Hierarchy, Resentment, and Pride: Politics of Identity and Belonging among Mosuo, Yi, and Han in Southwest China

Abstract

How do non-Han populations in China navigate the paradoxical expectations to become “proper” Chinese citizens, like the majority Han, while retaining pride in cultural practices and traditions that mark their differences? This article examines how Mosuo (otherwise known as Na) people in Southwest China have constructed the moral legitimacy of their ethnic traditions and identity through redirecting the Orientalizing gaze toward their Yi neighbors, another ethnic minority in the region. This argument, which displaces the analytical focus from the majority Han and the political state in analyses of the maintenance of ethnic boundaries, delineates how prejudice against a third-party ethnic other can serve as an important pathway for establishing cultural citizenship in the People’s Republic of China. The article ends with a discussion of the methodological significance of this lens for understanding interethnic relationships, while recognizing the challenges of examining ethnic prejudice as a site for negotiating identity and citizenship.

Hearths, Mythologies, and Livelihood Choices: Exploring Cultural Change under Poverty Alleviation with the Nuosu-Yi of Liangshan

“…Moreover, the Nuosu were—for reasons connected to the ideology of Marxist historical materialism—dubbed the “archetypal Yi” (Mullaney, 2011: 112), the most ancient and authentic among the Yi, thus the most worth researching. Their designation as a “slave society” 奴隶社会, however, had and still has far-reaching consequences for their perception as one of the most backward minorities by most of their neighboring nationalities (see Sum et al, 2021). Furthermore, the democratic reforms 民主改革 in the second half of the 1950s dismantled and redesigned the local relationships, as it toppled the power of the affluent clans—especially those ruling by their essentialized blood superiority over non-aristocrats (Pan, 1997; Swancutt, 2012)—to liberate the bonded and enslaved people in their possession (see Winnington, 1962).…”

“…While they had never met a Nuosu-Yi, they heard many such stories about their low personal “quality” 素质 (Anagnost, 2004; Heberer, 2014: 740; Yan, 2008). Poverty seemed to be the most shaming part (see Sum et al, 2021); the rest was consequential. In September, Hxabbu suddenly asked me—as an honorary clansman—to send him a bit of money so that he could start building a new house next to the old one.…”

Menopause-Related Symptoms and Influencing Factors in Mosuo, Yi, and Han Middle-Aged Women in China

“…The clan of Mosuo in Yunnan Province was classified as the Naxi and the other in Sichuan Province was called Menggu (also called "Mongolian"). Mosuo, regarded as the "living fossils" of matriarchy (Yan, 1984;Sum et al, 2021), has diverged from original Naxi culture (Harrell, 2001). Therefore, the term "Mosuo" refers to this particular group.…”