| By means of the case study pertaining to Korean community in Qingdao, this dissertation aims to investigate the issue of acculturation of Koreans qua a migrating group in Qingdao. Acculturation is one of the important spheres of anthropology which contains significance vital to the study around migrants.Several modes of adaptation, namely assimilation, transplantation, embedding etc. have been summarized from investigations around migrants in America and those around the acculturation of overseas Chinese and peasant-workers as migrating groups in China. In this dissertation, nevertheless, the acculturation of Korean community in Qingdao manifests itself in "floatation and expediency". On this account, elaborate ethnographical description and analysis concerning the formation, constitution, and function of Korean community in Qingdao will help to reveal the internal causation of the particularity shown by the acculturation of the community.Specifically speaking, the purpose of Koreans coming to hunt fortune in Qingdao determines the weakness of their consciousness of taking root. Various preferential policies to Korean merchants by the local government of Qingdao, furthermore, have strengthened their characteristics of "staying-as-guest" which results in their reluctance to change the identity of "guest". Meanwhile, the internal cohesion as the result of the collectiveness particular to Korean people is also among the causes that have led to their responding to neighboring Chinese world in the form of collectivity. The floatation of the acculturation of Korean community refers to a mode of adaptation wherein migrants relatively assemble yet holistically scatter in neighboring Chinese world.Under the influence of Korean culture of course, along with the penetration of Korean elements into local culture by Korean community in Qingdao characterized by "expediency" as well as "floatation", Qingdao has been colored with Korean flavor on city appearance and local life etc.Seen in this light, albeit merely an expedient mode of adaptation as opposed to the new form of migrating group within the epoch of globalization, floating acculturation on the other hand provides necessary social, instrumental, and emotional support for the acculturation of migrating groups. It has, qua a particular mode of acculturation, formed comparison with the existing modes of adaptation like assimilation, transplantation, and embedding etc., hence offered a particular case for the investigation pertinent to acculturation.This dissertation consists of three sectors, to wit. the introduction, the main body (six chapters included), and the conclusion.The introduction includes, roughly, the causation of the title selection, relevant literature review, perspectives and methods of the investigation, among others.The main body is assorted to the following six chapters:Chapter one, with the title as "Qingdao in the Past Century: A Coastal City Built by Colonists", sums up the spatial setting of the following ethnographical description—Qingdao. In virtue of the diachronic description of Qingdao from its appearance as a modern city in some sense to its becoming a developed coastal city in eastern China to date, this chapter reveals the cultural characters of the city and, at the same time, outlines holistically the history of Koreans in Qingdao in the past two decades, laying a foundation for the successive unfolding of the formation as well as city configuration of Korean society.Chapter two, entitled as "Entering 'Korean Village': 'We' Love Qingdao", depicts straightforwardly the living experiences of several chief reporters in Qingdao and opens the door to Korean community, shifting the attention from Qingdao, the Chinese city, to the Korean group here and their community.Chapter three, namely "Hardships in Adaptation: the Period of Pre-Korean Community", makes descriptions with regard to the sufferings of Korean people as well as Korean enterprises that came here initially and analyses as to their hardships on adaptation and the causations therewith. Chapter four is named as "Industrial Clusterization, Life Assemblization: The Appearance of Korean Community" which tells that after the initial breaking-in period of acculturation, Korean community appeared and had constituted the net of social relationship characterized by industrial clusterization and life assemblization.Chapter five, whose title is "Korean Community and Qingdao with 'Korean flavor'", discusses about the constitution and function of Korean community and the phenomenon whence Korean culture, via the platform of Korean community, advances into Qingdao with strength, constituting a Qingdao with "Korean flavor". This dissertation points out, form the perspective of semiotics, that the pervasive Korean signs in streets are just superficial cultural codes whereas Korean living style as well as customs have left deep inscription on Qingdao people with whom the Koreans are in contact. On the basis of the account and analysis in the past several chapters, the author presents, in this chapter, the floating mode of acculturation of Koreans in Qingdao.Chapter six that is given the title "Tune Changing: The Koreans Quitted" focuses on the withdrawal turmoil caused by Korean-invested enterprises recently, contends that the turmoil reveals the inconformity of Korean community with neighboring Chinese world, and points out the existing crisis in and the future trend of Korean community.In the sector of conclusion, this dissertation contests, on account of the aforementioned several chapters, that Koreans qua a migrating group with certain superiority in Qingdao have adapted themselves to the alien life as well as culture difference by dint of constituting Korean communities, brought new cultural elements to the city, and constituted the cultural space of Qingdao with their development in the past 20 years. Under the temporal circumstance of globalization, the investigation as to Korean community in Qingdao reveals a mode wherein heterogeneous cultures coexist harmoniously yet differently—the floating acculturation.
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