Ethnic Group And Nation In The Village Vision: Field Research About Lai People

"Ethnic group"and "nation"are undoubtedly two different concepts .The Controversy over them is caused by expressions of fuzzy language .Because they have been transmitted from the west to China, the two concepts seem more ambiguous to our Chinese and allow more room for discussion. Therefore the research in this field has been neglected: the two terms are given different connotations, and more importantly, they are expression in different linguistic context. This is the goal of our research. Obviously it is far from enough to reveal the essential characteristics of "ethnic group"and "nation"by a case study. But such a discussion is quite different from those limited to books. The present paper tends to study different connotations of the two concepts from the village point of view, offering pluralistic thoughts about the issue. The paper pays more attention to the views of the American scholar Stevan Harrell when it explores the definitions of the two terms. Harrell thinks that 'ethnic group'is defined in the local linguistic context, while "nation"is defined in the linguistic context of nationalism. In other words, "ethnic group"is a cultural one, and "nation"is a political one. Based on that, and with a live case, the present paper tends to draw people's introspection on their theory and practice in the field of research. Long Lin county in the northwest of GuangXi is a typical society of ethnic group. The Zhuang nationality is its original inhabitants. In the long history, the Hans, Yis, Miaos, and GeLaos have moved into the county, forming a complicated ethnic groups. To some extent the society of ethnic groups exists in the way of interweaving in a particular time. The local history of LongLin county is the history of the development of the interrelationship among its ethnic groups. The development of the society has a course of cultural assimilation. The spread of the Hans culture in particular is the most important one. The present paper makes an overview about it. We can see that the spread of the Hand culture began with the infiltration of the central imperial power. The interaction of ethnic groups is the prerequisite and foundation for acknowledgment and construction among different groups. Only through interaction can acknowledgment be presented. The ways of interaction are various. The paper studies the interrelation between Lai people and its neighboring group from language, market and intermarriage. Finally it points out that ethnic group is not a cultural carrier or a unit formed in the state of isolation of region, economy and society, but it is a convention or organization formed in people's interaction. Because of cultural assimilation, especially the deepening of the Hans cultural spread, the characteristic of a certain ethnic group cannot be simply considered as the difference between "own group"and "his group". The reason is that the local culture is of the same nature although it may keep a primitive trait in a key link. Lai people's acknowledgment on their ancestral hardship is essential and plays a key role in ethnic group construction. In addition, Lai dialect exclusive to Lai people is the most obvious cultural characteristic, presenting people's acknowledgment. The construction of Lai people is a continuum. It was after the founding of the People's Republic of China that Lai people was brought into line with "nation". At that time Lai people required to be acknowledged as a single nation. Their requirement was denied in nation acknowledgment in 1950's for this reason and that. In the following several decades, Lai people lost the most important identity sign---nation, and was "the unregistered resident"among Chinese nation. What's more, they could not enjoy the preferential policy carried out by means of administration. In the 1980s Lai people adopted a local strategy and no longer insisted on being acknowledged as a single nation. Finally Lai people were incorporated into Gelao nationality. Here we can take the view of "tool theory"into consideration. Out of interests the choice of Lai people is a kind of strategy. After they joined the Gelao nationality, Lai people have got compensation in distribution of economic and political resources. It is what Gong Yong Hui calls "national consciousness control", which is a virtuous control. We can see that "nation"exists in the ways of nationality classification, and benefits from the national policy, the national policy cannot separate itself from the ideology of its nationalities. We can trace the concept of "nation"in Chinese history. It is an expression in national context with rich historic and cultural connotation. The paper points out that ethnic group and nation are two different concepts when applied to classify a group and a nationality. Ethnic group is a cultural one, and its acknowledgment and construction is the result of interaction in the society of ethnic groups. While nation is the embodiment of the national will. The administrative power exerted on nationality acknowledgment and national policy originates from the revolutionary national idea.