Silver Social Applications And Cultural Expression In Shidong Miao People’s Life Of Southeast Guizhou Autonomous Prefecture

The thesis described the silver social applications in Shidong Miao people’s life, specifically making women wearing silver ornament as a breakthrough, to show the silver various degree presentation, based on the author’s filedwork investigations in Shidong town southeast of Guizhou. It illustrated relationship between silver ornament and Shidong Miao people, including social division to individuals, groups and the national symbol expression with silver ornament, but also discourse system establishment with silver social applications.It explained the historical and cultural basis of silver social applications in Shidong Miao firstly. As a "social biology", the silver has long been involved in the shaping of the Miao’s cosmology and values in Ancient Folk Song of Miao.Through the silver ornament, the relations of silver and Miao has been expressed. The related records of wearing silver ornament of Miao from Chinese literature classics began to appear in the Ming dynasty. Based on this social facts,author analyzed the historical background of Guizhou and The Chinese Empire in the Ming dynasty, especially set a Guizhu province,pointed that with the colonized operations,it promoted economic andcultural exchanges between Guizhou and the Central Plains. Also through this economic channels, silver as a currency began to settle in"Miao Territory". By virtue of women wearing silver ornament, recycling use of silver,it conveyed the special social and cultural significance of the Miao. The social association between silver ornament and the local people began to present.The wealth meaning of silver ornament, With owned or not, and the amount expressed so-called"hierarchy"division,also by the way of gril’s beauty match showed the social relations between individual and group,which associated with individual family wealth, prestige, social prestige, moral and social assessment.Then silver ornament as women’s dowries and the property of mother’s family, contacted local Miao marriage structure closely, derived from the dynamic schema of wealth circulation of intermarriage circle. In the inheritance of Miao family’s property, the silver ornament was women’s inalienable possessions, carried on intergenerational transmission of Mother-Daughter, which highlighted another property inheritance chain was different from the parent inherited by blood, exhibited a importance of matrilineal descent. In addition to silver ornament for wearing and consumption, silversmith group also were concerned in the paper. Mainly from the perspective of the silversmith’s "skill" and resource acquisition, analyzed relations and social interaction of silversmith group based on the different aspects particularly in the context of the modern market economy. Lastly, resting on the relationship between Silver and "Miao Silver", the author explored the local center doctrine, regional identity,and the "authenticity"of national symbol showed by silver ornament,based on the level of economic discourse production.Finally, silver social applications was the process of silver reproduction actually, which presented silver multidimensional expressions of social significance. Based on different culture systems, structure and society, the relationship between human and object expressed the rich cultural connotations.