Ethnological Sciences Research Articles

«Моя работа… прошла не даром»

The publication is a commentary and texts of three previously unknown letters written to each other by N.I. Vorobyev and R.K. Gareeva (Urazmanova), who would later become the leading specialist in Tatar rites and holidays. The conducted analysis of the document revealed the peculiarities of scholarly communication between these individuals, the emotions of an inexperienced but science-minded young school teacher who was involved in the research work, and the influence of Marxist-Leninist ideology on the understanding of the importance of the ethnography science in the Soviet times. Gareeva’s first letter was written on January 23, 1961. In the letter, she shared her concerns about not understanding the need for ethnography. Vorobyev wrote her a detailed response in February of the same year. Nikolai Iosifovich divided the letter into sections. In the first part, when discussing the age of science and technology, he points out the spiritual needs. In his opinion, culture and art are no less important for people than material needs. When reflecting on the importance of ethnographic science, the scholar emphasises the need for a comprehensive study of the ‘development’ of the culture of different peoples, when old skills can be useful for meeting the modern needs. In the last section, he argues that a new generation of researchers is necessary to ensure the continuity of academic knowledge. The geographical education received by R.K. Gareeva, as N.I. Vorobyev is convinced, will help her look at traditional culture much more broadly. The second letter of Rufa (Raufa) Karimovna is not as worrisome as the first one. She expressed gratitude to Vorobyev for the answer and, inspired, she reports on her research plans to collect ethnographic materials on the culture of the Tatars and on preparation for entering graduate school. The revealed epistolary documents made it possible to reveal the subtle aspects of the formation and development of ethnological science in the Volga region, the importance of the individual/teacher in the professional development of researchers of the traditional culture of the peoples of the region.

Moldavian diaspora in Belarus: population dynamics, resettlement and reasons for relocation

Moldavian diaspora in Belarus: population dynamics, resettlement and reasons for relocation

Культ святых и паломнические традиции у народов Волго-Уральского региона в досоветское время

The history and culture of the holy sites in the Volga-Ural region remains an underdeveloped topic in ethnological science. The introduction of new written sources into scientific circulation and a secondary analysis of the works of Russian and foreign researchers can help in solving this problem. The article aims to systematise and analyse information about the cult of saints and pilgrimage traditions among the peoples of the Volga-Ural region in the pre-Soviet period. The belonging of holy sites to certain peoples has become the main principle of the distribution of information. Its use showed the need to single out a separate group of data that reveals the syncretism of holy sites among the Volga-Ural peoples. The collected corpus of materials made it possible to identify the main places of worship in the region, pilgrimage traditions, the attitude of national and religious elites towards sacred objects, and the nature of public discussions. The authors believe that when studying the cult of saints, it is important to take into account the essence of "holiness" and the ideas about it among individual peoples, the system of its maintenance – oral and written heritage, ritual and ceremonial culture. The nature of the worship of holy sites in the context of intercultural contacts in the Volga-Ural region is of great importance.

Significance of the „khrushchev thaw” for the history of ethnological science in the MSSR

„Khrushchev Thaw” in the USSR covers the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s and was manifested through the diminishing of the Soviet dictatorship, including the weakening of censorship. It seemed that even in the union republics the necessary premises were created for the objective investigation of some historical issues. But the „thaw” was pretty shallow. In the MSSR, the works of writers from the 19th century (G.Asachi, C. Stamati, C. Negruzzi, V. Alecsandri, Al. Russo, M. Kogălniceanu, M. Eminescu etc.) were published, specifying however that they were the classical writers from Molodova. Currently, the idea is accepted that in the 1950s Moldovans were considered those people who were born in Moldova, until the Union of 1859, but in 1960, G. Ibrăileanu was also included in this category, appreciated as an eminent Moldovan literary critic, although he was born in Romania on May 23, 1871. In 1958, the Institute of History was organized, which included the sector of archaeology and ethnography. The issue of ethnogenesis of the „Moldavian people” was to be studied by archaeologists and ethnographers, who also had to investigate the early Slavic and Old Russian cultures on the territory of Moldavia. The notion Romanian, as well as the phrase Romanian language, were almost totally avoided. In the article devoted to Metropolitan Varlaam, it was stated that he printed the first book in Moldovan language, although it was originally written in Romanian, the author entitles the book as Teaching Book, despite the fact that this work is called Romanian Teaching Book. There is a remarkable article devoted to the establishment of Moldavian press through the founding by Gh. Asachi in 1829 of the Albina Românească (Romanian Bee) periodical. The author was focused on the term Albina (Bee), invoking the Russian influence, because in the periodicals appeared in Russia the term Albina (bee) was used, but the term Romanian remained unexplained. This neglection attracted the attention of some specialists from Moscow, who accused the authors from the MSSR of neglecting the word Romanian in their studies and even resorting to the trick of replacing some notions with others, i.e. replacing the term Romanian with the phrase „Moldovan people”. The Soviet author`s observations were absolutely correct, but in the MSSR, where the intense work was being done on „proving” the existence of the „Moldovan people”, different from the Romanian people, they had no chance of success. In this respect, the „Khrushchev Thaw” was totally limited - the MSSR specialists had to „prove” at any cost the existence of the „Moldovan people” and „Moldovan language”, distinct from the Romanian people and the Romanian language.

Etnograafiapärandi määratlemisest ja kogumisest Eesti muuseumides

This article examines how Estonian museums understand ethnographic heritage. More specifically, it is an attempt to answer the questions of how the concept of ethnographic heritage is made visible through museums’ various practices. An analysis of what criteria museums use when assigning objects to ethnographic collections is submitted as well as a description of what dilemmas they face when making a choice, and how these dilemmas are resolved in practice. It was demonstrated that assigning objects to ethnographic collections has been and continues to be a cognitive and subjective activity. What has served as the main ethnographic criteria is the object’s social origin (a farm environment, which is contrasted with the urban and manor milieu) and the method of production — manual production and the use of traditional work methods, which is contrasted with factory production and store-bought goods. Museums that focus on the way of life of an ethnic or social group rely on their own set of defining principles, as do those whose permanent in situ exposition dictates the ethnographic content in a more classical sense (farm and open-air museums). At the same time, the simultaneous use of disparate criteria has led to different results in practice. The effort to define ethnographic heritage as dating from the first quarter or first half of the 20th century has resulted in a "special treatment" of newer hand-made objects in museums with ethnographic collections. This mainly affects the placement of contemporary textile handicrafts in an ethnographic collection. Faced with the build-up of problematic choices, some museums have "frozen" their ethnographic collections, while others have adopted a dual attitude to previously set temporal and other criteria of ethnographicity. When assembling and organizing collections, museums are looking for ways to bypass the narrow boundaries previously set for ethnographic heritage and are attempting to view everyday culture as a whole. One such practice is the formation of a separate textile collection. Thus, ethnographic heritage (ethnographic object) is a changeable construction not only from the perspective of modern ethnological science, but also from the perspective of museum practice. Explicit collecting principles have an impact on the museums’ collection practices, or more generally, what kind of heritage is being created for the future. At the same time, less formal trends, such as the difficulty of collecting objects from recent history, or the special importance of stories in assessing the value of an object, or the lack of specialists working with collections and poor storage conditions are all important factors in the creation of future heritage. The subject of auxiliary collections and replicas is also of much greater significance in the practice of museum work than it appears from the formulated collection policy.

Reports

Mateo Mohammad Farzaneh, Iranian Women and Gender in the Iran–Iraq War (New York: Syracuse University Press, 2021), 457 pp. International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences Commission on the Middle East Conference ‘The Middle East from the Margin’, 7–9 September 2022, Istanbul, Türkiye.

TRADITIONS OF THE KAZAKHS ASSOCIATED WITH A PREGNANT WOMAN, CHILDBIRTH AND UPBRINGING (COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS WITH SOME OTHER TURKIC PEOPLES)

Abstract. The article uses data collected by the author from all over the country. Based on the available data and were divided the Kazakh system of rituals associated with a pregnant woman, her childbirth and upbringing into three main stages: prenatal rites; childbirth customs; postnatal customs. The study revealed that the customs of the Kazakh people are connected with the customs of neighboring peoples, including the Turkic-speaking peoples of Siberia and Central Asia. In addition to the origin of these customs, their semantic meaning was analyzed.
 The analysis of customs related to a pregnant woman, given in the article, makes it possible to identify the criteria that influenced and influence the position of a woman in the family and society, raising or lowering her status.
 Materials and methods: in ethnographic studies, information about Kazakh customs related to childbirth is extremely rare, so the article materials are based on the authentic personal experiences of the author.
 The main principles of the study were differentiated using several methods. The first, comparative-historical method: customs were studied depending on certain features (the time and place of the custom, the composition and number of participants, the main custom actions, the objects used in the custom, the meaning of the custom), and on the basis of them, common and special features were determined in the historical sequence. Second, the method of regularity: to consider the custom as the main component of the traditional worldview and system of life forms. Third, the interdisciplinary method: data from disciplines related to ethnography (linguistics, folklore studies, religious studies) were used to identify stable and changing elements of the custom.
 In the course of the work, methods of observation and communication, widely used in the world sociological and ethnological sciences, were also used. The analysis of the traditions of the Kazakh people related to the birth of children by comparing them with the customs of the peoples of Siberia and Central Asia contributed to the differentiation of their genetic and cultural commonality. In the differentiation of the topic from a new point of view, the principles of objective and critical analysis and critical study developed at the present stage were the main ones. Problem-chronological, comparative-historical approaches were also used. In particular, the systematization of comparative data served as the basis for determining the relationship of an ethnographic group with an ethnically related group and the consequences of its influence.

НАНАШКИ У ВЕСІЛЬНІЙ ОБРЯДОВОСТІ МИКОЛАЇВЩИНИ (КІНЕЦЬ 1970-х рр.)

Ukrainian wedding as a series of ritual actions connected with certain social and legal customs required a number of specific actors to perform. Almost all the guests were participants in the ceremonies, but there were those who played the main role in the wedding event and without whom the wedding would lose its significance. The example of the regional features of the Mykolaiv Oblast in the wedding rituals of Ukrainians are the ritual characters «nanashko» and «nanashka». The issue discussed in this work is an actual direction of ethnological science, as this topic is little studied in the specialized literature. Today, there is practically no source base and publications on this topic. Based on the authors’ field research, the article examines the peculiarities of ritual characters in the wedding ceremony of Mykolaiv Oblast in the late 1970s. The result of the study was the identification of regional and local features of wedding ceremonies in this region. The article analyzes the role and functions of the ritual characters «nanashko» and «nanashka». The authors highlight the local features of the participation of ritual characters, their ritual actions and duties in three cycles of wedding rituals – pre-wedding, wedding and post-wedding. During the whole wedding, Nanashka performed one of the main missions – leading the ceremony. Their participation in an important family event such as a wedding symbolized the approval of marriage at the public level. Accordingly, endowed with these powers, they were morally responsible for following the wedding script. It was concluded that nanashky not only played an important role in wedding ceremonies, but also accompanied the newlyweds throughout their lives and remained very important people for the couple.

У пошуках власної ідентичності. Життя очима внутрішньо переміщених осіб (за польовими матеріалами)

The submitted article is one of the first attempts in Ethnological science to analyze shortly the events of the 2014 and 2022 in the East of our state after the recorded face-to-face interviews with the eye-witnesses according to the beforehand prepared questionnaire by the authoress personally. Peculiar attention is paid to the consideration of changes in the comprehension of the language and cultural interests, civic values and geopolitical priorities by the population of the region in the system of ethnic and national identification, and also the study of the problems and prospects of development of Ukrainian identity in the region. The respondents’ positions concerning key, in our opinion, issues: causes of the beginning of armed confrontation in the East of Ukraine, the main trends of internal and foreign affairs of our state, world view, language issue, trust to the mass-media, are described. Geography of the research has undergone significant changes with the beginning of Russian-Ukrainian armed confrontation: at first the Crimea is annexed, then the parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions are captured. Accordingly, the segment almost always supporting the pro-Russian vector of our state development and speaking in favor of granting a special status of the Russian language has dropped. Another part of the mentioned regions has been released after temporary occupation in 2014. It is just the period of the appearance of the first signs of pro-Ukrainian finding of the citizens, when the changes in world-view, perception and selection of information take place. The respondents, interrogated by us, have been living for eight years in the changed social and cultural surroundings, then they have endured the second stress on February 24, 2022. As a result, we see a complete coincidence of views of our informants with the data of the latest sociological surveys on the territory, controlled by Ukrainian government. Ukrainians have changed attitude to the state fundamentally: all regions of Ukraine are united in several days in the desire of victory, confidence in a better future. Victory over the enemy, reconstruction of the country, development of independent free state, unitary in its structure, entering to the EU and NATO, the only Ukrainian state language, ensuring and complying of its functioning on all levels are considered as the undeniable facts. All mentioned above gives an opportunity to state the necessity of a further thorough study of the considered question in combination with the theoretical work of various scientific disciplines.

Development of Gender Studies on Ethnocultural Grounds: Problems and Prospects

The fact is that gender relations in the Caucasian ethno-social space are not only specific, but also undergo contradictory changes in the context of the general trends of modern Russian sociocultural transformation, requiring close scientific, primarily ethnological attention. However, ethnology in the region still remains under the influence of conservative ideas from the 1990s “on a return to the roots of culture, on the re-Islamization of culture”. In this difficult context, the barriers to the development of gender science in the space of Caucasian ethnic cultures are analyzed with maximum consideration of the characteristics of these cultures. On a wide range of facts and phenomena, the genderological features of the Caucasian ethnic cultures are revealed in detail (especially on the examples of the gender existence of the Adyghe ethnic groups). They are not properly studied, as well as the inconsistency of the stereotypes existing in the Russian discursive arena regarding Caucasian gender culture with facts and realities, which distances the attention of the centers of the country’s humanities from understanding ethno-gender issues. Possible (potential) prospects and horizons for the development of ethnic gender studies in the Caucasian regions are outlined. Considerable attention is paid to the particularly significant role of literary criticism (and philological science in general) in overcoming barriers to the development of gender science in the space of ethnic cultures. At the same time, it is argued that there are growing tendencies towards the formation of literary criticism as the leading science of ethnology, which is objectively facilitated by both the general trends of cultural transformation processes in modern Russia and the current conservative intentions of ethnology in the Caucasian regions.

Lituanistinių darbų vertinimo istorijos puslapis: termino ir metodo akcentai Antano Mažiulio recenzijose

A Page in the History of the Evaluation of Lithuanian Studies: The Emphasis on the Term and Method in the Reviews by Antanas Mažiulis. One of the perspectives of research on the history of evaluation of ethnological works is to analyse reviews of ethnological and ethnographic works. We have chosen Antanas Mažiulis (1914–2007), who wrote many reviews of works in Lithuanistic studies. The aim of the article is to reveal how Mažiulis understood, appreciated and critically approached the science of ethnology. Since his reviews covered a wide range of topics and issues, we will concentrate only on the analysis of terms and methodological issues in them. Key words: Antanas Mažiulis, reviews, lituanistic studies, terms, methods.

Jewish epigraphy: new discoveries in the Republic of Moldova

Jewish ethnology of modern post-Soviet Republic of Moldova is a young science. Over the past thirty years, it has had to catch up with world ethnological science, filling gaps in the study of Jewish history, including the Pogrom and the Holocaust, and in Jewish education, and in Jewish philosophy, and in archivism, etc. Field research practically remained outside of scientific interests and opportunities. And only in recent years this line of research has become more active, primarily in projects for mapping and studying Jewish cemeteries held by the authors. During the period 2019–2022, findings that significantly clarify the history of the Jews in Moldova were made in Chisinau, Soroca, Onițcani (Criuleni), Iagorlâc, Gherșunovka (both – the left bank of Dniester River), and others. Each of these finds, most of which are dated back to the 18th century – a period, much less studied from a Jewish point of view – opens a new page in the Jewish history of Moldova and gives impetus to new research, both historical and field, epigraphic.

Традиционный этикет башкир в работе С. И. Руденко «Башкиры»

Introduction. The outstanding scientist Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko (1885–1969) made an invaluable contribution to the formation and development of Bashkir ethnographic and ethnological science. The work of S. Rudenko based on personal observations, folklore samples, and studies of preceding researchers gives a general historical and ethnographic description of the Bashkir people. Goals. The article aims to identify etiquette settings, contexts of etiquette patterns presented in his monograph — The Bashkirs (1955; 2006). Results. The fundamental writing gives no special attention to traditional etiquette but some etiquette situations, attributes of etiquette are described in the context of the scholar’s research into material and spiritual culture, social and family life of the Bashkirs. Thus, the book outlines the relationship between husband and wife, older/younger male/female relatives of the latter, reviews the custom of avoidance, mealtime behaviors, some other attributes of etiquette (clothes, gifts), etc. S. Rudenko’s observations pertaining to Bashkir beliefs in the existence of soul and other world are of particular value. Conclusions. In terms of Bashkir traditional etiquette research, the scientific generalizations of S. Rudenko dealing with family, meal etiquette, and that of gift exchange are most essential. The scholar’s legacy remains as immense as it was before, and still serves as a needed source and standard for contemporary researchers.

Cold War Anthropology From Both Sides of the Iron Curtain

This paper seeks to widen the understanding of Cold War anthropology by considering the history of contacts and dialogue between Soviet and American anthropologists from 1945 to 1964. Focusing mainly on the Soviet side, it argues that the isolation of Soviet ethnography was never complete, although it reached a highpoint during late Stalinism. The paper considers the resuming of contacts between US and USSR scholars in the second half of the 1950s; Soviet participation in international anthropological congresses and its effects on theoretical developments in Soviet anthropology; and the preparation, proceedings and consequences of the 7th International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (ICAES) and the Expert Meeting on the Biological Aspects of Race, held in Moscow in 1964. The paper argues that these events were instrumental in widening the confines of Soviet Marxism and introducing new research areas (such as psychological anthropology) into Soviet academia. This enabled ethnography in the USSR to present itself as an alternative centre of consolidation for both Western left-leaning anthropologists and scholars from postcolonial countries.

„Nu știm decât foarte puțin ce este satul”

In this article, I look at Mihai Pop as an agent of continuity, but also as an agent of theoretical refreshment in the social sciences in communist Romania. Through his research activity, but also through his status as director of the Institute of Folklore and university professor, he ensured not only the connection with the past, but also a permanent connection of the local scientific field with research centers around the world. I have chosen to stop at some pivotal moments in the history of ethnology during the communist period that have Pop as the protagonist, whether it is theoretical disputes, the practice of discipline or the evolution of institutions. I want to show both the way in which the study of folklore was distorted by the ideology, but also the strategies by which the scientific field maintained, as far as the times allowed, a kind of autonomy. I will start from Mihai Pop’s vision of the village and of the folkloric reality showing that, despite the passing of the years, the changes in the political regime and the evolution of the social sciences, the researcher’s vision on the Romanian village has not changed fundamentally during his career. I will then show how the theoretical dispute between Mihai Pop and George Călinescu, from the early 1960s, imposed a new conception of the notion of literary folklore as an ethnological science and not a philological one. I will also point out how Mihai Pop’s double role – as director of the Folklore Institute and Folklore professor at the University of Bucharest greatly influenced the development of the field during communism.

ЖИТЛОВЕ БУДІВНИЦТВО В СЕЛАХ НАДДНІПРЯНЩИНИ У ДРУГІЙ ПОЛОВИНІ ХХ СТОЛІТТЯ (НА МАТЕРІАЛАХ ПОЛЬОВИХ ДОСЛІДЖЕНЬ У с. ГАЛАГАНІВКА НА ЧЕРКАЩИНІ)

The proposed article considers the current state of housing construction in the Villages of the Dnieper Region. Modern rural architecture was created in the 1950s – 1960s, which is, firstly, a result of the process of modernization residential buildings in the course of growing industrial development of the USSR, and, secondly, if we talk about Halahanivka, resettlement of many families from flooded areas during the construction of Kremenchuk HPP. At the same time, during the building, traditional forms of housing remained, albeit with more modern materials. For example, traditional hipped roofs began to be covered with slate, in rare cases with tiles or iron. The review of this article is based on the example of data from Halahanivka, which belongs to Cherkasy district of Cherkasy region and is subordinated to the Chyhyryn City Council. The author considered the regularity of development of rural house building in the XX–XXI centuries, the characteristic of their appearance (including the basic building materials which are the most common among the local residents today), the comparison of the modern houses with houses of the XIX centuries. The issues considered in this paper are a relevant direction of ethnological science, it highlights the process of transformation from traditional rural house building to modern. Unfortunately, specialized researches of the development of rural house building in the second half of XX–XXI centuries to date, there are almost none, and some of the research presented on this topic do not cover all aspects of this area. So the main sources for our article were the Land Records, which are stored in the Halahanivskyi Starostynskyi District, and materials from the author’s own archives.

Гендерология в проблемах и перспективах развития этнологической науки

The article is devoted to the problems of the development of ethnology within the framework of the modern paradigm of human sciences and scientific and humanitarian knowledge. Particular attention is paid to the potential role of ideas, principles and cognitive methods of gender studies in the development of ethnological science. A number of examples demonstrate the fundamental difference in the interpretation of the same phenomena of culture and gender existence of the Caucasian ethnic groups within the framework of ethnology and from the point of view of gcndcrology. It is emphasized that when considered on the basis of gendcrology, the usual phenomena of ethnic cultures appear in a new light, requiring re-reading, rethinking and re-evaluation. This concerns the meanings and genesis of traditions, forms and norms of public communication between men and women, the status of men and women in culture, the interpretation of the cultural and symbolic world of an ethnic group, as well as the social and semantic dimensions of ethno-fiction, including in retrospect.

A Decade of Studying Guest Workers Through the Projects of the Serbian Ethnological and Anthropological Society

This review paper provides an overview of the ten-year long anthropological research on the cultural identity of guest workers and their descendants as part of the projects implemented by the associates of the Department of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade and the SASA Institute of Ethnography. The projects were supported by the Serbian Ethnological and Anthropological Society and the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. The phenomenon of “temporary workers abroad”, or the so-called guest workers (Gastarbeiter), which emerged in the early 1960s and continued in the decades to come, has long remained beyond the interest of Serbian anthropological and ethnological science. This is why, after having noticed a scientific research gap related to this phenomenon, in 2010 we initiated the anthropological research of the cultural identity of guest workers. Our intention was to take into account different factors of guest-worker identity construction and to look at the processes, discourses and concepts related to this socio-cultural group from different angles. Over time, as we delved deeper into the problem of migrant workers and migration in general, our interests, and consequently our research, expanded to other topics in addition to cultural identity. In that context, this review paper intends to inform the scientific and professional public about the findings of research on migrants working temporarily abroad and their descendants, and to highlight some of the most important topics that we focused on in this research, while being aware that the phenomenon of migrants and migration is so diverse that it is impossible to include or investigate all its elements that make it so complex.

Re-actualization of scientific studies of ethnological institutions of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences of the 1920s of the ХХ century (to the centenary of the establishment of the Cabinet of Anthropology and Ethnology named after F. Volkov)

In the context of the development of ethnological science in the first quarter of the 20th century, the article exa-mines the current and still relevant methods of ethnographic research on the example of the scientific work and creativity of the Ukrainian artist-ethnographer Yu. Pavlovych. His legacy includes tens of thousands of sketches of the monuments of the ethnic culture of the Ukrainian and other peoples, and includes original scientific publications. The research interests of the ethnographer were formed as a result of his acquaintance with the works of the leading Ukrainian scientists P. Chubynsky, F. Volkov and V. Antonovych. Since the time of Yu. Pavlovich’s work in the Cabinet of Anthropology and Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine named after F. Volkov, his ethnological activity acquired consistency and was regulated by the ethnographic scientific projects of this institution. According to these programs, the scientist participated in monographic studies of settlements, successfully mapped the phenomena of material culture and carried out field ethnographic research.

Contemporary Chinese anthropology: reflections, developments and prospects

Since the 16th World Congress of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences (IUAES) was successfully held in Kunming in July 2009, Chinese anthropologists have been committed to exploring the new direction of Chinese anthropology, striving to build the discipline system of Chinese anthropology in the new era, thus making it a prominent discipline in the study of contemporary Chinese society. After more than ten years’ efforts, Chinese anthropologists have made great progress both in theory and practice, which is embodied in two aspects: the first one is interdisciplinary comprehensive researches and cross-cultural comparative researches based on the thinking and efforts of prestigious anthropologists such as Qiao Jian, Fei Xiaotong, and Li Yiyuan; the second one is the new direction and construction of discipline system of Chinese anthropology in the new era pursued by contemporary Chinese anthropologists. Over the past decades, significant achievements have been made in Chinese anthropology, especially in three aspects. The first is localization of anthropology with less dependency on Western theories and more self-dependence, so as to establish Chinese anthropological schools enjoying localized concepts and theories. The second is modernization of anthropology which demands more adaptability and less discipline inertia and calls for practical researches on current social topics and modernization transformation from the perspective of anthropology. The third is internationalization of anthropology to reduce discipline closeness by conducting overseas researches and exchanges, thereby strengthening international communication and cooperation.