Chinese Minority Policy and the Meaning of Minority Culture: The Example of Bai in Yunnan, China

Abstract

Based on recent fieldwork, this paper explores issues surrounding the official ethnic identification and cultural identity of the Bai-the second largest minority in Yunnan Province. Interpretation of the Bai ethnicity is offered within the context of the modern social science notions of ethnicity and the invention of cultural traditions.Many minority cultures in China, such as that of the Bai, were documented by historians and ethnologists before the Communist revolution as having long been absorbed into the Han (ethnic Chinese) culture. Today the Bai accept minority status for pragmatic reasons, but their culture, according to field observation and comparative analysis, appears to be very much Chinese.It is argued that resurgence of minority ethnicity in China symbolizes political participation of the minority nationality so labeled, while official minority cultures in many cases can hardly be distinguished from the dominating Chinese culture as a way of life. This case study supports a growing notion in...