Invisible China A Journey Through Ethnic Borderlands

by Legerton, Colin; Rawson, Jacob

• ISBN13: 9781556528149
• ISBN10: 1556528140
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-05-01
• Publisher: Chicago Review Press

Summary

Travelling over 14,000 miles by bus and train to the farthest reaches of China, the authors of this narrative explore the minority peoples who dwell there, talking to farmers in their fields, monks in their monasteries, fishermen on their skiffs, and herders on the steppe. Closely observing daily life in these remote regions, they document the many lifestyles and adventures of the Chinese natives -- they visit an old Catholic fisherman at a church that has been without a priest for 40 years; they hike around high-altitude Lugu Lake to farm with the matriarchal Mosuo women; and they descend into a dry riverbed to hunt for jade with Muslim Uyghur merchants. This account uncovers surprising truths about China's hidden minorities and their complex position in Chinese society through real discussions, including a heated debate with Ewenki village cadres on human rights and talks with ageing hajjis about the Chinese government's razing of their mosque.

Author Biography

Colin Legerton has worked as a Chinese-English translator and is currently in the master's program of Central Eurasian and Uralic studies at Indiana University. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana. Jacob Rawson gives presentations on China's ethnic minorities and the Korean minority in Japan and is currently in the master's program of Chinese and Korean linguistics at the University of Washington. He lives in Mount Vernon, Washington.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vii
Authors' Note	p. ix
Introduction	p. i
The Northeast
Hunters of the Hinterlands: The Oroqen, Daur, Ewenki, and Hezhen	p. 17
Immigrants and Emigrants: The Koreans	p. 43
The Windswept Kingdom: The Mongolians	p. 61
The Southwest
Fishermen of the South Sea: The Kinh	p. 79
Valley of the Headhunters: The Wa	p. 99
Selling Ethnicity: The Naxi	p. 115
The Country of Daughters: The Mosuo	p. 129
The Northwest
Left Behind: The Dongxiang	p. 147
Prayers on the Plateau: The Tibetans	p. 161
The Sweltering Oasis: The Uyghurs	p. 177
Yaks and Yurts: The Tajiks	p. 195
The East
Chinese Jews?	p. 211
Final Thoughts: A Day at the Chinese Ethnic Culture Park	p. 219
Afterword	p. 227
Selected Suggested Reading	p. 233
Index	p. 235
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