Ethnicity and the state: the Hua Miao of southwest China

Diamond, Norma

essay

Ethnicity and the state: the Hua Miao of southwest China

ethnicity and the state • New Brunswick, N.J. • Published In 1993 • Pages: 55-78

By: Diamond, Norma.

Abstract
This article discusses relations between the Chinese State and its ethnic minorities since the 1949 socialist revolution. It highlights a longstanding contradiction in the Chinese Communist Party's minority policies. The Communist government has issued a series of national laws that seek to promote the language, culture and religion of ethnic minorities, such as the Hua Miao of Southwest China, by providing them with administrative autonomy. In practices, however, the party (through its local cadres) has been deeply committed to the political goal of building a strongly nationalistic China where unity of its citinzens assumes primacy over linguistic and cultural differences. One important consequence of this contradiction has been the forced imposition of core Han Chinese (China proper) family model and cultural values on non-Han minorities.

Ethnic stratification

Cultural identity and pride

Phonology

Linguistic identification

Political movements

Revolution

Form and rules of government

Community structure

Research and development

Public welfare

Government regulation

External relations