A Study On Miao Minstrels Of The Western Hunan Province

The contemporary Miao Minstrels are undergoing substantial changes in their spiritual and cultural world with the social changes. Nowadays, folk songs of Miao Counties have been becoming less popular. The aging of the Miao minstrels and the interruption in the transmission between generations together with the cultural invasion of foreign cultures deteriorate the situation.The dissertation probes the social status of the Danqing Miao minstrels and the dilemma of the transmission system. Looking into the fundamental causes of the declining population of Danqing minstrel and the failure in the transmission amog generations, the dissertation finds out that the modern Danqing minstrels'absence from the cultnural ecology in the development of the arts of folk songs result in the skepticism of their own existing value. The study opens a window from which the whole Miao culture is displayed. Meanwhile, the study provides precious empirical material for the researchers of ethnology. And most important of all, the study is designed to create a promising prospect for the Danqing Miao minstrels so that the minstrels in the Miao Region will preserve their ethnic identity and culture, keeping the arts of folk songs echoing in the river of time.The dissertation is divided into six chapters besides the introduction and the conclusion. Chapter 1 presents an overview of minstrels'living condition; chapter 2 introduces the overall situation of the contemporary minstrels. Chapter 3 interprets the transmission rules and the transformation in the rules. Chapter 4 examines the minstrels'difficulties in their life. Chapter 5 points out the predicament of the transmission between generations. Chapter 6 discusses the preservation and development of the minstrels.