DOCSLIB.ORG

A Case Study of Ersu Ethnic Identities in Sichuan, China

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Case Study of Ersu Ethnic Identities in Sichuan, China Cultural Diversity in China 2015; 1(1): 44–67 Research Article Open Access Wu Da* Three Tongues and Two Identities: A Case Study of Ersu Ethnic Identities in Sichuan, China Abstract: Apart from their mother tongue, most Ersu people Yuexi counties. The indigenous people called this area the can speak their two neighboring languages, Mandarin and “five villages along the route” (da lu wu pu). In Shimian the Nuosu Yi language, fluently. Therefore, the Ersu people County, the Ersu people lived in Xieluo Tibetan Autonomous have three languages. In the beginning of the 1980s, two Xiang (township), which is called the “lower eight villages” ethnic identities among the Ersu people emerged. Some of (xia ba pu). This name is vis-à-vis the “upper eight villages” them recognize themselves as being of Tibetan nationality, (shang ba pu) which is the Muya people’s area, known as while others requested to be recognized as a distinct minzu Xianfeng Tibetan Autonomous Xiang. Although Ersu and (nationality or ethnic group). The writing system used by Muya belong to two different ethnic groups, both of them are the Ersu people played an essential role in the dispute. recognized by the Chinese government as being of Tibetan The Tibetan canons used by the religious practitioners of nationality. In Hanyuan County, the Ersu people live in the Ersu people, Shuvuer, strengthened the Ersu people’s Xiaopu Tibetan and Yi Autonomous Xiang, Dashu, Henan identification with the Tibetans, while the Shaaba and Dawan towns. The Ersu have a population of about 10, hieroglyph used by another type of religious practitioners of 000; among them, 3, 024 are in Ganluo County and 2, 277 the Ersu people, Shaaba, stressed the uniqueness of the Ersu are in Yuexi County according to the official statistics of culture. Focusing on the use of the two writing systems of 2000 and 1990 (Ganluo County Statistic Department 2001; the Ersu people, this paper offers an analysis of this kind of Yuexi County Chorography Committee 1994). According to ethnic dispute which is based on “subjective identification” linguistic classification, the Ersu language belongs to the and “imagined communities” from the perspective of Qiangic (not Tibetan branch), Tibetan-Burma branch, Sino- reconstructionist ethnic theory in anthropology. Tibet family. The Ersu have lived with other ethnic groups such as Keywords: Ersu people; reconstruction approach; Yi and Han in 36 villages for a long time. Among the 36 subjective identification; imagined communities villages (28 in Ganluo and 8 in Yuexi County), Jiabasha village and Qinglin village in Ganluo County, Lajigu village, Xinqiao village, and Lianshanying village in Yuexi DOI 10.1515/cdc-2015-0004 County are considered as “nearly pure” Ersu villages, Received July 23, 2014; accepted August 1, 2014 where most residents are Ersu. In the other 31 villages, the Ersu people live with Yi and Han. Ersu can speak Ersu, Yi 1 Introduction and Mandarin Chinese fluently, so the Yi people call them “people with three tongues”. The Ersu people live in Ganluo and Yuexi counties, The Ersu people call themselves Ersu or Berzii, and Liangshan Yi Autonomy Prefecture, and Shimian and they sometimes use these two terms together as Berzii- Hanyuan counties of Ya’an, Sichuan province. More Ersu. “Ersu” means “white people” with er meaning specifically, they live on the ancient Lingguan route “white” and su meaning “people, person”. Even today, (Lingguan Dao in Chinese), which belongs to the so-called their Han neighbors in villages still call them Xifan, which “Southern Silk Road” (nanfang sichou zhi lu) in Ganluo and means “western barbarian”, or Fanzu, which means “barbarian nationality”, in Sichuan dialect of Mandarin. Some Ersu people call themselves Fanzu, while others call *Corresponding author: Wu Da: Minzu University of China, E-mail: themselves Zangzu (Tibetan) when they speak Mandarin. [email protected] However, the local Yi people call Ersu Ozzu. © 2015 Wu Da, licensee De Gruyter Open. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License. A case study on Ersu ethnic identities in Sichuan, China 45 The Ersu people were officially classified as Tibetan It focuses on the migrating history of the “Xifan” people. by the state after the Fourth National Census in 1990. The basic information of the local Ersu people can be Before 1990, they were normally called Fanzu in Ganluo found in the county annuals of Ganluo County and Yuexi and Yuexi counties, Zangzu (Tibetan) in Shimian County, County; Qian Anjing (Jin Suizhi1) introduced part of the and even as Han (Ethnic Chinese) in Hanyuan County. religious ceremonies of the Ersu people in Yuexi County However, their nationality on their citizen ID cards was of Liangshan Prefecture and Shimian County of Ya’an City. “Fanzu” in Ganluo before 1990. Before 1990, some Ersu Huang Yuebu argues that the symbols in the Nanjing cliff people viewed themselves as Zangzu while some did not. paintings show the location for religious ceremony such They thought they should become an independent minzu as worshipping the mountain gods and the prayers of (nationality or ethnic group) -- or Ersuzu (Ersu nationality). Tibetan Benbo worshippers. They describe the Tibetan There was a big debate between the Tibetan faction and religious content and forms in the beginning or the middle the Ersuzu faction. In the 1980s, the Ersu faction made a period of Tang Dynasty, a thousand years ago. The article request to the National Ethnic Affairs Committee (NEAC) by Luo Qingtian introduces the historical origin of the Ersu and the Sichuan Ethnic Affair Committee (SEAC), asking people in Hanyuan. The Japanese scholar Nishida Tatsuo for recognition as an independent minzu. Because of argues that the Xifan language in Xifan Yiyu is the same this the NEAC commissioned the Sichuan Institute for language used by the Duoxu people in Mianning County Nationalities (SIN) to conduct a research on their ethnic of Liangshan. The Duoxu people are also called Xifan in identification. The result was that the former classification history, and later, they were identified as Tibetan by the was retained. The Ersu people were still deemed as a Chinese government. Sun Hongkai argues that the Duoxu branch of Zangzu. After that, some people accepted the language has a direct relation with Ersu language and that above classification, while some other elites still felt it should be the central language of the Ersu people (Sun that they should not be included in Zangzu, but should 1982b). be regarded as an independent ethnic group-the Ersu Other articles whose titles contain “Tibet” or “Xifan” nationality. mainly refer to those people who were called Xifan during Articles and books on Ersu astronomy, language, the past at the Liangshan area, but are now regarded as writing system, religion and other cultural items have Tibetan. Some of these articles involve the Ersu people, been produced. These publications include: Liu Yaohan but they fail to specify the exact place of those Xifan or et al. (Liu et al. 1981), Sun Hongkai (Sun 1982a; 1982b), Tibetan people. These articles include Mu Jun and Ren Wang Yuanlu (Wang 1990), Long Xijiang (Long 1991a; Qing (2001), Mu Jun, Ren Qing and Xichang Zeren (2001), 1991b), Ganluo County Statistics Department (2001), Ma Wenzhong (2001), etc. They mainly appear in the Ganluo County Chorography Committee (1996), Yuexi new yearly journal Liangshan Tibetan Study edited by County Chorography Committee (1994), Qian Anjing the Liangshan Tibetan Association. Two issues (2001, (1997), Jin Suizhi (1998), Huang Yuebu (2001), Luo 2002) have been published by the end of the year 2002. Qingtian and Wu Da (2004; 2005; 2010). Among these Furthermore, Zhang Quanchang (1987 (1962)) and the publications, Liu et al.’s article discusses the astronomy Sichuan Province Ethnic Affairs Commission Xifan of Ersu. They point out that the Ersu calendric system Identification Work Force (1982) also mentioned the Ersu includes a concept of “tiger pushes the earth” and people. Wu Da (2003) discusses the cuisine culture in uses this concept to understand the four seasons. Sun terms of ethnic interaction and acculturation. Hongkai puts forward that the Ersu language belongs to the Qiangic, and not to Tibetan or Loloish (Yi). Sun published two articles: one of them introduced Ersu 2 Ersu Language and Writing phonology, morphology and sentence structure (Sun System 1982a). The other introduced the “Shaaba hieroglyph”, which is used by Ersu traditional religious practitioners, Shaaba (Sun 1982b). Wang Yuanlu’s article introduces the 2.1 Ersu Language writing construction of the “Shaaba hieroglyph” and its significance in the study of ancient writing systems. The In their village, the Ersu people speak their own language. two articles of Long Xijiang are actually one article divided In Jiabasha village and Lajigu village, the language use into two parts and announced at two different times. The unified long article generally introduces the “Xifan” 1 Qian Anjing and Jin Suizhi are names of the same person who is a people in Liangshan area, which also includes the Ersu. professor at Sichuan University. 46 Wu Da reflects the trend that the number of multilingual speakers used by the Lisu people with a population of 4000 in is growing with the increase of age. In the pre-school Muli Tibetan Autonomous County, Mianning County and period, the children can only speak Ersu. They acquire Jiulong County of Ganzi Prefecture (Sun 1982a). Chinese quickly when they enter primary schools. If the Long Xijiang (1991a) proposes a different view, majority of the classes are Yi students, they will master Yi suggesting that there are few differences between the as well. The older they become, the more the opportunities Ersu language and the Niru language (referred to as Lisu they have to deal with the Yi and the Han people, and the by Sun) and they can be considered as different dialects higher their command of Yi and Chinese becomes.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • No.9 Thai-Yunnan Project Newsletter June 1990
    [Last updated: 28 April 1992] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- No.9 Thai-Yunnan Project Newsletter June 1990 This NEWSLETTER is edited by Gehan Wijeyewardene and published in the Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific Studies; printed at Central Printery; the masthead is by Susan Wigham of Graphic Design (all of The Australian National University ).The logo is from a water colour , 'Tai women fishing' by Kang Huo Material in this NEWSLETTER may be freely reproduced with due acknowledgement. Correspondence is welcome and contributions will be given sympathetic consideration. (All correspondence to The Editor, Department of Anthropology, RSPacS, ANU, Box 4 GPO, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.) Number Nine June 1990 ISSN 1032-500X The International Conference on Thai Studies, Kunming 1990 There was some question, in the post Tien An Men period, as to whether the conference would proceed. In January over forty members of Thammasart University faculty issued an open letter to the organizers, which in part read, A meeting in China at present would mean a tacit acceptance of the measures taken by the state, unless there will be an open critical review. Many north American colleagues privately expressed similar views. This Newsletter has made its views on Tien An Men quite clear, and we can sympathize with the position taken by our colleagues. Nevertheless, there seems to be some selectivity of outrage, when no word of protest was heard from some quarters about the continuing support given by the Chinese government to the murderous Khmer Rouge. This does not apply to the Thai academic community, sections of which were in the vanguard of the movement to reconsider Thai government policy on this issue.
    [Show full text]
  • Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Depression Among Older Persons 6 Months After the Lushan Earthquake in China: a Cross-Sectional Survey
    ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 25 September 2020 doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00853 Prevalence of and Risk Factors for Depression Among Older Persons 6 Months After the Lushan Earthquake in China: A Cross-Sectional Survey Lan Li 1,2,3,7, Jan D. Reinhardt 3,4,5, Andrew Pennycott 6, Ying Li 7,8 and Qian Chen 7,8* 1 West China School of Nursing/West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, 2 School of Nursing, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China, 3 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, 4 Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil, Switzerland, 5 Department of Health Sciences and Health Policy, University of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland, 6 Sensory-Motor Systems Lab, Department of Health Science and Technology ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland, 7 The Center of Gerontology and Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, 8 National Clinical Research Center of Geriatrics, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China Edited by: Background: Older persons are particularly vulnerable to the impact of earthquakes and Francesca Assogna, Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS), Italy are more likely to suffer from depression. Reviewed by: Objectives: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of depression, to compare the Valentina Ciullo, prevalence between disaster-affected and non-disaster affected areas, and to explore Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS), Italy Clelia Pellicano, additional risk factors for depression 6 months after the Lushan earthquake. Santa Lucia Foundation (IRCCS), Italy Design: Delfina Janiri, A cross-sectional study was conducted. Sapienza University of Rome, Italy Setting: A magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred in Lushan County, Ya’an Prefecture, *Correspondence: Sichuan Province, on April 20, 2013.
    [Show full text]
  • Rainfall and Flows
    Erosion, Debris Flows and Environment in Mountain Regions (Proceedings of the Chengdu Symposium, July 1992). IAHS Publ. no. 209, 1992. 201 A preliminary study of the relationship between heavy rainfall and serious debris flows CAI ZE-YI Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China Abstract A study of a series of serious debris flows in western Sichuan Province and southern Shaanxi Province during the summer of 1981 has been undertaken. It was found that there are two types of disastrous debris flows corresponding to two types of heavy rainfall. The relationship between the two types of heavy rainfall and debris flows and the synoptic meteorological conditions associated with the heavy rainfall causing the debris flows are discussed. INTRODUCTION Heavy rainfall frequently causes floods in lowland areas and debris flows and landslides in mountain areas. In areas with susceptible geological conditions, the timing and frequency of debris flows are closely related to the incidence of heavy rainfall. In this paper, the relationship between heavy rainfall and debris flows, and the synoptic meteorological conditions associated with heavy rainfall are investigated. THE TWO TYPES OF HEAVY RAINFALL ASSOCIATED WITH DEBRIS FLOWS By analysing a series of serious debris flows which occurred in southern Shaanxi Province and western Sichuan Province during the summer of 1981, it was found that there were two types of debris flow corresponding to two types of heavy rainfall. Their characteristics are explained as follows using the events on 9 July and 21 August 1981 as examples. The first type is the regional debris flow triggered by sustained regional heavy rainfall.
    [Show full text]
  • A Long Way from New York City: Socially Stratified Contact-Induced Phonological Convergence in Ganluo Ersu (Sichuan, China) Katia Chirkova, James Stanford, Dehe Wang
    A long way from New York City: Socially stratified contact-induced phonological convergence in Ganluo Ersu (Sichuan, China) Katia Chirkova, James Stanford, Dehe Wang To cite this version: Katia Chirkova, James Stanford, Dehe Wang. A long way from New York City: Socially stratified contact-induced phonological convergence in Ganluo Ersu (Sichuan, China). Language Variation and Change, Cambridge University Press (CUP), In press. hal-01684078 HAL Id: hal-01684078 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01684078 Submitted on 15 Jan 2018 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. A long way from New York City: Socially stratified contact-induced phonological convergence in Ganluo Ersu (Sichuan, China) Authors: 1. Katia Chirkova (CNRS, France) 2. James N. Stanford (Dartmouth College, USA) 3. Dehe Wang (Xichang College, China) Corresponding author: James N. Stanford 6220 Reed Hall Dartmouth College Hanover, NH 03784 Ph. (603)646-0099 [email protected] 1 ABSTRACT Labov’s classic study, The Social Stratification of English in New York City (1966), paved the way for generations of researchers to examine sociolinguistic patterns in many different communities (Bell, Sharma, & Britain, 2016). This research paradigm has traditionally tended to focus on Western industrialized communities and large world languages and dialects, leaving many unanswered questions about lesser- studied indigenous minority communities.
    [Show full text]
  • Up to July 13, 2007)
    Current Location :Project Information Newly Approved Projects by DNA of China (Total: 76) (Up to July 13, 2007) Estimated Project Ave. GHG No. Project Name Project Owner CER Buyer Type Reduction (tCO2e/y) Fugong Jiacheng Fugong Mukeji Hydropower Renewable Carbon Asset Management 1 Hydropower 102,781 Project energy Sweden AB Development Co.,Ltd. Yuexi County Liyuan Yuexi Dayan Small Renewable Carbon Asset Management 2 Hydropower 48,722 Hydropower Project energy Sweden AB Development Co.,Ltd. Kunming Dongjiao Methane Kunming Huan Ye 3 Baishuitang LFG Treatment recovery & Project Development Asja Ambiente Italia S.P.A(Italy) 64,302 and Power Generation Project utilization Co.,Ltd. Jiuzhaigou Electric Sichuan Shuanghe Renewable 4 Power Development Marubeni Corporation(Japan) 297,313 Hydropower Project energy Ltd Co. Shandong Luneng Baiyun’ebo 45MW Wind Farm Renewable 5 Development Group Arreon Carbon UK Ltd 96,468 Project energy Co.,Ltd. Guangxi Baise Tianlin Baile Renewable Tianlin Baile River 6 RWE Power AG(Germany) 48,079 Hydropower Station energy Hydropower Co.,Ltd. Methane Anhui Qidong Coal Mine Wanbei Coal and Renaissance Carbon Investment 7 recovery & 57,208 Methane Utilization Project Power Co.,Ltd. Ltd(UK) utilization The Natural Gas-stream Energy saving Beijing Jing Feng Gas Combined Cycle Electric 8 and efficiency Fired Power Company RWE Power AG(Germany) 633,341 Power Project of Beijing Third improvement Ltd. Thermal Power Plant Luzhou Jiale Yuanxing Renewable 9 Yuanxing Hydropower Project Electic Power EcoSecurities Group Plc(UK) 50,752 energy Development Co.,Ltd Sichuan Liangtan Hydropower Renewable Sichuan Guang’an 10 EcoSecurities Group Plc(UK) 82,229 Station Second Phase Project energy AAA Public Co.,Ltd.
    [Show full text]
  • Current Location: Project Information Newly Approved Projects by DNA of China (Total:75) (Up to Feb 07, 2012) Project Name Proje
    Current Location: Project Information Newly Approved Projects by DNA of China (Total:75) (Up to Feb 07, 2012) Estimated Project Ave. GHG No. Project Name Project Owner CER Buyer Type Reduction (tCO2e/y) Zhangbei Wudengshan Datang Hebei New Deutsche Bank AG, London Renewable 1 Wind Farm Phase II Energy (Zhangbei) Co., Branch 100,453 energy Project Ltd. Sichuan Ganluo Ganluo Longgangzi Low Carbon Assets Renewable 2 Longgangzi Small Hydropower Management Corporation 17,931 energy Hydropower Project Development Co., Ltd. (LCAM) Sichuan Ganluo Lamodai Ganluo County Longjian Low Carbon Assets Renewable 3 Bundled Small Power Development Co., Management Corporation 25,534 energy Hydropower Project Ltd. (LCAM) Guizhou yinlu First Stage Guizhou Pu'an Yinwang Arcadia Energy (suisse) S.A. Renewable 4 (Yinwang) Hydropower Hydropower and Q.C.A.AG 40,838 energy Project Development Co., Ltd. Hunan Gaojiaba Hunan Furong Renewable The Federal Authority of Hydropower Project Energy Development Co., Belgium, acting through its Renewable 5 Ltd. Federal Public Service of 35,286 energy Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment. Yunnan Mangtie River Yuanyang Shunyang Climate Project Invest AG and Renewable 6 Second Stage Electric Power Q.C.A.AG 35,595 energy Hydropower Project Development Co., Ltd. Yunnan Yuanyang Yuanyang Fuyuan Power Climate Bridge Ltd. Fengchunling 1st Level Renewable Exploiture liability Co., 7 35,592 Small Hydropower energy Ltd. Project Yunnan Yuanyang Yuanyang Fuyuan Power Climate Bridge Ltd. Fengchunling 2nd Level Renewable Exploiture liability Co., 8 26,987 Small Hydropower energy Ltd. Project Yunnan Lincang Lincang Yuntou Yuedian Unilateral project Renewable 9 Nanpeng River Dayakou Hydropower 254,185 energy Hydropower Project Development Co., Ltd.
    [Show full text]
  • Operation China
    Nosu, Yinuo September 14 “broad-legged trousers SICHUAN •Leshan region.” “The striking •Yibin characteristic of men’s •Yuexi Xichang garments is the broad • YUNNAN • bottoms of the trouser legs. Ningnan• Zhaotong Women also like to wear •Panzhihua wide pleated skirts. The Scale GUIZHOU number of pleats sometimes 0 KM 160 comes to more than one Population in China: hundred. Girls wear multi- 400,000 (1989) 512,200 (2000) colored headscarfs made of 642,800 (2010) black cloth. Married women Location: Sichuan, Yunnan increase the layers of their Religion: Polytheism headscarfs. After having a Christians: 200 baby, they wear leaf-shaped bonnets.”4 Overview of the Yinuo Nosu Religion: The various Countries: China branches of the Nosu have Pronunciation: a detailed legend of a great “Yee-nuoh-Nor-soo” flood. They say there were Other Names: once three brothers. Yinuo, I-no, Yinuo Yi Population Source: “Because the eldest was 400,000 (1989 Shi Songshan); undisciplined, God sent a Out of a total Yi population of messenger to the sons to 6,572,173 (1990 census) Location: Midge Conner warn them of the flood. The S Sichuan: Meigu, Mabian, Leibo, Location: Chinese scholar Yunnan Province whose oldest wanted to kill the Ebian, Ganluo, Yuexi, Zhaojue, Shi Songshan listed a 1989 name is also sometimes messenger. The second son and Jinyang counties; NE Yunnan: Yongshan and Qiaojia population of 400,000 spelled Yinuo. bound the messenger and counties Yinuo Nosu people, living in asked him questions. The Status: remote northern areas of Language: Yinuo Nosu is third politely asked him why Officially included under Yi the Daliangshan (Big Cold part of the Northern Yi the flood was coming.… Language: Sino-Tibetan, Mountains) in southern branch of Tibeto-Burman.
    [Show full text]
  • Yunnan Provincial Highway Bureau
    IPP740 REV World Bank-financed Yunnan Highway Assets management Project Public Disclosure Authorized Ethnic Minority Development Plan of the Yunnan Highway Assets Management Project Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Yunnan Provincial Highway Bureau July 2014 Public Disclosure Authorized EMDP of the Yunnan Highway Assets management Project Summary of the EMDP A. Introduction 1. According to the Feasibility Study Report and RF, the Project involves neither land acquisition nor house demolition, and involves temporary land occupation only. This report aims to strengthen the development of ethnic minorities in the project area, and includes mitigation and benefit enhancing measures, and funding sources. The project area involves a number of ethnic minorities, including Yi, Hani and Lisu. B. Socioeconomic profile of ethnic minorities 2. Poverty and income: The Project involves 16 cities/prefectures in Yunnan Province. In 2013, there were 6.61 million poor population in Yunnan Province, which accounting for 17.54% of total population. In 2013, the per capita net income of rural residents in Yunnan Province was 6,141 yuan. 3. Gender Heads of households are usually men, reflecting the superior status of men. Both men and women do farm work, where men usually do more physically demanding farm work, such as fertilization, cultivation, pesticide application, watering, harvesting and transport, while women usually do housework or less physically demanding farm work, such as washing clothes, cooking, taking care of old people and children, feeding livestock, and field management. In Lijiang and Dali, Bai and Naxi women also do physically demanding labor, which is related to ethnic customs. Means of production are usually purchased by men, while daily necessities usually by women.
    [Show full text]
  • Trilingual Literacy for Ethnic Groups in China a Case Study of Hani People in Yuanyang County of Yunnan
    www.ccsenet.org/elt English Language Teaching Vol. 4, No. 4; December 2011 Trilingual Literacy for Ethnic Groups in China A case study of Hani People in Yuanyang County of Yunnan Yuanbing Duan School of Arts and Science, Yunnan Radio and TV University, Kunming, 650223, China Tel: 86-871-588-6817 E-mail: [email protected] Received: May 23, 2011 Accepted: June 13, 2011 Published: December 1, 2011 doi:10.5539/elt.v4n4p274 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/elt.v4n4p274 Abstract This paper examines the current trilingual literacy situation of Hani People in Yuanyang County of Yunnan, China, with significance of finding out specific problems which influence the trilingual education greatly. It also reports on the effects of training for trilingual teachers, ways of improving learner’s motivation and updating the trilingual education materials. Lastly, several possible solutions are provided for successful minority education. Keywords: Trilingual literacy, Trilingual education, Minority education 1. Introduction This paper will discuss one part of school literacy in China, to be specific, how do ethnic groups start learning English, their difficulties and problems in current situation, and suggested solutions are provided for guiding students’ literacy success. With the reform and open policy carried out in 1978, education in China has gained its growing concern; more and more people have had the consciousness of being literate. However, literacy means two different levels in countryside and in cities. In rural countryside, to complete middle school education owns the opportunity of attaining stable job to meet local demand, education at this level simply means having the ability to read and write; while in the big cities, pursuing higher degree, university education or post graduate education, highlight the functional meaning of literacy; being ‘knowledgeable’ at this high level requires the ability to read between lines and write academically.
    [Show full text]
  • Congressional-Executive Commission on China
    CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION OCTOBER 5, 2017 Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.cecc.gov VerDate Nov 24 2008 16:24 Oct 04, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6011 Sfmt 5011 U:\DOCS\26811 DIEDRE 2017 ANNUAL REPORT VerDate Nov 24 2008 16:24 Oct 04, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6019 Sfmt 6019 U:\DOCS\26811 DIEDRE CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION OCTOBER 5, 2017 Printed for the use of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.cecc.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 26–811 PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 16:24 Oct 04, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 U:\DOCS\26811 DIEDRE CONGRESSIONAL-EXECUTIVE COMMISSION ON CHINA LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS Senate House MARCO RUBIO, Florida, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma Cochairman TOM COTTON, Arkansas ROBERT PITTENGER, North Carolina STEVE DAINES, Montana TRENT FRANKS, Arizona TODD YOUNG, Indiana RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California MARCY KAPTUR, Ohio JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota GARY PETERS, Michigan TED LIEU, California ANGUS KING, Maine EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS Department of State, To Be Appointed Department of Labor, To Be Appointed Department of Commerce, To Be Appointed At-Large, To Be Appointed At-Large, To Be Appointed ELYSE B.
    [Show full text]
  • Proto-Ersuic by Dominic Yu a Dissertation Submitted in Partial
    Proto-Ersuic by Dominic Yu A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor James A. Matisoff, Chair Professor Gary Holland Professor Keith Johnson Professor Johanna Nichols Spring 2012 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons 444 Castro Street, Suite 900 Mountain View, California 94041 USA Abstract Proto-Ersuic by Dominic Yu Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics University of California, Berkeley Professor James A. Matisoff, Chair This is a reconstruction of Proto-Ersuic, the ancestor language of Lizu, Tosu, and Ersu, three closely related languages spoken in southwestern Sichuan which are generally considered to be part of the Qiangic branch of Tibeto-Burman. To date, no in-depth historical work has been carried out on these languages. Approximately 800 lexical items are reconstructed based primarily on data from six sources: Mianning Lizu (data collected by the author in Mianning County, Sichuan, in 2008 and 2010), two sources for Kala Lizu (Muli County, one modern and one older source), Naiqu Lizu (Jiulong County), and two varieties of Ersu (Zeluo and Qingshui, both in Ganluo County). Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to Lizu, Tosu, and Ersu, along with basic information for each source to help the reader properly interpret the phonetic transcriptions and parse the individual forms for each language.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of the History of the Yi, Part II
    MODERNHarrell, Li CHINA/ HISTORY / JULY OF 2003THE YI, PART II REVIEW10.1177/0097700403253359 Review Essay The History of the History of the Yi, Part II STEVAN HARRELL LI YONGXIANG University of Washington MINORITY ETHNIC CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE 1980S AND 1990S The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is, according to its constitution, “a unified country of diverse nationalities” (tongyide duominzu guojia; see Wang Guodong, 1982: 9). The degree to which this admirable political ideal has actually been respected has varied throughout the history of the PRC: taken seriously in the early and mid-1950s, it was systematically ignored dur- ing the twenty years of High Socialism from the late 1950s to the early 1980s and then revived again with the Opening and Reform policies of the past two decades (Heberer, 1989: 23-29). The presence of minority “autonomous” ter- ritories, preferential policies in school admissions, and birth quotas (Sautman, 1998) and the extraordinary emphasis on developing “socialist” versions of minority visual and performing arts (Litzinger, 2000; Schein, 2000; Oakes, 1998) all testify to serious attention to multinationalism in the cultural and administrative realms, even if minority culture is promoted in a homogenized socialist version and even if everybody knows that “autono- mous” territories are far less autonomous, for example, than an American state or a Swiss canton. But although the party state now preaches multinationalism and allows limited expression of ethnonational autonomy, it also preaches and promotes progress—and thus runs straight into a paradox: progress is defined in objectivist, modernist terms, which relegate minority cultures to a more MODERN CHINA, Vol.
    [Show full text]