Although to many Americans, China is occupied by Chinese people and a smattering of expats, in truth there are 56 ethnic groups ranging from the blue-eyed Eluosi to those who are ethnically Thai, Korean, or Tajik. The "hill tribes" of Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries originally came from China and many still live here, albeit with different names. The Hmong of Laos, for example, are even more numerous in China, where they are called Miao. While the Han--who we think of as "Chinese"--do represent more than 90% of the population, the minority groups are a significant element of Chinese life. Many are physically indistinguishable from the Han, while others are fairly obviously different. Many minority women still wear flamboyantly exotic clothing, and not just on special occasions. Each minority group is also known for its own language, cuisine, and holidays. Among many ethnic groups, there are also religious differences.
The first Chinese person who ever discussed a minority group with me was one of my tutors in 1999. He himself was a Han from Hunan, a province with relatively little ethnic diversity. He spoke of Tibetans with the disdain and loathing with which Jesse Helms might regard African-Americans. According to him, the Tibetans were utterly backward and so filthy that they only bathed three times in their lives: when they were born, for their weddings, and when they died. Their environment was so bad that a Han woman wouldn't even be able to carry a pregnancy to full term, and needless to say, no Han would ever marry one of those heathens.
Okay, I said to myself, so we have some really deep prejudice in China. But soon after we came to live in Kunming in 2000, I began to question my perspective. Yunnan is home to 26 ethnic groups, and a full third of the population is not Han. This means that unlike my former tutor, everyone in this province knows some non-Han people and is probably friends with at least a few. In fact, it is often months after we have become friends with people that we learn they belong to an ethnic minority. It really doesn't seem to be a big deal.
Yunnan's residents, including the Han, appear exceptionally proud of their province's ethnic diversity. They seem to think the minorities add color to life and admire their music, dance, and cuisine. Once when I asked ZXY, who though Han herself, grew up in village dominated by Dai and Jingpo people, if her father would have objected to her marrying a minority, she replied, "Of course not! In truth, I always wanted to marry a Dai man because they are so handsome. You know, we Chinese do not treat the minorities the way people in your country treat blacks." I think she told me the truth: my Chinese social sphere is much smaller than my American one, but I know many, many more mixed couples here. However, I must point out: in all the mixed marriages I see, both spouses appear to be and behave like Han, even if their ID cards indicate otherwise. It seems like there is an unspoken agreement--by marrrying out of your ethnic group, you just become run-of-the-mill Chinese.
Ever since that conversation, I've been trying to get a sense of how the Han regard the minorities, and I'm coming to the conclusion that like race relations in all countries, there is not one uniform view. It is fair to say that among the Han there is at least a twinge of resentment about the privileges accorded minorities. For example, to compensate for the relatively poor quality of education many minorities receive, they receive extra bonus points on college entrance examinations. Even more importantly, they are not bound by the one-child policy. In fact, one Uygur student we know has five siblings!
Most Yunnan residents do not view their Tibetan neighbors with scorn. Quite the contrary, Tibet is seen as a highly desirable vacation destination and not a bad government posting because not only does one get hardship pay, but during the three coldest months of winter, one can return to one's native province. "Mysterious" is the word that comes up most to describe the Tibetans. Although no fails to mention Tibetans' very different standards of hygiene (which is saying a lot if you consider that Chinese toilets are generally considered the worst in the world), physically, the Tibetans are regarded as quite attractive. The men, especially, are taller and stronger than Han men, and whenever I see my Tibetan female student outside class, she invariably is surrounded by a bevy of young Han men.
In an attempt to get at this matter more seriously, I decided to find out what my graduate students thought. When it came time to write a comparison, I asked them to compare their own ethnic group with another. When I read the first several, comparing the Han with various other groups, I was struck by the very superficial knowledge my Han students had about other groups. Quite honestly, even I as a foreigner could have described several groups in greater depth. But then I realized how shallow my own understanding of individual Native American cultures is. I would be hard pressed to intelligently distinguish between Iroquois and the Cherokee cultures. Particularly for the students who did not come from provinces with large minority populations, maybe my view was too harsh.
A certain patronizing view of the minorities was not uncommon. One Han student wrote, "In China, some ethnic groups have their own character. For example, the common character is Han character. Others don't have their own character." John and I have sometimes felt that many Han regard some minorities, especially the more robust Tibetans, rather like some white Americans regard African-Americans: although the minorities are great at dancing and sports, and have exciting music, they are not quite as refined, and frankly, you wouldn't choose to be reborn as one.
There is also an unmistakable tendency to eroticize some minorities, particularly the Dai women. One student echoed others when he wrote, "It is well known to us that women of Dai have a pretty appearance: tender skin, gentle and lovely bodies." These beauties are often illustrated topless in souvenir scrolls and postcards, although in our travels through Dai regions, we never once saw a bare-breasted woman and I suspect Public Security would have a lot to say about any woman, Dai or otherwise, who strolled around without a blouse. On the other hand, Dai men are not as highly regarded. According to one of my students, "The Dai man is very lazy. Most men are gambling all day and night. They will do nothing for their home."
I really only received one essay with an openly negative view of a minority, in this case the Hui, the Moslems who look exactly like Chinese Han. "The Han can eat all kinds of food, but the Hui don't eat pork, which brings about many inconveninces when in a party with a few different ethnic groups. The meat they eat is anything but pork. But why? It's said that they regard pig as their ancestor." This is not true: the Hui, like Jews, regard pigs as too filthy to eat. However, at least four students were mistaken about this. My student went on to write, "When someone else mentions pork or anything about pig before them, regardless of deliberately or not, they would be under a cloud or angry, even call names. However, the few of them are gradually assimilated by Han.The Hui have a special personality different from other ethnic groups. We Han all feel it is still difficult to communicate with them even in all ways, so in our daily life, there are always misunderstandings between Hui and Han. In is inevitable. They are more united. It is tight, but it tend to exclude other ethnic groups. They like to gather to make trouble. Commonly, Han are kinder than Hui. This, we have to keep a cautious distance when having intercourse with them in case there occurs trouble."
The Uygurs, the Moslems who don't look any more Chinese than I do, are considered even more prone to conflict. One Han friend mentioned that in Uygar-dominated regions, the Han are reluctant to walk alone at night because they may be attacked by Uygurs who hate all Han. Since the Uygurs do engage in small-scale terrorist activities and make no secret of their desire to separate from China, there is a grain of truth to this perspective. On the other hand, I have quite a few Han students from Xinjiang, the homeland of Uygurs, and all wrote knowingly and enthusiastically about Uygur culture.
In general, I do think race relations in China are more harmonious than in the United States. Some students wrote very detailed accounts about particular minority groups, displaying curiosity, acceptance, and sometimes great admiration. One of my favorite Han students wrote that he loves everything about Tibet and its culture and very much wants to move there when he graduates. Other Han students wrote about visiting the homes of their minority friends. In general, however, it is safe to say that most Han students minimized the differences between ethnic groups and emphasized the need for all groups to cooperatively to build one great China.
My minority students--about 10% of the class-- had rather different perspectives. Few chose to compare their own ethnic group with the Han, generally preferring to compare it to another minority. Unlike my Han students, they did not minimize the differences, but rather emphasized the distinctiveness of their own culture. In all my minority students' essays, pride in their own ethnicity shown through.
A few of my Han students complained that this was a difficult assignment because they knew so little about any minority group, and a couple ignored the assignment and just wrote essays glorifying Han culture. However, I got the distinct sense that my non-Han students welcomed the chance to share information about their culture that went beyond the superficial acknowledgment of their fascinating costumes and lively dancing. I hope their Han classmates will come to know them in deeper ways too.
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