This book is a study of the influence of tourism on the social and cultural changes experienced by the She people of southwestern Zhejiang. With years of experience studying ecotourism and national cultural tourism, and from the perspectives of globalization and localization, Yunmei Qiu applies multi-disciplinary research methods integrating anthropology, sociology, and geography. Reaching beyond the She to investigation and analysis of other case areas, Qiu uses the diachronic changes and synchronic differences of She culture, focusing on tourism among all the factors involved in the cultural changes within the She ethnic group; she draws on literature analysis and interview materials to make a comparative analysis. Through the comparison of relevant case areas, she analyzes the paths of the development of sustainable tourism and the protection of She culture.
According to Qiu, much attention has been paid to the economic development of East China over the years, especially since the reform and opening up, but little attention has been given to the ethnic minority communities in the context of thriving economic development. In particular, there is a lack of overall grasp of the social and cultural changes that tourism brings to ethnic minorities in East China who live in tourist destinations. Since ethnic minority regions vary in their natural and cultural environments, economic and social backgrounds, and opportunities, their social and cultural changes are extremely complex and varied. Ethnic minority regions in East China are particularly vulnerable; in these areas the factors influencing the changes in traditional ethnic culture may be both more complex and more aggressive, as they are besieged by tourists from developed economies and strong cultures, making the protection of their ethnic culture imperative.
The book is divided into seven chapters, analyzing specific cases and starting with a summary of the development history and culture of the She ethnic group, which analyzes its cultural characteristics, inheritance methods, and current changes before examining the differentiated changes to the She culture in southwestern Zhejiang under the influence of tourism. Focusing on the changes to the traditional festival of “March 3,” Qiu looks at the folk songs and dances, and the costumes of the She ethnic group, which have a high tourism value.
Qiu's description of the traditional cultural characteristics of the She ethnic group is noteworthy in two ways. First, the isolation caused by the natural environment of mountainous areas has fostered the distinct introverted character of the traditional culture of the group and has caused a long-term cultural lag in an era of rapid social change. The second point has to do with the characteristics of cultural psychology. The group's sense of cultural inferiority resulting from economic depression and oppression by the Han, formed a cultural psychology that embraces both self-esteem and self-abasement, and both imitation of and resistance to Han culture. Along with the changes of environment and the deepening influence of the Han people, She culture is losing some of its traditional qualities and is innovatively assimilating some aspects of both advanced modern cultures and other ethnic groups. In this repeated cycle of change–adaptation–change, the culture of the ethnic group continues changing and progressing.
Qiu shows great insight into the inheritance and protection of She costumes. She underscores that the appeal of the traditional costume culture of the She ethnic group can be tapped by the local tourism economy. In this way, a balance can be struck among the development, utilization, inheritance, and protection of costume culture; but market benefits should not be pursued at the cost of the protection and inheritance of traditional costume culture. On the other hand, only if the She people develop cultural self-awareness and self-confidence can they proactively handle the relations between other cultures and their own, and thereby consciously preserve, protect, and pass on their own culture. This is the very foundation of the inheritance and protection of She costume culture.
Qiu pays close attention to the cultivation of cultural elites of the She ethnic group. She believes that these elites, as the carriers of the living traditional culture of the ethnic group, should shoulder the mission of carrying forward the ethnic culture. While protecting and inheriting the traditional ethnic culture, they should conduct extensive cultural promotion and education, give training to the heirs of the intangible cultural heritage, extend the scope of individuals who accept the living culture, and create a conscious cultural inheritance mechanism in ethnic communities in order to expand the influence of ethnic culture and enhance the culture's self-confidence.
Qiu underlines that ethnic minority regions should choose their own development path based on resource endowment, rather than simply replicating the experience of economically developed regions; they should spare no effort to develop industries that provide local advantages and enhance the region's self-development capabilities. In addition, Qiu poses key questions to readers and believes that targeted theoretical guidance is needed to resolve the social issues, as well as the issues of cultural protection and authenticity, arising from the development of a tourism economy in ethnic minority regions. Moreover, in this era of establishment of a pattern of modern tourism, the question of how ethnic minority regions can strike a balance between the tourism industry and the protection, inheritance, and change of ethnic culture, is worth our attention and careful ongoing consideration.
In addition to offering guidance for the coordinated development and practice of tourism economy and social culture in ethnic minority regions in East China, this book can serve as a reference for ethnic tourist destinations in central and western China. It also offers experience in the cultural protection, change, and practice of non-tourist-destination ethnic minority regions that are in the process of modernization. The author's theoretical approaches will enrich further case studies of ethnic cultural tourism. The book will go some way toward making up for the insufficient research on ethnic cultural tourism and cultural heritage protection in the ethnic minority regions in East China, and toward further developing a disciplinary approach that embraces ethnology, anthropology, and tourism science.
