‘Talking’ Landscape: The Culture Dynamics of Rushang (Confucian Entrepreneurs) in a Peripheral Migrant Hometown in Yunnan

Abstract

In a border region of Yunnan province, the Han people of Heshun, despite their hybrid origins, manipulate Confucian symbols to shape the landscape as a reference to the realities of local business competition and trading activities. The present paper analyses the dynamics of cross-border business culture in the migrant home village of Heshun, and explores the local interpretations of landscape and the prominent role it plays in local culture. The continued appeal to a Confucian culture reinforces flourishing cross-border activities. Confucian culture and merchant culture are intertwined in encultured ways through activities that accord with the requirements of a Han Chinese identity. The paper suggests that two ultimately conflicting ideologies, namely Confucianism and mercantilism, can be unified through the discourse of landscape, which acts as a means of transforming wealth into reputation.