A Study On The Ethnic Identity In The Transition Period

In recent years, identity has become a hot topic in academia. During the transition period, it is necessary to study the sense of identity of the minority groups from various angles, so that we can hold the existing state of our people's identity, and give impetus to our ethnic policy. Emphasis on identity of the minority groups is directly related to the stability and unity in our country. This paper takes an ethnic minority village in Hunan Province-Huiwei Village as a case, inspects the identity status quo of the diaspora Hui-minority, in order to point out that how they choose and construct their identity between their own cultural traditions and the external social environment in the transition period when the social culture has changed, and then provide rich materials of studying Hui-minority and identity so as to perfect the ethnic policy in this country. This paper has five parts. The first part is the preface. It presents the topic of this study, which is the study of the ethnic identity of the Hui living in the rural middle China in the transition period, in these aspects:the backgrounds, the significances, the purposes, the methods, and the rationale. The second part is an analysis of some key concepts. In order to have a clear study of the ethnic identity, the concepts of "identity" and "ethnic identity" should be explicitly stated and exploited. The third part is the literature review. The forth part analyses the specific factors in order to see the status quo of their ethnic identity through the religious life, the economic life and the unique rituals. The fifth part is an conclusion. Through the study of the three factors mentioned above, the Hui people have shown a diversity of ethnic identity. Nevertheless, not the same with other Hui people in China, the Hui people living in the rural Hunan village have a certain kind of ethnic identity which is presented by the intrinsic insistence to the unique rituals.