Soap Slot Miao Village

This is a fieldwork about the people living in a multinational scattered area in China. In my work, I shall mainly focus on some representation and content of Miao people, under their social culture development and change, living in the intersectional area of Chuan (Sichuan Province), Dian (Yunnan Province) and Qian (Guizhou Province), so as to explore and study the function of their cultural self-adjustment based on the intercultural interaction and influence of various ethnic groups in this area where people are inhabiting in a pattern of "wide distribution and compact inhabitation". Besides, I shall pay close attention to the people's life in the area under the current situation to propose some views and suggestions personally after my careful investigation. In the paper, the essays and their accompanying pictures are both excellent and convenient as references, the paper covers 8 chapters and the exordium and appendix, with total words of 200,000 in Chinese characters.Exordium: The meaning and the reason for choosing the title as fieldwork and studyProbing into the important meaning of the research through the theory of Cultural Change; sketching the history and the current situation on the research of Miao people with a drawing function to the relevant research which I am doing in my field; a basic introduction and self-evaluation to the fieldwork.Chapter one: Surroundings and OriginsA general introduction to the site-its ecological environment, historicalorigin, marriage, population and people's conditions; An analysis of the cultural characteristics of "Gaoshan Miao" and proving that the Miao people have been restricted by the harsh ecological situations of their economic, social and cultural development, who are inhabiting in Jiancao village, Xuyong county, Luzhou city in Sichuan Province.Chapter two: Substance and HumanityMainly analyzing "Gaoshan Miao" of their hylic culture, such as historical migration and settlement, current residential situations, daily lives etc; Probing into the phenomena of characteristic interpersonal culture through analyzing various kinds of complex relations among villages and various ethnic groups.Chapter three: Livelihoods and TypesA Summary of historical and traditional livelihood characteristic, implements of production, farming techniques, horticulture skills, household handicrafts, livestock breeding, traditional labor differentiation, trade and traffic; Pointing out that the villagers haven't cast off the unenlightened traditional mode of agricultural production, and an underdeveloped living standard. The further development of socialist market economy has already manifested the clue of development of the life style of traditional product modes, but the dependence of the land is still an unchanged theme of the agro-farming nationality in this era and the area.Chapter four: Literature and art, recreation and craftA summary of Gaoshan Miao's cultural and artistic specialties through the description of their literature, art, festival, costume and more crafts, etc. which are important carriers and concrete revelations of the traditional-ethnic culture, and which can outline the change and the pulsation of the traditional ethnic culture.Chapter five: family and clanAn Analysis of family, marriage, kinship Terminology and the relative and typical characteristic in the clan; Conspicuously displaying the culture characteristic in various kinds of the networks in social relationships and ceremonial characteristic; and analyzing Gaoshan Miao of their clan's culture and the related practical function.Chapter six: Sorcery and ReligionAn Analysis of the belief of the primitive religion with veneration of ancestors and ghosts; and some descriptions and objective evaluations of the afferent Christianity's influence in ethnic minority areas at the early beginning of last century; A Research on the rural social relationship, such as among religion,sorcery, ceremony, faith and medical treatment from a new theoretical visual angle: the result is that there are close connections between c...