Immigration,lineage And Local Community

By mainly adopting the researching methods from Ethnology and Anthropology,this article,with the researching orientation of Historical Anthropology,looks into the Yan Lineage in the minority area of southwest China through its constructing process,changes of outside presentations,activities of the members,interactions with other lineages within the community and the government,etc.Macro analysis is used in this research as a complementary to the case study,and a host's perspective to a guest's perspective.A lot of oral information has been applied,which is collected during the field work in Zhengjiaba and its surroundings,as well as some genealogy and inscriptions on several tablets,to reveil the crucial affects and contributions of this family to the community development.The Yan Lineage immigrated from Hunan to Maoshan Mountain in order to escape the flood,then immigrated from Maoshan Mountain to Zhengjiaba because of the bad weather.The Yan Family bought a large amount of farming land,as well as the houses and the uncultivated land in Zhengjiaba to settle down.After about 200 years of reproduction,the residential compound in Zhengjiaba has become the most centralized living area for the family members,without any resident of other family names.And the family has been part of the force to maintain the local order by different means.After settling down,the family members has done a lot to construct the Lineage,including purchasing family-possessed land,building the ancestral hall and compiling the genealogy.As the public preperty faded away,the ancestral hall vanished accordingly as well as some functions of the lineage.The outside presentations of the lineage have changed over time,the Yan Family now mainly operates through its sacrificial system.The main driving force for lineage constrution is their competition with the Huang Family.At the very beginning of the settlement,the family became enemy to the Huang Family,which got worse because of the land dispute and the life-involved matters.However,cooperation is the normal way for the two families who live in the same community.The members of one family will marry those of the other one,conflicts easing.The community order damaged,the lineage's inside cohesion would enhance and the joint cooperation between the two lineages will also become strengthen.They will try efforts together to maintain the social order.By studying the developing route of this lineage and its constructing process,we can get to know the history of regional and social development.This research is centered on the Yan Lineage,which is a immigrating one in Zhengjiaba Group,Zhongzhaiba Village,exploring its constructing process by looking into its changes,itsmembers' activities,etc.And the changing process of the regional society is also exposed.