New Interpretations of the Cultural Heritage Value of Kangding Guozhuang from A Comprehensive Perspective

Xia+Yirong

JOURNAL OF ETHNOLOGY， VOL. 8， NO.1， 89-93， 2017 （CN51-1731/C， in Chinese）

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2017.01.11 Abstract：The understanding of the traditional research of Kangding Guozhuo mainly covers four aspects： 1） It is widely believed in the academic world that the Guozhuang （meaning singing and dancing in a circle） of Kangding was a unique product which combined politics， economics and culture together. 2） It was a specific business form based on the family unit， fulfilling multiple functions such as an inn， a shed， a commodity intermediary， an administrative office，a commodity transformation point， and a banking establishment. And it was also a place for cultural exchange between the Tibetans and the Han . 3）The formation of Guozhuang culture establishes a new element in the culture of the Tibetan-Yi corridor. 4） Zheng Shaoxiong mentions that the Guozhuangzhu （the Guozhuang host） had played an intermediary role in assisting the Tibetan businessmen to sell or purchase goods - this helped to maintain the trade relations between the Han and Tibetans （or their communication） . This kind of ingenious institutional arrangement was a historical practice in keeping the balance of the relationship between different cultural communities， such as the Qing court， Tusi（native officials） and the Guozhuang host of Kangding. It reflects the wisdom in ethnic interactions， and can be borrowed in present ethnic regional autonomous system.

The above mentioned understanding is a result of study from the perspective of history， ethnology or economics. Although Zheng Shaoxiongs research was born from the old mindset， and proposed the new value of Guozhuang cultural mechanism， there is still a lack of research on this culture from such comprehensive perspectives as urban history， cultural anthropology， and economic anthropology. Thus it cannot fully reveal the feature and value of Kangding Guozhuang， a complex cultural phenomenon.

Based on existing data， past research，and fieldwork on the oral history of Kangding Guozhuang conducted in August 2013， this article gives some new interpretations to the features of Guozhuang culture from an interdisciplinary perspective as follows：

1）The forever “48 Guozhuang” are a Kangding urban memory， which displays the common cultural psychology of regarding Kangding as an important trade city of the Han and Tibetans； and Guozhuang carries a folk cultural memory of more than 200 years. After the gaitu guiliu policy （replacement of native officials with centrally appointed officials） in the late Qing period， the number of newly appeared Guozhuang even reached 60 to 70. “Although each of them had its own courtyard， and people also called them Guozhuang， they were still quite different from the 48 Guozhuang in the minds of the Kangding people”. This not only indicates that the 48 Guozhuang within the orthodox system were deeply rooted in the hearts of the local people， but also reflects that Guozhuang were regarded as the most proper carrier for the communication between the Han and Tibetan during the late Qing period， otherwise so many Guozhuang courtyards would not have appeared in history.

2） From the name to its architectural form， or function， a Guozhuang was influenced by the Han culture， however， it still had strong Tibetan characteristics. Actually it could be regarded as a miniature of local culture of Kangding. Every Guozhuang had its own Tibetan name and Chinese name. The architectural style of the Guozhuang was actually different from traditional multiple-level blockhouse. There was always a courrtyard， and it was larger than that of Han. The vast courtyard was not only a space for the Tibetan businessman to cook food and boil tea， but also a space for organizing their entertainment activities， such as singing and dancing in a circle. You Tai， a minister of the Qing dynasty in Tibetan areas， recorded a grand dancing party organized by the local Tusi to welcome his arrival， which reflected the significant position of the Guozhuang in cultural activities. The upper-class of the Kham area， including Tusi and the Guozhuang host， tried to build a close relationship with both Tibetan and Han in all means， including the title， kinship relation or customs， and successfully built up a central zone on which both sides can be understood. It was just due to the special geographical location and cultural tradition that made the reconstruction of a cross cultural buffer zone possible.

3） The managers of the Guozhuang were mainly the hostesses （Ajia Kaba in Tibetan language）， and this also reflected a kind of feminism in Kham culture. The tradition of the Dong nv guo （East Kingdom of Women） enabled the women to run their business in and out of the family. When the tea trade started， the Guozhuang host had to spend much of their energy on providing service to the Tusi， so the Guozhuang hostess took the responsibility of managing the business of the Guozhuang. Ajia normally controlled the initiative of negotiation in the Han-Tibetan trade， and they played the role of interpreters in the negotiation. There were many live-in son-in-laws in the family of the Guozhuang and this kind of marriage was even more popular in the period from the late Qing dynasty to the Republican era.

If we conduct an analysis of the value of Kangding Guozhuang from multiple dimensions， we would notice that the existence of the non-market interpersonal model in this institution， on some certain degree， had solved the problem of the lack of social cohesion resulting from marketization. From this angle， the value of Guozhuang culture in the improvement of the economic institutions of the market cannot be ignored.

This fieldwork also reflects the significant and comprehensive influence of the Guozhuang cultural heritage of Kangding. When viewed from this angle， its value is incredible. According to the data collected from the fieldwork， all the people， including officials， scholars， businessman and ordinary people， are aware that the Guozhuang is a cultural heritage which has a high and comprehensive value. If the relevant government bodies could include it into the scope of heritage protection， and build it into a cultural space of intangible cultural heritage， it will have a much higher heritage value， and play an important role both in the economic development and construction of harmonious ethnic relationships.

The Kangding Guozhuang also played a role in the deconstruction of the Han-Tibetan social structure - this kind of value can not only be introduced to the present world and influence the future world， but also can be seen as a hub which connects the “ancient” and “modern” Han-Tibetan relations. Traditionally， there was a structural rule in the communications between the Han and Tibetan， namely that “the Han and Tibetans are somewhat separated from each other ”， however， the Guozhuang model in Kangding deconstructed this Han-Tibetan rule. This was closely related to elements such as social composition， ways of life， marriage， family， kinship， and religious customs. The disappearance of Guozhuang also has its own causes， for instance， the absence of inheritors and failure in operation of this system. However， this article proposes that it is mainly influenced by the social reforms in the historical process. Hence， that is the reason why modern enterprises which retain certain connotations of the Guozhuang could re-appear in the Kang area. In the survey， we notice that some enterprises have already made efforts in this regard. In summary， Kangding Guozhuang had creatively formed a security institution with a more humanized nature， and played an important role in the alleviation of social tensions in ethnic areas. Contemporary society， composed as it is of people with multi-ethnic backgrounds， still needs this kind of “deconstruction”.

Key Words：Kangding； Guozhuang； cultural heritage；new value

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