The Imagination and Practice of Social Networks: The Southeastern Yunnan Hmong as Both Cross-border Ethnic Group and Catholics
Resource
國立臺灣大學考古人類學刊, 82, 61-90
Journal
國立臺灣大學考古人類學刊
Journal Issue
82
Pages
61-90
Date Issued
2015-06
Date
2015-06
Author(s)
Wang, N.W.
Abstract
For a long time, references to the Hmong have highlighted the ways in which a people who have moved so far and frequently are able to regroup in a new place. There are few scholars focusing on what happened to the Hmong when they adopted Catholicism, and in turn, how they adapted to the new regulations of Catholicism while their traditional style of belief was changed or forbidden by this new foreign religion. For the Hmong living in Tao Village, the imagination and practice of their social networks have different collective representations due to different historical conditions. A class teaching the Miao writing system class also created a chance for cross-border connections and allowed for new relationships to be imagined among the Hmong people. However, this new possibility was limited and stopped by contradictions in and out of the church, and the collectiveness which inspired the development of Tao village withered away in the process. The dilemma of the church came about for a number of reasons.
Firstly, in the past, the spreading of Christian religion among the Hmong in this area caused some riots which made the neighboring governments keep an eye on these people. Secondly, because the influence of Vang Pao is still a sensitive issue in this area, the mainly Hmong church has to deal with this political condition carefully. Thirdly, the development of the market economy pushed the people to manage for their own social relationships. In other words, the gap between imagination and practice of social networks for the Hmong living in Tao village has not only been manipulated in their subjective consciousness but also influenced by the international geopolitics.
Subjects
社會網絡
跨境民族
地緣政治
轉宗
Hmong(social networks
cross-border ethnic group
geopolitics
conversion
Hmong)
Type
journal article
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