选修七Module 5 Ethnic Culture

Module 5Ethnic CultureSimon Wakefield’s Yunnan DiarySimon Wakefield traveled round Y unnan after leaving university. Below are extracts from the diary that he kept.April 20th 1I’ve been in Yunnan for two months now and I’m still astonished by how va ried the landscape is. Down in the south, in Xishuangbanna, it’s very tropical, but here I am in Lijiang, in north-west Yunnan. Lijiang is half new town and half old town. The old town is on the side of a mountain and oppositeIt is the 5,500metre Y ulong Xueshan Mountain, its peak covered with snow.The sky is clear blue and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything else so beautiful in my life.2Early this morning I walked up to a beautiful park on the slopes ofthe mountain, and sat and watched as the town slowly woke up to the day. Seen from above, the old town is a maze of canals, little bridges and tiny cobbled streets that tourists get lost in. Three rivers run through the city and wherever you go, you hear the sound of rushing water. Cars are not allowed in the old town. As you walk past the ancient wooden and stone houses, you feel you are walking back into the past.April 23rd3This region is where the Naxi ethnic group li ve and I’ve spent several afternoons sitting in a café in the old town square, just watching people. Their culture is fascinating. For example, it is the women who run Naxi society, and until recently, Naxi women inherited all property. They sit in small circles in the square, with their babies on their backs, completely uninterested in the tourists! They have the custom of playing cards on card tables in the middle of the street. The Naxi still wear traditional costume – the women wear blue blouses and trousers covered by a blue or black apron.4This afternoon I was lucky enough to meet a Naxi man from the old town. He was between 80 and 90 years old, but was full of energy. He spoke some English and showed me some translations of Naxi poems. It was fascinating to read them! The Naxi language is the only hieroglyphic language still in use and is over 1,000years old. The Naxi believe that they came from a creature called Tabu, who helped them hatch from magic eggs. This story is shown in pictures in books put together in the 10th century, and there are still a few copies of these ancient books in Lijiang.April 25th 5Lijiang is a city of painters and writers, but Naxi culture is particularly famous for its music. Passed from father to son, the music has not changed for eight centuries, and among the richer Naxi people, knowledge of this music showed that you were a real gentleman. I’ve just returned from a performance of the Naxi Orchestra. It took place inan old wooden hall, and was played by Naxi men, some of whom looked as if they were well over 100years old! They played ancient songs, songs with names such as The water Dragon is singing, Wind from the River and The Sheep on the Hill. Sometimes the instruments sounded like women crying, or trees bending under snow. In the audience there were both tourists and local people. Everyone listened as if someone had put a spell on them.April 29th 6I have only one day left before traveling to Kunming and then flying back home. My stay here has been unforgettable and I really don’t want to leave. I’ve learnt so much about the Naxi culture, and I now understand that although people may seem very different from you, we all laugh, cry, and need love and friendship. However different we may appear to be at first, we are all the same, all equal.The Bai Ethnic GroupThe Bai ethnic group has a population of around two million, 90% of whom live in Yunnan. Their native region is the Erhai region of Y unnan, and its main city is Dali. The Bai have their own dialect, which resembles Chinese; however, Chinese is mostly spoken today. The Bai have an agricultural economy, their main crops being rice, wheat, beans and cotton. Their staple foods are pork, rice and wheat. The Bai have a tradition of building houses as a community, usually beginning on a festival day. The houses are in the style of traditional Chinese architecture. They also build halls known as Y unhe halls,which can hold about 200 people and are used as community centres.The Bai prefer the colour white, and Bai women wear white and red costumes, while the men wear white shirts and long wide trousers. Known as good singers and dancers, the Bai have an opera, which combines both music and dance. Another tradition is the Bai tea ceremony, in which tea is served three times. The most well-known Bai festival is the torch Festival. During this festival, a tree, known as the torch tree, is burnt. Young mothers and their children walk round the tree three times for good luck, while others wish for a happy life for the village. Children then light torches and run through the fields.No Problem“Ouch!” I howled in pain as I dropped the hammer onto my foot. I felt foolish.It was pouring with rain, and, lame for a moment, I hopped around to the driver’s side.“No luck?” said George. We had a flat tyre and I was trying to change the wheel. But it was stuck firm.We had driven ten hours along the road through the jungle without seeing another soul. In the distance was an ox working in a field.“So what do we do now?” asked George, as I got back into the car.About fifteen minutes later, the rain stopped. Out of the jungle came an old woman. She walked towards us carrying something long and thin.“Uh –oh, here comes danger!” said George, “She’s got a spear.”She was wearing traditional garments, with short sleeves, a colourful necklace and other jewellery. As she got closer, we saw the spear was just a wooden pole. I got out.“Hello!” I said, in English. “Can you help us?” I pointed to the wheel.She stared at it, and then made a gesture to follow her back to the jungle. George and I looked at each other, then set off after her.Soon we came to a tent under an arch of trees. It had a rigid framework of wooden poles, like the one the woman was carrying, covered with heavy cloth, and fastened with rope made with some kind of loose plant fibre. All around were corn plants. It was harvest time for the grain, and a spade, a fork and other tools were lying on the ground. Nearby were some chicks and a rooster, and a pig tied to a post.The woman folded back a cloth and invited us in. My eyes had to adjust to the darkness inside. The tent was furnished with a few mats on the floor, and a low table with a teapot. She picked up a photo and showed it to us. Was it her husband? The man in the photo was bare to the waist. He looked much too young. She was probably a widow. Maybe her son or her nephew?Our hostess poured some tea, and watched as we drank.“Say something,” ordered George.“Cheers!” I said and raised my cup. “Can we contact a garage?”Suddenly, there was a tap at the door. It was the man in the photo. The old woman said something, and he looked at us. I felt awkward, so I smiled at him.“No problem,” he said, in English. He pulled out a mobile phone and made a call.“Twenty minutes. No problem. Let’s wait by the car,” he said.As we walked back to the car, the sun pierced the clouds. Over the hills beyond was the most beautiful rainbow.Native Americans and Australian AboriginesAmong the most well-known ethnic minorities of the English-speaking world are the Native Americans of North America, and the Australian Aborigines.It is generally agreed that Native Americans came across from Asia, somewhere between 12,000 and 25,000 years ago. Until the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th century, it is thought that there were between 1.8 million and 10 million Native Americans in North America. The people had thick straight black hair, dark eyes and brown skin. They were a hunting, fishing culture, but as they moved round, many kinds of society developed, speaking many languages. For example, in the west people lived in villages and developed an agricultural economy, whereas in the east, where it was colder, people remained a hunting culture. With the arrival of the Europeans, there were many battles over land, and the Native American population became much smaller, partly because they died form European diseases. Today, Native Americans live in only a few areas of North America. They were made citizens of the US in 1924.The native people of Australia, called Aborigines, probably came from somewhere in Asia more than 40,000 years ago. It is thought that at the time of the arrival of the Europeans in the late 18th century, the population was about 350,000.Like the Native Americans, they were hunters and gatherers, living in small groups across the continent. These groups did not have leaders and the older men of the groupmade their decisions together. When important ceremonies took place, hundreds of people from different groups traveled great distances to attend them. For Aborigines, the land is very important and no part of it can be owned by a particular person.After the arrival of the Europeans, Aboriginal numbers became smaller and smaller, as the Europeans took more and more land. However, in the 1960s, the importance of Aboriginal culture began to be understood. Today, Aborigines make up just over 1.5% of Australia’s population.。