Editorial: Ethnic minorities on the borderlands of southwest China
Author(s):
Mckinnon, John
Editor(s):
McKinnon J.
Format:
Journal article
Citation:
Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Volume 38, Issue 2 (1997). pp. 107-167.
Language:
English
Abstract:
This special issue presents a collection of articles in which the authors explore aspects of language, history, land use, culture and education of ethnic minority peoples of southwest China and the northern borderlands of the countries of mainland southeast Asia. The first paper discusses how the Lisu and Lahu minority groups of China, Burma and Thailand have reinforced their identity. An historical study forms the basis of the second paper, where early evidence is used to explore the main causes of the Hmong (Miao) migrations from southern China into upper Indochina. The third paper explores the outcomes for the Akha people and the landscape of the intersection of state policies and local interests in allocating and managing resources in mountainous border areas of China and Thailand. The fourth paper reporting on the value of the largely unexplored orally transmitted texts of minorities in southwest China. These texts provide a valuable source of information on cultural identities and traditions. Observations made over 17 yr in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, on the role of foreign aid in the erosion of indigenous knowledge and identity, is reported in the penultimate paper. In the final paper, the relationship changes which have occurred between lowlander and hill tribes in Xishuangbanna, China, are discussed, based on research conducted in three villages.