motivations.In mid-1980s,by means of shifting individual's ethnic identity in the official registrations,the local government and rural grassroots"complicitously"created a large number of Manchu population.The former aimed at the political status of being an"ethnic township",while the latter wanted to benefit from the state ethnic preferential policies. However,this situation led to a puzzledom in terms of ethnic identity since it became difficult to recognize who was genuine Manchu according to his/her formally recognized ethnicity.To adapt this situation, a special appellation had been created by the villagers:"Manchu from Shandong"which means"false"Manchu.This appellation creatively solved the potential conflicts in rural communities.However,the pragmatic utilization towards state ethnic policies finally became a social consensus.In the last chapter of this thesis,the view point of study goes beyond wulajie so as to examine the social reconstruction of Manchu identity in a broader perspective.More macro-scopical factors have been taken into consideration and the voices in the cyber communities were put emphasis on with respect to analysis.The conclusion of this research:in the 21^stcentury's China,Manchu ethnicity does not vanish but changes its nature and identical structure. Manchu is no more the"Manchu nation"who governed China for hundred years.Nevertheless,it becomes an modern ethnic group in contemporary China's society with its significance in historical memories and family based ancestral imaginations.The root of today's Manchu identity is actually the subjectivity of social actors.Notably,if observing Manchu ethnicity in the perspective of nationalism,it would be somehow imprudent to underestimate its potential for ethno-nationalist mobilizations.