Hmong Women's Studies In The Social Inheritance Institutional Change

The inheritance institution plays an important social function in the civil society of Miao nationality. The specific contents of the Miao inheritance institution should be defined according to characteristics of this ethnic social culture. The economic life, the political system and the ethnic culture are the bases of Miao society, so the inheritance institution of Miao nationality should include:the property inheritance, the power inheritance, the family line inheritance and the culture inheritance.In different historical periods and in the different social formations, the Miao inheritance institution displays different characteristics. Different social groups play different roles in the arrangement of economic interests, social management responsibilities and ethnic cultural innovations. The difference between gender groups in the above areas is one obvious reflection. During the transformation from the traditional society to the modern society, the gender division of social space in Miao community has changed in some way. The Miao women have got some social roles and social powers in the public space. Correspondingly, they also have got new inheritance roles in the Miao inheritance institution. The civil institution and civil organization are bases of the existence of Miao society. And the female group is the main force of Miao development. Therefore, both the civil institution and the female development are two natural scale of studying Miao society. The relationship of the two areas is an essential research perspective of sociology and anthropology.The author applied methods of the field research, and analyzed the relationship between Miao inheritance institution and Miao female's social role from seven chapters. The objective of the research is to have a vertical presentation and analysis of the development of Miao social culture and the Miao female group. The main content of the paper are as follows:In Chapter1, the author introduced causes, significance, theoretical basis and research methods of the research. Meanwhile, the author summarized and analyzed all the researches related to her research subject. The research hypothesizes were proposed at the end of this chapter;In Chapter2, the author introduced the situation of research site and research object. Then the author analyzed the two social background of the research site:the commercialization of ethnic culture in the tourism economy and the fusion of multi-culture in modernization and urbanization;In Chapter3, the author analyzed the style of family property and its inheritance characteristics in the transformation of Miao society. The viewpoint proposed in this chapter was that the inheritance right of female had appeared. This signified the development of Miao women's social role.In Chapter4, the author analyzed the properties produced in the marriage relationship and their inheritance rules. The dower and the dowry, the properties of Miao women's'birth families and their husbands' families are the center topics in this chapter.In Chapter5, the author analyzed the arrangement of social management power in different gender groups. The traditional civil organization and the villagers'committee are two basic social organizations of Miao community.In Chapter6, the author analyzed the family line inheritance of Miao society and its transformation. The characters of family line inheritance of Miao society have changed from patriarchal to utilitarian. The family line inheritance determined the characters of the property inheritance and the gender group of inheritance.In Chapter7, the author analyzed the Miao women's cultural function in the inheritance of family culture and ethnic culture.In Chapter8, the author summarized the main viewpoints of the research and proposed ponders on several aspects:the relationship of social space and gender role, the function of social organization and the function of education on ethnic culture inheritance. On the basis of the above analysis, the author proposed the conclusion of the research:The relationship between the development of Miao inheritance institution and the changes of Miao women's social roles and rights is a mutual promotion process. The transformation of social structure in Miao area has produced the modernization of production mode and the lifestyle. On one hand, due to the modern population policy, the gender equity on education and the migrant of rural labors, the Miao women's social roles and social rights developed, which made the changes of their role in social inheritance institution. On the other hand, the changes of Miao women's social roles and social rights brought new development to Miao community and Miao culture. The female inheritance is an important aspect of the contemporary inheritance institution. In one word, the gender development and the transformation of inheritance institution in ethnic community like Miao are promoting each other all the time, which makes the implementation of sustainable development of ethnic areas in China.