Education and identity: A case study of the Christian Miao ethnic group in Shimenkan, Guizhou (1900--1949) (China, Chinese text)

The dissertation is a historical case study of the Flowery Miao in Shimenkan from 1900–49. Historically, the Flowery Miao, a non-Han ethnic group, has been living in the north-western mountainous areas of Guizhou, and had long been isolated from the central government and Han culture. They had been stigmatized as “Miao-man ” (uncivilized barbarian) in traditional Chinese history. Starting from the Ching dynasty, the Flowery Miao was ruled over by Yi-zu, an ethnic group who had been appointed as “ Earth-eye” (local landlord) by the dynasty in peripheral areas. However, by the coming of western missionaries in early twentieth century, the Flowery Miao had undergone a Christian conversion movement through which a network of churches and schools were established in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuen provinces.; During the time of Republican China, educational and social development in Shimenkan grew drastically and later it was called the “holy place of Miao nationality's culture revival” and “heaven from abroad”. Besides, the educational development in Shimenkan had also trained the first generation of Miao intellectuals and helped in constructing the ethnic identity of Flowery Miao. However, in nineteenth-thirties, in order to build a modern nation-state in China, the Republican government had decided to reconstruct the “Chinese” identity by integrating all the ethnic groups into the family of “ Zhong-hua Min-zu”. Thus Shimenkan was chosen to implement the assimilation policy. The dissertation will explore the conflict and negotiation process between the state and local ethnic group.; Lastly, the dissertation does not intend to identify who is “real” Miao, or to define a static, essential, primordial set of criteria for being a true Miao, but to identify the meaning of “ Miao” in the Christian ethnic group in Shimenkan, Guizhou. The Flowery Miao have constructed their identities by embracing Christianity in the early twentieth century and have had to reconstruct it after 1949. Dealing with the Western missionaries, the Chinese Republican government, and the local landlords, the Flowery Miao in Shimenkan attempted to reconcile both ethnic identity and Christian identity by developing education and written language which in turn signify themselves literately and culturally. Furthermore, the case of Shimenkan reveals the complicated process of intergrating ethnic minorities into the “Chinese” family and the construction of a new nation-state during the Republican era. The dissertation will also seek to rethink the discourse of “ Zhong-hua Min-zu” in the modern Chinese history.