This thesis aims to examine the frontier strategies and ethnic identity of the Tai people in Jinlong on the Sino-Vietnamese border. It addresses these issues by studying their ritual practices as expressed in their daily lives. It highlights the degree to which their lives are lived across national and regional borders, not only in the past but also in the context of modernization and economic development in contemporary China.

The Tai are a trans-border ethnic group who are mainly distributed in the flat valleys among the high mountains on the Sino-Vietnamese border. As a small ethnic group who trace their origin from Vietnam, the Tai in Jinlong on the Sino-Vietnamese border created social-cultural strategies to respond to the complications of frontier life after they settl...[ Read more ]

This thesis aims to examine the frontier strategies and ethnic identity of the Tai people in Jinlong on the Sino-Vietnamese border. It addresses these issues by studying their ritual practices as expressed in their daily lives. It highlights the degree to which their lives are lived across national and regional borders, not only in the past but also in the context of modernization and economic development in contemporary China.

The Tai are a trans-border ethnic group who are mainly distributed in the flat valleys among the high mountains on the Sino-Vietnamese border. As a small ethnic group who trace their origin from Vietnam, the Tai in Jinlong on the Sino-Vietnamese border created social-cultural strategies to respond to the complications of frontier life after they settled in the area two hundred years ago. The communal Longdong Festival and Qiuwu ritual integrated the Tai on the border area, and drew a clear boundary between the Tai, the Nong and the Han. Family rituals, especially personal rites of passage, constitute a social strategy to push a person to get married and to build a family. In association with ancestor worship and a series of ritual practices, arranged marriage and delayed transfer marriage were be carried out in Tai society. The rich and complicated ritual practices of the Tai are related to their historical experiences of immigration, advantageous political and economic status, and antagonistic ethnic relationships on the frontier.

The ritual practices of the Tai in Jinlong have been affected greatly by the political changes and social transformations in the past two hundred years. With modernization and economic development, the revived communal rituals are endowed with new meaning in new forms of social discourse. The personal and family rituals have changed dramatically with the enhanced mobility of the Tai villagers in contemporary China. Through recognizing a local Tai substitute mother, a non-local daughter-in-law becomes able to build a social network in the Tai community, and rituals in her family can be conducted with the support of her substitute mother. This allows the Tai to sustain their social values, which are reflected in family and ritual practices, and assist them in responding to the rapid social transformation underway in contemporary China.