Analysis about the Civil Self Sphere’s Functions of Naxi in the Social Management and Social Change of Modern Lijiang
Since the end of Qing dynasty, the civil self sphere of Naxi has played an active role in social management. The development and extension of the self sphere is a supplement of official power and help to construct orders in social management; moreover, as a response to the social change, under the circumstance of disorder and threats from the abroad which China confronted, the nongovernmental power among the Naxi society actively supported and participated in the nation liberal movements and contributed to the government change between the old one and the new one. Naxi is a symbol of the minority societies in the southwest China. Through the analysis about the self sphere’s functions of Naxi in the social managemen of modern Lijiang, this paper tries to understand the modern civil societies of ethnic minorities in the front region of China.
The management of the official self sphere is mainly about the management of the king and the officials. The social management of the civil self sphere is mainly about the carry-out of the collective entertainment activities in the villages(e.g. Boat Race, Dragon Dance, temple fair, etc.), the construction of the public infrastructure(e.g. the building of the road and the bridge, the development of the free education or the village school, etc.), the development of the family organizations, societies and rural pacts, and so on. The conventions reflected in the festivals, life rituals, weddings and funerals, and commercial activities were also one of the basic aspect of the civil self sphere. The rituals made the
Rural collective entertainment activities and the construction of the public infrastructure possible and made the rural social management come into true. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the civil self sphere in China became more and more vital, played the role of self-government and penetrated into some parts of the common sphere. Even the convergence between the two spheres and the cohabitation between the government and the society appeared.
First, the “self sphere” and the “common sphere” in traditional social management.
In the Chinese traditional social management, there were some management areas called the “common sphere” that both the government and the society could played roles together, such as taxation, agricultural infrastructure, education and so on; at the same time, there were also areas called the “ self sphere” that the government and the society played their roles respectively, including the official “self sphere” and the civil “self sphere”. The official self sphere includes the norms about the palace activities and the contacts between the officials. These norms are well-known as called “Li”.
Second, the active role of the civil “self sphere” of Naxi in the social management of modern Lijiang. The roles of the civil “self sphere” in social management during this period are followed:
1.The civil laws reflected in the festivals, life rituals, weddings and funerals, and commercial activities are conventions;
2.The development of the family organization, the guild organizations and cultural societies among the civil “self sphere” can play a supportive role in the government management;
3.The prosperity of the free education is one of the most important aspects of the development of the civil “self sphere”;
4.The active role of the Conghui（賩会）is also a reflection that the self-organization power of the society is strengthened.
Third, the nongovernmental power among the Naxi society actively supported and participated in the social change and contributed to the government change between the old one and the new one.
1. The civil power spreaded new ideas through the creation of newspapers and the posters;
2. The local progress people and patriotic intellectuals encouraged the people’s passion to defend the Japanese invasion through the societies, book-reading clubs, speeches, artist performance in schools;
3. With the various progressive societies rose and the power to reform the society became stronger, a lot of “red” intellectuals and merchants appeared.
Upon the analysis above, we could come to the following concultions: firstly, at the end of the Qing dynasty, the civil self sphere has been fostered in the ehnic minorities’ societies of Yunnan and the Naxi society of Lijiang was in the middle stage among them. Secondly, both self sphere and common sphere did play their roles in the traditional social management. But the boundary between the two spheres was flexible. When the official power was not sufficient or weakened, the civil power would penetrate into the common sphere. When the self sphere became a supplement of the common sphere, it seemed that the self sphere extended its own scope by itself.
Thirdly, the conflict and the coordination between the civil self sphere and the common sphere existed. When the government supported or acquiesced the natural extension of the self sphere, it’s possible that the coordination and cohabitation between them would appear. If the civil power helped the government to govern, and even it converged with the government, the grassroots social management would be in order; if the civil power was suppressed seriously and the civil interests were ignored or eroded by the government, the grassroots social order would be broke and the crisis would appeared from the bottom of the society. When we manage the contemporary society, we should actively guide and use the power of the civil self sphere to participate the management of the local affairs belong to the common sphere and realize the coordination and cohabitation between them.
Share on Facebook
