A Study On The Evolution Of Carpenters And Their Culture In Contemporary Tujia Area

This paper is a concrete study on the cultural evolution of traditional handicraft in Chinese minority region. The carpenters in Tujia area, as centuries-old, well-based traditional handicraftsmen in minority area, play an irreplaceable role in that region. However, the significant change of culture ecosystem in Tujia carpenters in the early 1980s has caused corresponding transformation in Tujia carpenters and carpenter craftwork .Based on the analysis of the minority history presented by contemporary carpenter and carpenter craftwork evolution, this paper introduces a landscape of traditional carpenter craftwork cultural change in minority area, followed by the reasons leading to carpenters'evolution, namely, economic systematic change, population flow influence, cultural environment transformation, changes in social demand and transformation in carpenters'role.By in-depth analysis of present carpenters and carpenters'handicraft, the author believes that the carpenters should change themselves thoroughly in order to keep pace with the developing society. Besides, the author put forward four suggestions: inherit traditional elite skills;widely intake modern technologies and integrate them into traditional crafts; focus on countryside market and shoulder the responsibilities for serving farmers'living demands; improve educational background and learn more about modern technologies.