The Bai in Early Chinese Minority Film
After Liberation in 1949 Chinese cinema became a propaganda medium for the New China. The 1950 saw cinemas spreading to all towns, showing movies meant to increase the socialist spirit and fostering national unit. China's ethnic minorities often featured in these films before the Cultural Revolution. Only after its end played ethnic minority themes a role again. Here we look at films from before 2000 that feature the Bai minority.
The Dai "Kinnarī" Bird Dance 紧那罗神鸟舞 draws on the local legend of Zhao Shutun 召树屯 with a half-bird/half-human dancer at its center.
C. Patterson Giersch: Asian Borderlands: The Transformation of Qing China's Yunnan Frontier
Yunnan was not always China: indeed not so long ago large parts of Yunnan were only nominally part of the empire. To make Yunnan, outside the main Han cities, a Chinese province required significant effort. Here Giersch's study on Yunnan's hinterland makes an interesting if academic read.
A number of Chinese historic texts covering life and politics in Yunnan have survived over the centuries. I have translated a few of them.
An isolated Bai town with rich culture.
Largest Miao village in the Kunming area with a large Christian community and a nationally-acclaimed church-choir.
Jim Goodman: Children of the Jade Dragon: the Naxi of Lijiang and their mountain neighbours the Yi
In the first half of the 1990s Lijiang had barely made its appearance on the Chinese tourism stage, even less so the then remote mountains of Ningland and Lugu Lake. Jim Goodman's account of the Naxi and the Yi draws back to a time where not everything was staged for mass tourism: an account of a lost world.
Traditional toys in Jianchuan county.
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Markets this Sunday
| Dali | 大理 |
|---|---|
| Jiuzhou | 旧州 |
| Junhua | 均化 |
| Duomei | 朵美 |
| Sanying | 三营 |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Yunlong | 云龙县 |
| Liuhe | 六合 |
| Longjie | 龙街 |
| Beitou | 北头 |
| Liantie | 炼铁 |
| Binchuan | 宾川县 |
| Heqing | 鹤庆县 |
| Lawu | 拉乌 |
| Jianchuan | 剑川县 |
| Changxin | 长新 |
| Pingpo | 平坡 |
| Eryuan | 洱源县 |
| Puping | 普淜镇 |
| Minjian | 民建乡 |
| Beiya | 北衙 |
| 青苗 | |
| Niujie | 牛街彝族乡 |
| 寅街村 | |
| Midian | 米甸镇 |
| 西庄 |
| Honghe | 红河 |
|---|---|
| Pingbian | 屏边苗族自治县 |
| Diema | 垤玛 |
| Mengzi | 蒙自县 |
| Longwu | 龙武镇 |
| Sancun | 三村 |
| Yafangzi | Yafangzi |
| Sankeshu | 三棵树 |
| Longwu | 龙武镇 |
| Liangdi | 浪堤 |
| Wuwan | 乌弯 |
| Chake | 岔科 |
| Jiayin | 甲寅 |
| Azhahe | 阿扎河 |
| Daheigong | 大黑公 |
| Dixibei | 地西北 |
| Xinjie | 新街 |
| Baohua | 宝华 |
| Luoen | 洛恩 |
| Yongning | 永宁乡 |
| Laomeng | 老勐 |
| Wenshan | 文山 |
|---|---|
| Badaoshao | 八道哨乡 |
| Guangnan | 广南县 |
| Pingyuan | 平远 |
| Zhesang | 者桑乡 |
| Heizhiguo | 黑支果乡 |
| Dongma | 董马乡 |
| Babao | 八宝镇 |
| Xinzhai | 新寨乡 |
| Boai | 剥隘镇 |
| Qujing | 曲靖市 |
|---|---|
| Daba | 大坝 |
| Fenghuang | 凤凰 |
| 干海子 | |
| Jiache | 驾车乡 |
| Laochang | 老厂乡 |
| Sandao | 三道 |
| Wuxing | 五星乡 |
| Xinjie | 新街回族乡 |
| Yangmeishan | 杨梅山 |