Ethnobotanical Study among Ethnic Groups in the Shuiluo Valley, Southwest China: Local Knowledge of Ritual Plant Use Master Thesis by Franziska Büeler 03-701-398 Submitted to Prof. Dr. Ulrike Müller-Böker Tutored by Dr. Caroline Weckerle and Prof. Dr. Ulrike Müller-Böker GEO 511 Master Thesis Department of Geography, University of Zurich October 2010 Contact: Franziska Büeler [email protected] Department of Human Geography, University Zurich Cover picture: Pumi woman holding the morning ritual on a flat roof, Siweng, Sichuan, China (Büeler 2010). TABLE OF CONTENTS FIGURES , TABLES , AND PHOTOGRAPHS ......................................................................... III ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. VI GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................. VII 1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Framework of the study ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Objectives and Questions .......................................................................................... 2 2 THEORETICAL CONCEPTS ....................................................................................... 3 2.1 Ethnobotany.................................................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Local Knowledge .......................................................................................................................... 4 2.2.1 Local Knowledge versus Scientific Knowledge.................................................................. 5 3 SHUILUO VALLEY IN THE HENGUDAN MOUNTAINS , S OUTHWEST CHINA ...................... 7 3.1 Geographical Aspects.................................................................................................................. 7 3.1.1 Climate ............................................................................................................................... 8 3.1.2 Geology.............................................................................................................................. 8 3.1.3 Vegetation.......................................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Population ................................................................................................................................... 10 3.2.1 Languages ....................................................................................................................... 10 3.2.2 Religion ............................................................................................................................ 11 3.2.3 Settlements ...................................................................................................................... 12 3.2.4 Agriculture and Livestock................................................................................................. 13 3.2.5 Goldwashing .................................................................................................................... 13 3.3 Ritual Plant Use........................................................................................................................... 15 3.3.1 Incense Plants ................................................................................................................. 15 3.3.2 Decoration Plants............................................................................................................. 16 3.3.3 Ritual Cleaning Plants...................................................................................................... 16 3.3.4 Uses by Ritual Specialists................................................................................................ 16 4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................................................. 20 4.1 Data Collection............................................................................................................................ 20 4.1.1 CBD and Prior Informed Consent .................................................................................... 20 4.1.2 Access to the Field........................................................................................................... 20 4.1.3 Selection of the Villages, Households, and Experts ........................................................ 20 I 4.1.4 Interviews ......................................................................................................................... 22 4.1.5 Pile Sorts and Ranking or “Cultural Domain Analysis” .................................................... 23 4.1.6 Participatory Observation................................................................................................. 25 4.1.7 Plant Specimens .............................................................................................................. 25 4.2 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 26 4.2.1 Interviews and Observation Data..................................................................................... 26 4.2.2 Consensus Analysis of Pile Sorts .................................................................................... 26 4.2.3 Ranking Data ................................................................................................................... 27 4.3 Data Reliability and Validity....................................................................................................... 28 5 LOCAL KNOWLEDGE ON RITUAL PLANT USE IN THE SHUILUO VALLEY ..................... 29 5.1 Ritual Plants and their Uses ...................................................................................................... 29 5.2 Ritual Plant Categories among the Villagers ........................................................................... 32 5.2.1 Dulu Village...................................................................................................................... 32 5.2.2 Xiwa Village...................................................................................................................... 38 5.2.3 Lanman Village ................................................................................................................ 40 5.2.4 Siweng Village ................................................................................................................. 43 5.2.5 Mianbang Village ............................................................................................................. 48 5.2.6 Qiubao Village.................................................................................................................. 51 5.3 Comparative Analysis of Ritual Plant Use in the Shuiluo Valley........................................... 52 5.3.1 Fresh Incense Plants ....................................................................................................... 54 5.3.2 Dried Incense Plants........................................................................................................ 56 5.3.3 Food Offering and Decoration.......................................................................................... 56 5.3.4 Ritual Cleaning Plants...................................................................................................... 59 5.3.5 Plants used by the Lama ................................................................................................. 61 5.3.6 Comparative Analysis among the northern and the southern Villages in the Shuiluo Valley ............................................................................................................................... 61 6 RITUAL PLANTS IN THE SHUILUO VALLEY : C ONCLUSION ......................................... 63 7 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................... 65 Online.................................................................................................................................................... 75 APPENDIX .................................................................................................................. 76 Appendix I: Vegetation of the Hengduan Mountains....................................................................... 76 Appendix II: Wild and Cultivated Plants Contained in the Plant Set.............................................. 78 Appendix III: Cladograms of the Villages in the Shuiluo Valley ..................................................... 92 DECLARATION .......................................................................................................... 104 II FIGURES , TABLES , AND PHOTOGRAPHS Figures Figure 1: Location of the study area, visited villages are highlighted ................................................ 7 Figure 2: Hengduan Mountains altitudinal belt................................................................................... 9 Figure 3: Ranking data of fresh incense plants................................................................................ 55 Figure 4: Ranking