DANCE, OR ELSE: CHINA’S “SIMPLIFYING PROJECT”

BY SARA L.M. DAVIS

An American scholar examines how the epic oral narrations in minority languages for crowds of requirements of political assimilation have thousands. However, it took time and persistence to gain access to this threatened the unique culture of China’s Tai subterranean ethnic culture. Ethnic revival in China, I learned, minority. had to be done carefully,below the government’s radar, in order to avoid political repercussions. Understanding the strange gap between the “front stage” of In 1997 I arrived on China’s southwest borders planning to performances for tourism and the “back stage” of ethnic spend a year researching ethnic minority folklore.The only revival in Yunnan took time. Eventually,it also required slip- problem, as I discovered when I arrived, was that there wasn’t ping back in time in order to understand the context in which any. this gap had first appeared. I had come to Jinghong to study Instead, government culture bureaus and Chinese entrepre- folklore, but found it could not be separated from this context neurs had turned the region into an adults-only playground for of modernization, contest and debate.The book I eventually tourists—most of them male Chinese urbanites traveling in wrote was titled “Song and Silence”, because while my clunky groups. Sipsongpanna,Yunnan was peopled with dancing field tape recorder captured a lot of songs, I soon found there women in tight ethnic sarongs, swaying palm trees, exotic were many silences—things that could not be said, or would fruits and peacocks. Perhaps equally important were plentiful not be said, about the realities of life as a Tai in China. and inexpensive alcohol, drugs, gambling, jade and sex work- ers.While many tourists visiting southern Yunnan province The Place came for the illegal pleasures, they spent their days attending Ethnic minority groups, some of which once had independent performances staged for Chinese and foreign tourists—living or semi-independent states, occupy China’s national borders dioramas in state-run “ethnic theme parks,” dances in “ethnic and much of its arable land. Sipsongpanna is one of the small- dining halls,” reconstituted “living ethnic villages” and the like. est such regions, but because of a tourist boom in the late But these performances were not just the product of com- 1990s it is one of the best known within China. modified tourist shtick, as they might have been elsewhere. Xishuangbanna Dai Nationality Autonomous Prefecture They were also official policy: direct outgrowths of the gov- (“Xishuangbanna Daizu zizhizhou”) lies on the southern tip ernment’s intervention over decades in creating, pruning and of Yunnan Province, on the borders of Burma and Laos.The regulating public expressions of minority ethnic identity. subtropical, mountainous region covers about 7,400 square At first I concluded, as many visitors to the region had miles. Sipsongpanna’s contemporary name comes from a six- before me, that these plastic performances—swaying girls in teenth-century Tai Lüe name, Muang Sipsongpanna, which lit- tight dresses, peacocks in overcrowded zoos and deforested erally means “the city-state of twelve townships.” green hills—were all that was left of local culture. However, Administratively,Xishuangbanna is divided into three coun- while many ethnic minorities in Sipsongpanna participated ties: Jinghong County,with Jinghong as the prefectural capital; and profited from the state-approved marketing of their eth- Meng Hai County to the west, bordering on Burma; and Meng nic identity,behind the scenes there was a roiling debate La County to the east, bordering on Laos. among some ethnic minorities about who they were and The region has an ethnically diverse population of roughly what their “real” culture was and should be. In hundreds of one million. Over a third are Tai Lüe, another third are Han temples springing up across the region, senior monks were Chinese, and the last third are made up of a number of other initiating new monks and reviving nearly obliterated Bud- ethnic minorities.These include the variously named Akha (in dhist traditions.Young men were writing and performing Chinese, “Aini” or “Hani”), Blang (in Chinese, “Bulang”), rock songs about social issues in the minority language for Karen (in Chinese, “Jinuo”),Wa,Yao, Hmong (in Chinese, crowds of thousands.Women oral poets were performing “Miao”), Lahu, Khmu and others. Official counts of the num- industry. lation intotheHanChinesemainstream. begantofear totalassimi- otherethnicminorities the change, ment productions in Tai someembraced Lüelanguage.While filmsandculture that dwarfed themeager localgovern- books, They brought withthemafloodofChinese-language music, market. for thetourist jobsandbusinessesminorities serving and capital that madethemstronger competitorsthanlocal Chinese isconsiderably higher.” are countedinthesestatistics theactualproportionofHan are registered ashaving permanently moved toSipsongPanna “Sinceonly thosewho Sheadds, theregion’s capital. Jinghong, they madeup48percentoftheresidents in Sipsongpanna, while Hansmadeuplessthanone-thirdofthepopulation of MetteHalskov Hansenreportedthat In1999, opportunities. and sometimesfrom thecitieslookingfor new economic areas HanChinesefrom otherrural waves ofnew migrants: geted development industry. ofanational tourism ment.Yunnan andsomeotherregions were for thetar- chosen themintothestate viaeconomicdevelop-better incorporate aimingto central plannerstookanew inborderregions, tack Intheyears aftertheendofCulturalRevolution, region. boomhadhitthe tourist town undergoing majorchanges.A sometimes “little brother minorities.” but they were alwaysother improvements, juniorcomrades, new roads and medicalcare, benefited by receiving electricity, like the Minorities Taisubordinates withinthenew nation. Lüe created anew senseof by Beijing, Tai allrun Lüesas culture, education andlocal agriculture, politicalsystems, ownership, Projects aimingtoreform land nese borderswere restricted. itself andtoformitsown states. allianceswithneighboring nese empires but that from day-to-day was largely lefttorun small kingdomthat was partially colonizedbyofChi- aseries ofSipsongpannain1953,Tai Lüeshere a formed “liberation” Theravada Buddhism. Tai are valley-dwellers whocultivate wet andpractice rice ber ofethnicgroups inSipsongpannarangefrom 13to16.The ainbidn n at coordinated land-grab. nation-building andavast, ofthetwinprocesses of aspart inthiscase, it isconstructed; Like allidentities, identity constructed orientalism.” “internal Gladney andDru have LouisaSchein calledthis rightly peoples. anddevelopminorities deepfeelings ofnostalgiaabout those tosingsongsabout school southwestern taught inprimary Many peopleinChinaare andmore. peacocks elephants, villages showcases, intoround-the-clock turned restaurants, dance shows settonew Chinesepoptunesinethnic-themed couldsee ethnic peoplesintoobjectsofvisualpleasure.They local visitorscouldseethemeparksthat turned in Jinghong, unstable borderlandsandmake them a spaceofplay.Traveling and national governments hadtoreinvent the previously enMcanl al ors hw h fotsae ofthe showsDean MacCannellcallstourist the “front stage” education The new migrantshadChinese-language skills, But withSipsongpanna’s boomcame state-inspired tourism itwas amid-sized Jinghongin1997, By thetimeIreached contactswiththoseacross thenew Chi- After “liberation,” Before what theChineseCommunist Party refers toasits 3 nodrt trc orsst otws hn,local tosouthwestIn ordertoattract tourists China, 2 1 constituted minorities undertheumbrella ofnationhood. constituted minorities project toradically reorganize newly- ethnicidentityandbring China’s newcontrol.To leadersengaged inanambitious dothis, fluid bordersunder thoseopen, nation tobring andinparticular ofthewhole posedby thechaos of loyalty andterritoriality ontheweakestattacks pointsofthenew socialiststate. they were guerrilla periodic launching Western countries, Sometimes fundedandtrainedby theUnitedStates andother vanquished troops were nearby. gathering sat ontheborders, andpotentially disloyal land-rich ethnicpeoples resource-rich, cinctly observes: Ma was occupiedby 10percentofitspopulation.As Yin suc- Roughly 60percentofthenew nation’s landmass an obstacle. semi-independent ethnicpeoplesallaround thebordersposed thepresence of dynasty, that hadbelongedtothelastimperial stand thoseinthenextone. residents ofonetown couldnotunder- ofthecountry, much In cultures andcustoms. of localitieswithdiverse languages, was thecountry apatchwork or anything like anational media, andbecausethere hadnever beennational education decades, bits by Chinafor ofchaos.Warlords halfacentury hadruled hadbeensplitinto theQing, The remains ofthelastdynasty, People’s Republic ofChinafaced ahighly fragmented country. having theleadersofnew won alongcivilwar, In 1949, The needforunification but onthe other hand, Republic was committedtoethnicequalityontheonehand, thenew People’s wrote, Fei Xiaotong, most anthropologist, China’stion for theethnicgroups at thenational level.As fore- approved theirdecisions. representatives delivered toethnic leadersand instructions LocalParty Beijing. the leadershipofParty andthrough it, but autonomy was always tobesubject ethnic minorities, were established for Newly wardness.” “autonomous regions” ofBeijing’sthe importance helpinovercoming ethnic “back- tosecessionandinsteadbeganspeakof the promised right But having achieved theParty withdrew power, tosecede. right as the regional autonomy andthe Tai Lüe) self-determination, whoassistedthem(such had promised theethnicminorities theChineseCommunist Party While fightingtherevolution, Ethnic Classification )Strategically asborderregions important for thewhole 3) Awiderangeofproducts andabundant mineralresources. 2) ofpop- Awideexpanseoflandwithasparsedistribution 1) mon characteristics: nationalities liveMinority inplaceswiththefollowing com- It was urgently tosimplifythecomplexproblems necessary these was anespeciallySecurity urgent concern.While oevr whilethenew leadersaimedtoreclaimMoreover, theland But now theParty faced theproblem ofpoliticalrepresenta- country. high plateaus andindeepforests. on lished theirvillages inmountainsandpastoralareas, Many peopleshave minority traditionally estab- ulation. 4 5

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the principle would have been meaningless without proper view of ethnic identity,but his was not the view that tri- recognition of existing nationalities. For how could a People’s umphed over time; less sophisticated minds used this initial Congress allocate its seats to deputies from different nationali- research to codify misunderstandings and stereotypes, using ties without knowing what nationalities there were? And how those to justify an ethnocentric hierarchy that became (in fact, could the nation effect regional autonomy for the nationalities continues to be) the basis of state ethnic policy. without a clear idea of their geographical distribution?6 From categorizing to improving The state invited ethnic minorities to come forward and As the research and categorization concluded, ethnic folklore self-identify as distinct groups. In 1955, Fei tells us, more than became just one of many aspects of the newly-constituted 400 different ethnic groups registered, 260 of them in minority groups that needed improving and modernizing Yunnan.7 This created what, in retrospect, sounds like panic in under the leadership of the Party. Beijing: tribesmen would overrun the majority Han Chinese To lead the cultural aspects of this improvement project, the government. Ethnic identity had to be simplified. government established a number of state organs.The state set To do this, China launched a massive research project in up culture bureaus in each ethnic region and at the provincial “ethnic identification.” In 1953, the government dispatched level to manage the nationalities’ song-and-dance troupes. In teams of ethnographers to border regions containing minority addition to the culture bureaus, the government established peoples.These researchers spent years collecting data on ethnic local government-run news media in minority regions to politics, institutions, agriculture, myth and language. Ethnog- broadcast news in minority languages. raphers categorized groups as ethnic nationalities based on Researchers and government culture bureau officials Stalin’s criteria of nationalities as defined by shared language, explicitly encouraged and promoted elements of minority cul- territory and “psychology.”They also placed the new nationali- ture deemed positive, socialist and modern, while carefully ties on a social-evolutionary scale, drawing from Marxist the- pruning elements deemed counterproductive, counterrevolu- ory and from the work of American anthropologist Lewis tionary or primitive. For instance, traditional minority cloth- Henry Morgan; inevitably,nationalities were placed on the ing was a positive expression of ethnic identity,to be lower rungs of the evolutionary hierarchy,while the majority celebrated and promoted. Minority religious rituals, however, Hans were placed on the top. were counterrevolutionary and economically wasteful, and as The end result was a comprehensive list of 55 minority such were discouraged. nationalities, folding some of the original 400 back into the Han Dances and oral literature were studied and in some cases and melding together some (such as the Tai Lüe and Tai Neua, “improved” by state choreographers and authors. In fact, much now both named “Dai”) that had previously had little or no of the culture now performed for tourists as minority culture contact. Fifty-five was apparently a more manageable number of was created during this period. groups than 400, and folklore had emerged as a catchall answer to several questions about how best to unify the new nation. The Simplifying Project: Folk songs Ethnographic study teams then produced reports summa- Many of the songs sung for tourists in Chinese ethnic theme rizing everything there was to know about each ethnic minor- parks are sung in Chinese. By any standard, it is a stretch of the ity group.8 Many of these reports were serious ethnographies imagination to call them folk songs.Tai folk songs are, of that continue to be resources for researchers today.However, course, traditionally sung in the Tai language. In Sipsongpanna, some less reliable subsequent books popularized the informa- as in much of mainland Southeast Asia, they are performed by tion gathered in these ethnographic reports.Typical examples highly trained professional oral poets in the form of presented short overviews of Tais adorned with illustrations of duet/duels between men and women singers who may range women singing and dancing, women performing the famous in age from 30 to 80.The duets often become scathing put- “peacock dance,” and Buddhist reliquaries and palm trees.The downs and are highly bawdy.Some are also sacred, involving books described the Tai minority as a tiny group exclusive to the citation of arcane texts and the narration of Buddhist epic China, without reference to the links with related kingdoms legends (jataka tales) in literary language.Whether sacred or across the borders.They referred to Tai feudalism and slavery, raucously profane, these folk songs are performed according to “primitive spirit worship” and the much vaunted (though fac- complex rhyme schemes that are recited against the rhythm of tually inaccurate) “freedom of young men and women” to a free-reed instrument made of bamboo. practice “free love.”9 Summarizing their expressive culture, Ma By contrast, songs sung for tourists as part of ethnic shows Yin comments, “they love to sing and dance.”10 in theme parks and dining halls are quite different.These nos- Based on the research by Chinese ethnographers in the talgic songs—“Moonlight Under the Bamboo” is one espe- 1950s–1960s,Tais were categorized as a feudal society and as cially beloved around China—usually praise the harvest and slave-owners, placing them somewhere above the “cannibalis- the lovely region, and stage a kind of idealized yet sexually tic”Wa but, perhaps inevitably,below the majority Han. For naïve flirtation between a young man and young woman. the most part, this research was used as a tool to solidify the Musically,the songs for tourists are different, using instru- position of ethnic minorities at the bottom of a social-evolu- ments from various regions to play melodies that are tradition- tionary hierarchy within the Chinese nation. Some social sci- ally Chinese in style. Many were first composed and written in entists, such as Fei Xiaotong, took a nuanced and thoughtful the 1980s by Han Chinese songwriters. hs otx,thefeminized anddramatized dhist context, ogan’ rlnraieei om,“The songpanna’sTen-Headed oral-narrative epicpoems, isbasedonanepisode inoneofSip- Sudun (“ChaoSudun”), Prince namedafteritshero, One, operas were editedalso. a pretty andfeminine bird. tostand fordangerous theborderlandsthan symboltochoose Perhaps awarlike elephantisamore potentand similar views. Other what we intowarfare.” usedtoride Tai Lües expressed itwould betheelephantbecausethat was mal tosymbolizeus, Ifwe hadtohave anani- ically. for “Itwas usby chosen others. hesaidemphat- isnotoursymbol,” “Thepeacock the peacock. otheras ballet toeach “our traditional Tai folk dance.” lages Isaw young Tai thisstate-concocted Lüegirlsteaching Inseveral vil- dress. picture ofabeamingdancerinpeacock features a MyHometown” with thesong “Xishuangbanna, and on brochures andprinted T-shirts.A touropop CD buses, andthesidesoftour buildings airport oftheinternational paintedontothe industry, a ubiquitoussymbolinthetourism beloved by theDainationality,” peopleoftensay.The is peacock elegant “Itistheanimalmost Tai LüesofSipsongpanna: colorfuland nationally synonymous withthesimilarly exotic, Sipsongpanna. and itisperformedinhotelsdinnerhallsKunming and ple oftheprefectural andprovincial song-and-dancetroupes, Itbecameasta- becamerenowned allover China. Dao Meilan, by later popularized thefamous Tai dance”), cock Lüedancer n temtdbo fdsat‘lpatlg drums.”and “the muted boomofdistant ‘elephant leg’ listening ofthebreeze inthecoconut“to thelightrustle palms” andwere entrancedbydancethat they aritual saw while scene” people.”There they “fell underthespellofsubtropical and to conductfieldresearch “spent ahappy monthwiththe Tai traveled from Beijingtotheborderlandsof Chin Ming, Yunnan ledby choreographer group, Onesuch besides oralnarrative. and improve uponotherformsofethnicfolk performance document workers alsoengaged inarelated project tocollect, groups ofculture bureau From the1950stoearly 1960s, The SimplifyingProject:Dance able toimprove dance: onthisritual that withsomecreative thinkingheandhiscolleagues were ChinMingwrote andalongtrainlike apeacock’s tail. arms, wingsonhis elder wearing abirdmaskmadeofpapier-mâché, istraditionally performedby an Burma, borders innorthern ree dance stillperformedat Buddhisttemplefestivals across the stesmlfigpoetpoedd otherballetsand As thesimplifyingproject proceeded, Once shorn ofthesedistractingelementsanditsBud- Once shorn movement. without thewingsthere would greater bemuch freedom of and themaskthere couldbefacial expression, .Without . . emphasis couldbelaidonaportrayal ofthebird. ofthespirit more we decided, wereclumsy accessories discarded, Ifthe inaresplendent scene. ofthepeacock sify theglory Our ideawas tomake itagroup dancefor girlssoastointen- isprobably which related toaShanritual This dance, se oa oenetofiilAeZiGag about I asked alocalgovernment ZaiGuang, official,Aye hasbecome thepeacock As aresult ofthedancefad, 12 kongque wu 11 (“pea- kinna- visitors at Jinghong’s ChunhuanPark. now hasbeenrevived daily performed for show, asatourist on thefable theCulturalRevolution was banned during but operabased ual meaningandrewritten asasocialistfable.An was cleansedofany religious orrit- tale called Sudun” “Prince the the1950s, During anIndianepicnarrative. “Ramayana,” believe Somescholars King.” thetalederivesfrom the ol o eda l.Ol n oa,hswf,could read.” hiswife, Only onewoman, could notread at all. andone-third one-thirdcould barely read, men couldread, one-thirdofthe reported that “of theLu[sic]ofhisdistrict, panna tobeavid readers: guage translation oftheBible andfound the Tai LüeofSipsong- traveled alongthe Mekong Deltawithcopiesofhis Tai-lan- He hisfirstvisitthere in 1897. high degree ofliteracyduring whowas literate in a reported ary Tai, William CliftonDodd, mission- literacy was inSipsongpannabefore 1949.American itisdifficulttoassesshow widespread are inChina), archived the simplifiedChinesescript. on street signsandusedingovernment documentsalongside tobewritten becametheofficiallanguage, tional alphabet.This Lüe alphabet ( with membersofthe cameupwithasimplified TaiTai elite, working In language teams, inventedscripts Yunnan, for them. whohadhistoricallybeennonliterate hadnewminorities created byscripts Otherethnic linguiststofacilitate literacy. others were bannedandreplaced withnew, “simplified” like thoseofthe Uyghursand Thus scripts Tai Lüe,Tibetans, educational systems. as well asflaws inthepre-“liberation” was oftensaidtobebecauseofflaws intheirscripts, tion.This withoutdistinc- levels ofliteracyamongallborderpeoples, itfrom malerelatives.though somedidlearn women were notgenerally taughtthescript, In thepast, Tai Lüemonksandformerare able it. toread andwrite for only themostpart torically ithasbeentaughtintemples, disagree Becausehis- script about exactly how many there are. andeven inthe thoseexpert hasmore than60letters, State, usedbyidentical tothescript Shan Tai KhunsinKengtung, old traditions.The almost written Tai alphabet, Lüewritten and theproduction ofageneration cutofffrom theirown these efforts script was adecrease inliteracy theminority result of was unwieldyLüe script andsetouttoreform it.The Tai Lüescript. troversial locally thanthegovernment’s efforts toimprove the ofthe tural Tai“improvement” hasbeenmore con- minority probablyworkers nocul- andare now presented asfolklore, by culture bureauWhile songanddancewere “improved” Simplified script nSpogan eitriwdalclhamn who In Sipsongpannaheinterviewed alocalheadman, they clamorfor books. books, they beg take books, .They . . curiosity. unbridled as such have as well receptivity, I metsuch inany place, Never before, Given ofaccessto thelack Tai records (none Lüehistorical Official Chinese rhetoric oftenrefersOfficial Chineserhetoric topresumptive low thegovernment announcedthat theold TaiIn the1950s, “xin Daiwen” ) that hadfewer lettersthanthetradi- 13 14

DEVELOPMENT FOR WHOM? 41 CHINA RIGHTS FORUM NO. 4, 2006

If these estimates were representative of the region, we could they saw as government hypocrisy: despite officially promot- speculate that overall literacy in Sipsongpanna might have been ing the new Tai Lüe script for over 40 years, the state had never roughly comparable to the literacy rates among Hans during produced a dictionary for it.At the main temple in Jinghong, the same period. Evelyn Rawski estimates that throughout Tai Lüe Buddhist monks succeeded in compiling a modest dic- China in the late Qing between one-half and one-third of tionary for the old Tai Lüe script in 2000.Two years later, after school-age males had basic literacy.15 In previous eras of Chi- a long political struggle with the provincial government, the nese imperial history,because of lack of access to education, dictionary was published in Kunming. literacy among Chinese-speakers was probably far lower. Given Some educated Tai Lües told me that they had never been the temple education system, it seems likely that Tai Lüe liter- properly taught the new script and so could not read it: “They acy was actually relatively high, and certainly higher than the only ever taught us new Tai script for one hour a week in sec- Chinese government has reported. ondary school,” said one young government official. “I just It is clear that the new Tai Lüe script has not promoted never really learned it.Anyway,it doesn’t have any use,” because increased literacy.Many Tai Lües note that the state has pub- nothing is published in it. Many noted that those literate in the lished almost nothing in the new script, making it in effect new script could not read the old script, so that literacy in the useless.The twice-weekly four-page newspaper, Xishuangbanna new script in effect cuts younger Tai Lües off from their own bao, is one exception. Public pressure caused the Xishuangbanna written traditions.There is no library or archive in China that bao to switch back to old Tai Lüe script during the 1990s before houses books in the old Tai Lüe script published before 1949. returning to the new Tai Lüe script in 1995 in response, report- Today,the politics of language shapes class and status in Sip- edly,to pressure from the provincial government. In 1997, songpanna. Most residents of larger towns, especially Jing- some Tais believed that the newspaper would switch back to hong, speak a common local version of the provincial dialect the old Tai Lüe script again and were trying to establish a pub- of Mandarin, Jinghonghua, or “Jinghong-ese.”Tai villagers are lishing house to produce books in old Tai Lüe; they have not more likely to speak Tai only,which itself has several dialects in yet been successful.Worse, many Tai Lües pointed out what neighboring towns, but many young village children, sur-

An official Xinhua Web site on China's minorities—“simple, happy, dancing people.” References totextsand toreligious literature are omitted. thisplacesthefolk present. group inaneternal places ortimes; as are references to specific tion are editedoutat anearly stage, allusionandindirec- complexitiesofrepetition, language.Thus stageintermediate ofrecording andnotating intheoriginal usually without passingthrough an the national vernacular, even instyleandlanguage.They childlike are published in ple, or individually. ofabilitying alack by membersofthegroup tothinkcritically whileat thesametimesuggest- tales are intendedtorepresent, ofauthorshipunifiedthegroup that the lack one voice.This ized textsproduced by ahomogeneous group that spoke with ideal- but rather asessential, orpeasants, the talesfor princes who might puttheirown on spinorinterpretation ual tellers, wereauthorless.They presented notasthecreations ofindivid- andthey share anumber ofcommonalities. produced today), volumes of ethnic folklore. Dozens of these volumes, such as such Dozensofthesevolumes, volumes ofethnicfolklore. oraltraditionsinedited mittees simplifiedethnicminority culture com- withoutever texts, theoriginal archiving guages, While language ethnicalphabets committeessimplified andlan- The SimplifyingProject:Folktales Anderson tellsus, semi-literate borderpeople.As traditionstoeffectivelyethnic institutionsandwritten create a officialsundermined publishing andcensorship, reform, script by thestate toeradicate theirlanguage. moves havescript.These only fueledlocalfears ofaconspiracy government documentsare published even in the new Tai Lüe Jinghong hasbeenremoved.Tai that Lüeofficialsreport fewer the TaiIn recent years, onstreet signsin written Lüescript by promoting anew alphabet designedtobecomeobsolete. in Sipsongpannaacynicaleffort by the state tocreate suggeststomany ofanywith thelack for archive classicaltexts, combined Tai intheface Lüescript ofwidespread opposition, why continue them? The state’s doggedadherence tothenew overwhelmingly andethnicminorities reject thereforms, ties, Butifthereforms are aimedat aidingethnicminori- literacy. motivated by idealismandthegoalofpromoting widespread any oftheirown form language. few ventions alphabet, Tai intheminority Lües are literate in Butasaresult ofcontroversial government inter- Mandarin. to bethosewithbettereducation whospeakandread standard who work orfor industry thegovernment inthetourist tend understand Sipsongpannaresidents Tai but notspeakorread it. can radioandmusic, rounded by Chinese-language television, who speakanotherlanguage. instead ingreater marginalization from thedominantgroup inshared textsdoesnotresult ingreaterdescribed equalitybut reimagining comradeship ofthenation asahorizontal the intothenewdistinct peopleswhoare incorporated state, Butfor thoseethnically andlinguistically ture andasacred text. onewithanelitecul- is organized around ahighcivilization, Seven Sisters:Collected ChineseFolk Stories,Seven Sisters:Collected The talesinthesefolklore collectionsalsotendtobesim- thefolktales inthesecollectionswere presented as First, netoal rohrie through theirinvolvement in Intentionally orotherwise, theearly government language policywas probably In sum, were produced (andare still 17 an empire illiteracy The 18 16 tncitmc ihntr.Frisac,the For instance, ethnic intimacywithnature. themdown bringing toamanageable stature. represent, thisinfantilizes thecollective that thesongsare saidto effect, In isreplacedadult flirtation withinnocentromanticism. sexual jokingthat characterizes Tai andthe Lüeoralpoetry, There are nopunsorwordplay.The talesare cleansed ofthe suit ofanidealsocietyandhappiness oftheDaipeople.” tale collectionscouldthusclaimthat thetales “reflect thepur- editorsoffolk- replaced by unambiguouspraisefor theParty; may have ironically originally localnobilitywere satirized complicated ambiguityfound inliterate culture.” dualistic visionofreality that isdistantanddistinctive from the Chinese ethnicgroups through talesthat “embody a simplistic audienceshow international teach tothinkabout in English, Dai Nationality nese ethnicfolktale bookslike the ethnicreligion orlocalspecificities. locallanguage, history, allequally free oflocal andotherethnicgroups, Zhuang,Tibetan Miao, Mongol, by alongsidestories Hui, place aHanstory that joinscenterwithperiphery.The editedcollectionsoften wound intothenational narrative inthevernacular language bookstores allover whoare Yunnan andtherest ofChina, Chinesereaderswould browsing alsoteach not.They through culture would bepermissibleinthepublic realm andwhat themwhat kindofethnic teaching the disciplineofminorities, within theborders. toward theirnew centerandemphasizedtheircontainment border-crossing asthe texts reoriented such minorities Tai Lüe that location Such was always Beijing. side ofSipsongpanna, andwhere there was mentionofalocation out- often omitted, References tootherplacesinmainland Southeast Asia were ticipate couldprofit inthe songsanddancesfor nicely, tourists those whopar- approach was alwaysgirls.The andstick: carrot andviathe strategic deployment ofdancing through culture, Hansseetheonethey want tosee.”two Sipsongpannas. lic representations oftheirethnicity.As one “There are Tai putit, they felt they couldnotrecognize themselves inthestate’s pub- Many toldmethat othersfelt alienated by itall. from theresults, cheerfullyinthisprocess participated andprofited officials, dancing people.Yet whilesome includinggovernment Tais, this region was tocreate apublic image of happy,Tais assimple, cles—feminine bodiesondisplay. andultimately intosilencedandcommodifiedspecta- “folk,” traditionsintosimpleandromantic plex oralandwritten from peopleswithcom- like them, and otherethnicminorities China’s the simplifyingproject changed Tailocal scripts, Lüe, ethnicdress andeven folk dances, By reinventing folktales, From simplifiedtosilenced catc nature of Tai“chaotic” practices. Lüemarriage severalries women whoaretigerasevidence part ofthe The talesordiscussionsofthemalsooftenemphasizean ial,tepltc ftetlsaentoaie.Poems that thepoliticsoftalesare nationalized. Finally, iial,thetaleshaveSimilarly, Chi- offoreign becomepart policy. Collectively, thesetaleshave toolsfor asinstructional served nefc,theHanconquestof southwest Chinawas done In effect, The endresult ofthestate’s inethnicculture intervention in refers toa Tai anancestormar- legendinwhich Seven Sisters eis published series, Simple Historyofthe 19 21 20

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but those who tested the limits—like Tibetans in Yunnan’s and Tai Lüe history,learned to read the old Tai Lüe script, and neighboring province—felt the repercussions.Tais I met in had the high status of holy men of learning. Yunnan spoke of Tibet,always with a warning tone.They knew At Wat Pajay,where I began to study spoken and written Tai what happened to monks and lay activists there, and were not language, I saw young Tai men (and sometimes women) who eager to replicate the Tibetan experience in this border region. were daily engaged in thinking about and debating what it meant to be minority in China.They were actively and self- Certain kinds of ethnic identity are consciously engaged in excavating past traditions, finding things about their past that showed they could be civilized, perfectly fine in China: those that have complex, mature and sacred—rather than primitive, simple- been created by the state, carefully pruned minded, child-like and adorable. and managed. The monks had two brand-new Power Macs donated by businessmen in Thailand,and a few disks, passed along by a friend, containing a font developed in Kengtung, Burma, While Tais were involved in reviving and reinventing their which enabled them to print in the old Tai Lüe script. Using culture, it was largely done quietly,away from the all-seeing this font, they had begun a small-scale publishing project, eye of the state. Many Tais feared that allowing a foreign ethno- typesetting the novices’ primer, a few old scriptures and a cal- grapher to document their oral poetry and songs, especially endar for the temple. Now,they were opening up their temple Buddhist oral traditions, would lead to political repercussions. grounds for some young laymen and women to promote Tai Thus, when I arrived in 1997 with my tape recorder in hand, Lüe culture in a slightly different way.Some of the monks looking for epic oral poets, performances were difficult to invited me to stop by,and said it would be fine to record some track down. Singers lied and said that they never performed of the songs. anymore; some made appointments and then slipped quietly On the day of the rock concert, thousands of Tais packed the out of town; many said that they knew nothing about perform- courtyard, though the only advertising the organizers had done ances and that I should ask someone else.At first I thought I was a handful of posters.Word of mouth—in Tai Lüe—had had flown a great distance for nothing. Fortunately,this was done it all, bringing thousands from around the prefecture. not the case, and my Tai language lessons at a local Buddhist E Guang, a traditional oral poet, climbed onstage to an ova- temple opened the door to a parallel, underground world of tion. She wore a dazzling blue dress, gold jewelry and makeup, living culture. her hair in its Tai Lüe bun decorated with plastic flowers and ribbons. She began an a cappella song in the genre called “Heaui The rock concerts—a glimpse heaui naw,” for its opening phrase, literally,“Hey hey now.”This The crowd of Tai villagers surged forward as I scrambled on my genre is usually sung by a woman as part of an improvised knees in the dust to protect the tape recorder and microphone, duet with a man in which they challenge each other.Typically, aimed up at the lip of a handmade stage.The crowd smelled of their rendering in Chinese videos and recordings is as lyrical sweat and dust. Little boys in long-billed baseball caps and small love songs performed by pretty girls, but they are not always so girls in long skirts, lipstick and earrings crammed around, torn simple in practice; in the hands of a skilled singer, they are an between staring at the stage and staring at the foreigner. invitation to a duel. E Guang sang: Above us, on a stage festooned with pastel paper cutouts of Buddhist dharma wheels and lotus flowers, a rock band was Hey hey now, playing, and a short, muscular man with long hair and a string At sunset, when the sky turns yellow, of blue tattoos on his arm was singing in Tai Lüe: We two agreed to meet in a certain place. I have waited since sunset for you, Tais,Tais,Tais, should speak the Tai language Waited for too long, looking around, waiting, Tais,Tais,Tais should learn the Tai alphabet . . . I did not see you, I stood up for a while, then sat down again, This was the second Tai pop concert and it was being held in Took a palm tree leaf to sit on in the grass, the courtyard of Wat Pajay,Jinghong’s main temple, on the And stayed until it had turned yellow and withered. anniversary of China’s granting of “religious freedom” to its citi- The leaf I had wrapped rice in zens.That date had begun a gradual resurgence in Tai Lüe Bud- Turned bitter and yellow, dhism. By the year 2000, there were 560 village temples and The salt I had wrapped up (as a love token) turned brown. more than 7,000 monks and novices in Sipsongpanna. Most vil- Why have you still not come out of the house? lages had their own local temples, supervised by Wat Pajay. In many villages where the crumbling state education sys- Meanwhile, a man of about her age, accompanied by a few tem failed minority students, the temple was the only place to women, walked backstage and asked the monk who was engi- study.Some Tai Lüe parents preferred the temples to the public neering the sound for a microphone.The monk, puzzled, schools anyway,because in public schools Tai Lüe children turned it over to him, and encouraged him to join E Guang were taught that the Hans were more advanced and minorities onstage.The man with the microphone declined with a wave were backward. In the temples they heard about Buddhism of his hand and sat down backstage, where E Guang could not cp,but how far coulditgo? scape, gious movement that was now ofthe firmly part Yunnan land- The monksandtheirlay hadcreated aculturalandreli- friends inways that thedominators mightnotrecognize.dominator, sent”—subversive messages delivered undertheeyes ofthe boom hadcreated aspacefor theexpression of “coded dis- whipped outbehindthemlike wings. theirrobes Inthelightofaheavy fullmoon, village temple. headinghometoanearby novices racedpastonmotorcycles, agroup ofteen hill that ledfrom thetempletoMantingRoad, to speak don’t forgetTai, our Tai homeland.” so far away... Lovely don’t forget how wherever you go, Tai girl, “Don’twho goestodanceinadininghallChinesecity. go “Sao Tai song, lic.The BaiFon MuangHaw,” tellsofa Tai girl and onsomeoccasionswas even compelledtosingitinpub- tosingasongin Ilearned Taiinitiations andtempleopenings. monk for family celebrations, for performed narrations rituals, andepicBuddhistoral concerts includingbothrock ment, dare tojoinheronstage: of heryouth was alsobeginningtofade. thebloom like thebananaleafsheusedtowrap herrice, more; inviting himtojoinheronstage. and responded tohischallenge, Shesmiledwryly was comingfrom but couldnotseethesinger. EGuanglooked around toseewhere thevoice onto thestage. grounds. telling Wathong, Pajay they were inappropriate for temple thestate shutthemdown theyear afterIleft Jing- events, wereWhile theconcerts peacefulandtremendously popular A landinflux withasunglyric: rupted heinter- anotherlineortwo from EGuang, see him.After The revival ofethnictraditionsinthecontextatourist asIbiked inthedarknessdown thebumpy That evening, wasThe concert oneofmany Iwas ultimately able todocu- Perhaps itisnotmeanttobe. Perhaps Iwon’t beable tolove you afterall, EGuangcontinued, The audienceroared. But you—you hide inthedarklike amushroom. ajewel that emitslightfor allto Deep andglimmering, A manshouldbelike water inavillage well, You shouldnothideinthedarkandbesoshy. perhaps Icould fall in loveBrother, withyou, Why are you singingfrom aplacewhere Ican’t seeyou? E Guangsweetly asked again whydidnot herchallenger EGuangshouldnotwait for himany- The manresponded: The audiencelaughedandbegantocallfor himtocome You are aslovely asacucumberflower. you great lady poet, E Guang, Hey hey now, admire. nw,andthelow pointbeyond noonecares togo: which known, thelimitsof ture marktheedgeofnational map, cul- simple” andtheir Ethnicminorities “primitive, borders. andtheirnew jobwas tomarkthe The centerwas now Beijing, they hadtobetaughtthat they were nolongerat thecenter.lic, intothenewincorporation nation-state ofthePeople’s Repub- idea that they were of part thecenteroftheirown worlds.As mighthave someminorities Before hadthe archy. “liberation,” inaveryto keep specificplaceonthenational hier- minorities goalisrather or want toeradicate allitsethnicminorities.The Chinadoesn’t need record mightthink, cal ofitshumanrights Despite what thoseofuscriti- nic revival willprobably besafe. front stage industry. ofthetourism andfar away from the offthebeaten track, behind thescenes, allalternative ethnicculture takes place Meanwhile, part. theirpublicdistorts for identity.They themost play thegame, and that warps toengageits right ina “simplifying project” or never them, openlyChina’s challenged to right “improve” ties seemtoface ever-greater restrictions? even—when otherChinese minori- songs, ing system—rock and increating new inaonce-bannedwrit- culturalmaterials scroll across thebottomoftelevision screen. Tai script, typedintheoldbanned karaoke-style, lyrics, homeland.The andenvironmental degradation oftheir HIV/AIDS, change, of vibrant Tai-language issuesassocial popsongsabout such producing numerous VCDs (Chinese DVDs)become prolific, and educational programs. be apowerful force intheregion andaplatform for cultural land andBurma.Today, theSipsongpannatemplecontinues to drew thousandsofworshippers from asfar away asLaos,Thai- Some ued toorganize well-attended andceremonies. rituals years. by overexpanding theirpoliticalspaceinch careful inch the and diplomatically dancingaround theedgesofstate rhetoric, andgradually nudged at itsedges, what littlespacethey could, they havehave Rather, taken never advocated for separatism. their culturalactivismmay betolerated isthat Tais in Yunnan even execution. torture, andyou face prison, to, MongoliansandUyghurshave assome dared Tibetans, the box, Gooutside celebrated ontelevision shows andinnewspapers. even totherest ofthenation, beheldupasamodelminority may Perform thisidentityfor pay, andyou may beenriched, entertaining. playful, thosethat are non-threatening, managed; carefully and pruned those that have beencreated by thestate, kindsofethnicidentityare perfectly Certain fineinChina: ples. deft Tai management that Iwitnessedduring oftheauthorities itmay aninstanceof beilluminating todescribe In thisregard, leadsthewayConclusion: TheParty again Here lieserpents. sln ste otnet ieblwterdr theireth- As longasthey continue tohidebelow theradar, Sipsongpanna Tais For one, haveThe answers are complex. How isitthat Tais have succeededinreviving Buddhism Since 1997,Tai popsingersandrecordinghave artists however, theregion’s Buddhisttemplescontin- Meanwhile, ti motn ont,teeoe that anotherreason why therefore, tonote, It isimportant China hascreated aclearsocialcompactwithitsborderpeo-

DEVELOPMENT FOR WHOM? 45 CHINA RIGHTS FORUM NO. 4, 2006

a Buddhist epic storytelling performance.The story was per- This article is adapted from Song and Silence:Ethnic Revival on China’s formed in the middle of a ceremony to celebrate the promo- Southwest Borders by Sara L. M. Davis. Copyright Columbia Uni- tion of six Buddhist monks to the status of khuba, or master. versity Press 2005. Used by arrangement with Columbia Uni- This ceremony marked the first time since the Cultural Revolu- versity Press.All rights reserved. tion that Sipsongpanna had promoted its own khuba, and as such it was a major event.After a day of feasting and rituals, NOTES the temple hosting the ceremony invited two top changkhap 1. Hsieh Shi-chung, “On the Dynamics of Tai/Dai-Lüe Ethnicity:An Ethno- (Tai oral poets) to perform “Sithat auk boht,” the legend of the historical Analysis,” in Cultural Encounters on China’s Ethnic Frontiers,ed. Stevan Buddha’s enlightenment. Hundreds of Tai villagers, mostly Harrell (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995), 301–28. women, crowded into the courtyard to listen raptly to the all- 2. Mette Halskov Hansen, “The Call of Mao or Money? Han Chinese Settlers night performance. on China’s South-Western Borders,” China Quarterly 158 (June 1999): 397. The two storytellers, a man and a woman, took turns con- 3. Dean MacCannell, The Tourist:A New Theory of the Leisure Class (Berkeley and tinuing the tale, weaving witticisms, flirtations and praise into Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999). their lyrics about the Buddha’s quest for wisdom.As the male 4. Ma Yin, China’s Minority Nationalities (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, narrator began a chapter, there was a rustle at the back of the 1989), 3. crowd.A few Tais and a Han Chinese man of about 30 climbed 5. In June 2001,Tai Lües in Shan State, Burma, who were originally from into the circle, and everyone in it tensed. Sipsongpanna, told me they had fought in insurgencies against China that were supported by the U.S. CIA during the 1950s. See also Bertil The Chinese man was cheerful with drink, having made the Lintner,“The CIA’s First Secret War:Americans Helped Stage Raids Into rounds of a series of village feasts celebrating the ceremony. China from Burma,” Far Eastern Economic Review, 16 September 1993, Surprised to see a foreigner in this gathering who could speak 56–58. Chinese, he introduced himself: He was the Communist Party 6. Fei Xiaotong, Toward a People’s Anthropology (Beijing:World Press,1981), 60. secretary,the highest-ranking official in the area.The Party sec- 7. Fei, People’s Anthropology, 64. retary did not speak Tai; he was an educated young man of 8. For Sipsongpanna, see for instance the “Minzu wenti wu zhong cong- about my age, and perhaps he had not been in the area very shu,” in Xishuangbanna Daizu zhonghe diaocha (Collected investigations into long. He beamed around at the crowd and then began to ques- Xishuangbanna Dai nationality) (Kunming:Yunnan minzu chuban she, tion me in a normal speaking voice, while Aye Kham Naun, the 1983). performer, continued to sing. 9. Guojia minwei minzu wenti wu zhong congshu pianli weiyuanhui, ed., “What are you doing?” he asked, pointing at the cassette Zhongguo shaoshu minzu (Chinese ethnic minorities) (Beijing: Renmin chuban she, 1981), 342–43. recorder. 10. Ma Yin, China’s Minority Nationalities, 266. “I’m taping the tale,” I whispered. I didn’t want to alienate 11. Chin Ming, “How the Peacock Dance Reached the Stage,” China Recon- the Party Secretary,but it had not been easy to get into this per- structs (March 1963): 10. I am indebted to Helen Rees for sharing this formance. article with me. “What’s the point of that?” 12. Ibid, 11. “I’m going to write it down and translate it into English.” 13. William Clifton Dodd,The Tai Race,Elder Brother of the Chinese:Results of Experi- This surprised him. “What for?” ence,Exploration,and Research of William Clifton Dodd,D.D.,Thirty-Three Years a Mis- “To put it in a library in America.” sionary to the Tai People of Siam,Burma,and China,Compiled and Edited by His Wife “Do you actually understand this stuff? I don’t understand a (1923; Bangkok:White Lotus Press, 1996), 188. word!” 14. Ibid., 187. Aye Kham Naun sang, 15. Evelyn Rawski, “Economic and Social Foundations of Late Imperial China,” in Popular Culture in Late Imperial China, ed. David Johnson,Andrew Nathan, and Evelyn Rawski (Berkeley: University of California Press, Now, 1985), 11. The Communist Party has come to lead the way again, 16. See also interviews with administrators at Sipsongpanna schools and The Party Secretary has come to sit here, colleges in which they explicitly state that their aim is to facilitate the he sits for a long spell, making up half of a happy pair— phasing out of Tai language; Mette Halskov Hansen, Lessons in Being Chinese: a young lady chats with him politely. Minority Education and Ethnic Identity in Southwest China (Seattle: University of Whoever enters this place today,may he live to a ripe old age! Washington Press, 1999), 129–30. 17. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities:Reflections on the Origin and Spread of “He is praising you,” one of the elders across the circle said Nationalism (London:Verso Press, 1983). to the Party secretary in Chinese. 18. The Seven Sisters:Collected Chinese Folk Stories (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, “Ta shuo nide hao hua! He’s saying good things about you!” said 1965). 19. Daizu jianshi bianxie zu (Simple history of the Dai nationality editorial another elder, loudly. group), Daizu jianshi (Simple history of the Dai nationality) (Kunming: “Thank you!” said the Secretary,folding his hands together Yunnan renmin chuban she, 1986). in a gesture to the singer. He sat fidgeting for another few min- 20. Yan Wenbian, Zheng Peng, and Gu Qing, eds. and adapters, Dai Folk Legends utes, then reeled out mid-lyric to go to another banquet. (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1988), ii. The gathering visibly relaxed, closing the circle again. No 21. Lucien Miller, ed., South of the Clouds:Tales from Yunnan, trans. Guo Xu, Lucien one had gotten into trouble, and the performance could go on. Miller, and Xu Kun (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994), 36.