THE LAND of WOMEN the Home of the Mosuo Is Shielded by A

CHAPTER THREE

THE LAND OF WOMEN

The home of the Mosuo is shielded by a mountain mass Seng-ge ga-mu, which takes on the appearance of a crouching lioness with her head held up overlooking Lugu Lake (Lo-shu Khü), and her tail stretch- ing northward, winding along the Yongning basin. Femininity in the landscape is as captivating as that in the native culture. To Chinese anthropologists (who studied Mosuo society in the 1960s) adhering to the tradition of social evolutionism, the kinship system (descent and inheritance) of the matrilineal Mosuo presents an archaic form of social organization—hence its labeling as a ‘living fossil’ (Chapter Two). The post-Mao media embracing liberalization has been fasci- nated with Mosuo culture for a different reason: sexual emancipation that has both a feminist appeal and an exotic tinge; this has led to the growing tendency of romanticizing Mosuo society.1 Both anthropologi- cal interest and media attention have in one way or another come to shape the public image of the Mosuo people and their culture—which has also consequently infl uenced the Mosuo’s own perception of their society—perpetuating the mystifi cation of Mosuo society. Whatever the image that the public has about the Mosuo and the Mosuo about themselves, the Land of Women has an intriguing past that tells us that what Mosuo society has become today is an outcome of interaction with a combination of forces pushing for change. The religious strife in Tibet, the collapse of the Nanzhao Kingdom, the Mon- gol conquest, and the native chiefdoms institutionalized by the Ming and Qing states, have all played a part in that process. Overwhelmed by the powerful kingdoms surrounding them, the Mosuo were forced to adapt to each. In terms of linguistic and religious affi nities, they had much in common with the Tibetans; at the same time, the Mosuo

1 The ﬁ rst ﬁ ction that caught the public attention was Bai Hua’s Yuanfang youge nüerguo (1988). The unabated fascination with Mosuo society in the 1990s generated a variety of popular literature, biographies, travel reports in newspapers, and TV documentaries—by Chinese as well as foreigners.

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were subject to a succession of conquering powers from the Nanzhao Kingdom to Yuan China, and from the Ming to the Qing. The spread of Tibetan Buddhism in the middle empire and the political geography of the political reform to the native chiefdoms in the late empire all contributed to the eventual separation of the Mosuo from the people of the same origin. The Mosuo are culturally distinct in terms of social organization and economy. Their descent system and economic structure are mutually adapting. Equal to the inﬂ uence of the ecological environment and political institutions, religion has a key role in sustaining the structure of social relations in Mosuo society. Having survived political upheavals in the past millennium, the Mosuo matrilineal system is now facing the challenge of economic reforms and globalization. The attention drawn from across the world to their unique matrilineal practices and the simultaneous commercialization of their culture in the development of tourism have notably heightened Mosuo cultural awareness that in turn has energized the move to promote local traditions. Ethnic tourism built on Mosuo culture, which has enriched the local population, presents a peculiar challenge to Mosuo society as well as to our understanding of cultural change.

3.1 The People in Question

The Mosuo living in Yongning today are differentiated in terms of language, kinship system, religion, and livelihood from the Naxi in Lijiang on the other side of the river. Yet, they are both of the same stock as the Wu Man, descendants of the Tibeto-Burman Di-Qiang, inhibiting the valleys of the Min, Dadu, and Jinsha rivers.2 Ch’iang, or Qiang, is the same as IJang (or Jan), a Tibetan name for the Naxi and Mosuo who were expelled from Tibet upon the rise of Tibetan civiliza- tion (Rock 1952, 2). The word Mosuo and its derivative forms—Moxie and Mosha—are generally believed to be Chinese names given to the ancient yak herders (Ninglang xianzhi 1993, 177; Rock 1947, 1: 4). In all likelihood, however, given their cultural proximity, the Tibetan name precedes the Chinese one; in which case, the word ‘Mosuo’

2 Di-qiang, a branch of the ancient Qiang, lived at a low altitude.

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