Ethnic Minority Groups

[Hann]

Good day all,

(this might be in the wrong thread so RODDY change as you see fit)

For my M.A., I am taking a course on ETHNIC MINORITIES OF MAINLAND CHINA, and am writing a paper dealing with a specific MINORITY GROUP and its AUTONOMY DEVELOPMENT.

I am wondering if anyone from this site might have knowledge of this topic and would be interested in conducting an on-line interview with myself (thru msn or email), or if anyone knows of any good websites that deals with this issue.

I have done a background search already, and read some academic journals and books, yet they more deal with the minority groups as a whole, and I am looking to deal with a specific group. I admit that I do not possess a lot of knowledge regarding many of these minority groups outside from the above-mentioned research I have done, as well as my class discussion.

Along with hoping to contact someone and to gather some insight from websites, books, etc, I am hoping to hear a few interesting facts or stories, which would help in my decision as to which minority group to continue my study on.

Thanks in advance and feel free to post or to PM me.

[futurist]

He, I'm the right man. My name is 杨吉明(James Yang). Live in Xinjing.

MSN: dodream@hotmail.com

[Yang Rui]

The chances are you'll have read it already, but absolutely anyone interested in this subject (and probably anyone interested in China) should read the following short article:

Wu, David Y.H. 1990. "Chinese Minority Policy and the Meaning of Minority Culture: the example of Bai in Yunnan, China." Human Organization 49 (1): 1-13

Here, Wu not only talks about the Bai, but also gives a brief rundown of the way in which the ethnic minoritiess were defined. He mentions quite a few other nationalities, which may give you a few ideas.

The Age of Wild Ghosts: Memory, Violence, and Place in Southwest China by Erik Mueggler is also an excellent book, though it's quite specific to one group.

You may find the Dongxiang group mentioned by Jim Yardley in this recent New York Times article (http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/07/news/china.php) interesting, although I'm not sure how much research has been done on the development of their autonomy.

If it's autonomy you're interested in, then the groups that have their own autonomous regions might be a good place to start: the Tibetans (Zang), Uyghurs (Weiwuer), Hui, Zhuang, Mongolian etc.