A Village Without Land

Because of the abundance of mineral resources in the western minority areas of China, building the modern national industries and enterprises in these areas are the best plan to developing the western ethnic area and the economy of the country as a whole. However even though these enterprises aid the process of modernization in the minority areas, they also have conflicts with the traditional culture of these areas, which has attracted attention. This study uses the fieldwork method to carry out research on the village of Danian in Debao County, Guangxi. The aim is to give an example of the relationship between"traditional"and"modern"by focusing on the cultural change in a traditional Zhuang village since the arrival of a modern national company– the Huayin aluminium Industry corporation– and investigate its influence on the traditional minority culture there.The study begins with a history of Danian Village with an emphasis on the importance of land ownership in the village. After the loss of of land to the aluminum company various changes in production activity occurred at different rates. The study is mainly concerned with these things, with emphasis on the division of occupations under the influence of the modern company, the changes in consuming method, the generation gap between older and younger villagers concerning changes in religion and custom.This study believes that Danian Village should modernise and respond to modernisation, and that this will only finally occur when the external efforts of the aluminium company and the internal efforts of the people of Danian Village. The adaptation of minority culture is the combined result of minority modernisation and minority traditional culture.