Why Periodic Markets Are Held: Considering Products,
People, and Place in the Yunnan-Vietnam Border Area
Nishitani Masaru* and Nathan Badenoch**This paper probes the mechanism of present-day periodic markets and how they
operate through a detailed case study of periodic markets frequented by different
ethnic groups in Jinping county, Yunnan, China. It sets out to identify the defining
characteristics of periodic markets and considers the question of why they arise andwhy they continue to survive today. Past research has demonstrated that a key
feature of periodic markets in traditional China was their accessibility and the freedom that they afforded local residents in buying and selling commodities. Fieldwork
confirms that six-day-cycle markets, based on the 12-day Chinese zodiac, in Jinping
county do give producers of all ethnicities the freedom to sell their produce, but also
points out that the market environment encourages the spontaneous specializationof production skills and provides an important place for social interaction and expression of the local cultures.
Keywords: periodic markets, marketplaces, Yunnan, ethnic diversity

I Introduction
Analysis of the nature, function, and role of marketplaces has a long history within thesocial sciences, and it is widely believed that human society’s inclination to exchange is
one of its defining characteristics. Contextualizing marketplaces within the history of aregion is critical for understanding the local society. In mainland Southeast Asia, an area
where markets and trade networks have always been vibrant, creative, and dynamic,
there is a renewed interest in how people interact in marketplaces as the region continues
its rapid economic development. Recent transformation of national economies towards
more liberal models of market-driven growth, along with the integration of economies to* 西谷 大, National Museum of Japanese History, Inter-University Research Institute Corporation, National Institutes for the Humanities, 117 Jonai-cho, Sakura City, Chiba 285-8502,
Japan
Corresponding author’s e-mail: nishitani@rekihaku.ac.jp** Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University
Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, April 2013, pp. 171–192© Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University

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form a dynamic regional market that includes southern China, brings the focus back toquestions of how local people conduct trade. In the contemporary setting, while liberalized markets and freer trade have meant new opportunities for many people, these opportunities are accompanied by significant risks—many of which involve the interface
between producers and consumers. While this interface may be undergoing rapid transitions—with increases in access to information and technology, and improving infrastructure—for much of the population living in rural areas the primary access route to larger
markets often takes the form of a periodic marketplace.
The influence of Chinese markets and traders on the economic life of people inSoutheast Asia has taken on “new” meanings in recent years, as borders are opened andregulations gradually relaxed after a long period of tension. But the economic influenceof China is hardly a new phenomenon, and contemporary markets and marketplaces must
be understood within their historical context. Japanese scholars began to conduct
research on markets in China during the pre-World War II period. Studies by the economic historian of China Kato Shigeshi emphasized the role of periodic markets as a key
focal point for economic activities, while the historian of Chinese agriculture Amano
Motonosuke and another historian of China Masui Tsuneo also closely examined the roleof markets in local society (Kato 1936; Amano 1940; Masui 1941). These studies all
assumed that markets played an important role in the maintenance of everyday life of
local communities in traditional China. They showed that market spheres had centersthat varied considerably in size, from small day-worker markets encompassing just a few
villages through to major livestock markets that serviced an entire county. Moreover,these markets intersected and overlapped at various levels. They also pointed out that
periodic markets in China provided a highly open and accessible venue for local people
to buy and sell goods, operating autonomously without interference from government
authorities or specific interest groups.
G. William Skinner, in his study of markets in Sichuan province, expanded on the
research of pre-war Japanese scholars. He found markets to be both hierarchically andspatially distributed according to size, and argued that life in Chinese villages was determined by the coverage of the market sphere (1979). Recently, Kuroda Akinobu, aneconomic historian of Asia, has refuted Skinner’s theory (2003). Focusing on the role ofmarkets in the collection and distribution of goods, Kuroda argues that markets are justone of many different nodes or junctions in the distribution chain, and says that “market
spheres” do not exist as economic spaces. He regards markets in traditional China as
freely created by individual proprietors as a means of engaging in free and unhindered
trade without intervention from the state or regulation by closed groups, in contrast to
the model of centralized administration. His idea is very close to that of the pre-war

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Japanese scholars.
Western anthropologists have seen marketplaces as a window on the intersectionof the economic and social spheres for local people (Michaud and Turner 2000). Central
to this overlapping of spheres is the idea of exchange, and in the Southeast Asian context,
marketplaces are where people from different communities come together to meet, communicate, and trade. Long-standing traditions of interaction and exchange between upland
and lowland people are a strong argument against positing rigid social structures thatconceive of upland areas as isolated and monolithic.1) As will be discussed below,
exchange occurs along two important axes—uplander-uplander and uplander-lowlander.
Thus, we can conceptualize concurrent forces driving the confirmation of an uplandsphere of socio-economic interactions and the linking of these interactions with lowland
spheres. As such it is useful to recall again that the “exchange” is often more than astraightforward trade of goods and services for cash.
This paper probes the mechanisms of present-day periodic markets and how they
operate, through a case study of periodic markets operating in Jinping county, Yunnan,
China. In order to elucidate the issue of why periodic markets arise, this paper sets out
to identify the defining characteristics of periodic markets and considers the question of
why they continue to survive today. There is an assumption implicit in much of the
discussion surrounding rural markets that they are constantly moving towards greater
integration with larger urban markets—in other words that they are a vehicle for modernization. This is driven largely by a historical perspective that attributes the consolidation of political power and the subsequent emergence of nation states in Southeast Asia
to the expansion of trade networks. There is a counter-argument asserting that local, ortraditional trading systems may show surprising resilience in face of it all, demonstrating
their relative autonomy (Evers 1988). In fact, Sarah Turner (2010) has described how
cross-border traders on the Sino-Vietnamese border continue to avoid the view of thestate, asserting their agency locally just as state-centered socio-economic development
proceeds all around them. Moreover, the relationship between social diversity and therole of local markets remains a gap in the literature (Pottie-Sherman 2011). This paper
is an attempt to step back from this macro-scale analysis to consider the workings oftemporary markets in an ethnically diverse mountainous area surrounded by rapid socioeconomic change, and consider how and why these marketplaces continue to thrive as
they do.

1) See, for example, the special issue of the Journal of Global History (2010) responding to James Scott’s
discussion of Zomia.

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II Markets in the Ethno-history of Jinping County
Ethnic Diversity
The Jinping Miao, Yao, and Dai Autonomous County (hereafter referred to as Jinping) of
the Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture (hereafter referred to as Honghe) is
located close to the border with Vietnam, about 250 kilometers south of the Yunnan
provincial capital city of Kunming (Fig. 1). It covers an area of 3,686 square kilometers,of which 99.78 percent is occupied by mountains. Towns and villages are strung along
the scant flat land available in the river valleys and also located on the mountain ridges
where the slopes are not too steep. The county is home to eight ethnic groups (Dai,Hani, Yao, Kucong, Alu, Miao, Zhuang, and Han) and two other groups known as theHabei and the Man, whose ethnic affiliation has not been established yet.

Fig. 1 Survey Region

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The lowland Dai live at altitudes ranging from 300 to 500 meters above sea level.
Traditionally they have been involved primarily in rice farming, building paddies on flat
land in the river valleys, where they cultivate two crops per year. More recently, theDai have begun specializing in cash crops such as bananas and Para rubber. The Miao,
Hani, Alu, Yao, and Kucong, meanwhile, are upland peoples who live at altitudes of
800 to 1,300 meters, on sloping land and along the mountain ridges. In the past they
have grown rice on terraced rice paddies, but in recent years they have started tocultivate other crops, such as cassava, maize, vegetables, and lemon grass, on theslopes. Traditional slash-and-burn farming as well as hunting and gathering practices
are now prohibited by the government. Thus, Jinping represents an area where a multitude of ethnic groups reside in a complex topography of river valleys surrounded by
mountains.
Markets as a Form of Inter-ethnic Negotiation
The form and role of markets in the history of rural China has received significant attention in the literature. Periodic markets are said to have been the predominant form ofmarkets, so it is not surprising that the determination of market days has been a prime
issue of interest. In this paper we are interested in the question of how periodic markets
are managed in an area of high cultural diversity, where there are several vernacularcalendars employed in different areas.
There are Chinese language references to periodic markets in Yunnan from theYuan dynasty, and these increased in detail in the Ming dynasty. For example, a record
from the fifteenth century notes that periodic markets were held on days containing thenumber seven in Puning, east of Lake Dian. This same reference also mentions markets
being held at 3-, 5- and 10-day intervals, as well as areas that set market days according
to the 12-day Chinese zodiac. Thus, by the Ming period there were at least three common patterns for establishing market days. It is difficult to establish exactly when periodic
markets were first held in the current study area, but according to the Jinping Xianzhi(Jinping County Gazetteer), by the end of the Qing period, markets were held in nine
places, including Mengla, Zhemi, and Dingqing, at a six-day interval according to theChinese zodiac. A report from 1934 (Yunnansheng Jinping Maiozu Yaozu Daizu Zizhixian
Bianzuan Weiyuanhui 1994) mentions there were still no fixed markets, and that local
periodic markets were small, not usually exceeding 200–300 people. Bartering was themain mode of exchange in these markets. Lüchun county, which borders on Jinping, hasalso typically used the Chinese zodiac to determine market days.
The predominance of the Chinese zodiac to fix the date for periodic markets in the
study area is noteworthy. The ethnic diversity of Yunnan means that as a rule several

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different calendars have been in operation across the mountainous areas. For example,
the Dai calendar divides a year into 12 months of 30 and 29 days, including a month inwhich extra days are added to adjust to their 354-day year. The Yi have a 360-day year,
which they divide into 18 months, each of 20 days, while the 360-day Hani year is divided
into 12 months. In an area like this, the use of the Chinese zodiac, which is not related
to the reckoning of monthly cycles, allows the groups to operate on their own calendar
while maintaining a common system for determining market dates. Because of theimportance of these markets, it is essential that a shared reckoning be possible acrossthe many cultures present in the region. It could be argued that without this system,
periodic markets in this area of difficult transport and communications would not havebeen possible.
After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the fate of markets has
been heavily influenced by the political currents of the times. In Jinping there were
14 markets in 1952, but the number increased to 19 in 1956 with the policy on freemarkets in liberated areas (Yunnansheng Yuanyang Xianzhi Bianzuan Weiyuanhui 1988).
However, in 1958, the Great Leap Forward stimulated the formation of cooperatives andfree markets were abolished. In the early 1960s, with the national economy on the brinkof collapse, the prohibition on free markets was reversed and 19 markets reappearedin Jinping. However, the Cultural Revolution years (1966–76) saw yet another swing
away from free markets, with a standard “Sunday market” being imposed. Finally, inthe 1980s, with the relaxation of policy controls on agricultural production, six-day rotation markets were restored and the flow of goods in the mountainous areas improved
greatly.
Use of the Chinese zodiac to determine market days has been a key factor allowing diverse ethnic groups to establish and maintain the periodic markets. This systemof reckoning has proven remarkably resilient in the years after 1949, when policychanged frequently and often severely limited farmers’ ability to engage in free transactions.

III Structure of Periodic Markets
Market Days and Their Locations
Lowland and upland peoples meet at periodic markets which are held every six days at
towns along the main highway passing through Jinping county. At these markets, upland
farmers buy and sell among themselves, in addition to engaging in transactions withlowland traders. The data used in this paper was collected from fieldwork conducted atWhy Periodic Markets Are Held177

Fig. 2 Market Days in Jinping Prefecture

these markets between 2003 and 2006.2)
Eighteen markets lie on the road from Dukou to Zhemi and the surrounding areas
within Jinping county. Dukou holds a market every Sunday, while markets in other towns
are held once every six days. Market days are fixed according to the 12 animals of theChinese zodiac instead of the solar calendar. Here markets are held every six days on
the day of the Rat and the day of the Horse. Markets based on the 12-animal system are
known to have been held in neighboring Lüchun and Yuanyang counties during the late
Qing period. Use of the Chinese zodiac is common among many upland groups in thisregion. It is interesting to note that periodic markets where non-timber forest products
are traded in the upland areas of Laos are held according to a 10-day calendar used by the
Khmu (Yokoyama 2010).
Starting at Jinping on Day 1, the markets are held along the main highway in thefollowing sequence: Nafa on Day 2, Mengla on Day 3, Padaobang and Tongchang on Day
4 (as both are very small markets, the merchants split up on this day), Sanjiadao on Day
5, and Adebo on Day 6 (Fig. 2). Adebo and Mengla lie about 30 kilometers apart in a2) Field surveys of the periodic markets in Jinping county were conducted with support from a Grantin-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Basic B15401037,
FY2003–FY2006, “Ethno-science in Reality and Sustainability of Environmental Usage: Slash-andBurn Farming Practices in Modern China,” head Shinohara Toru). Seven studies were conducted:
March 11– 19, 2003; August 25–September 12, 2003; November 5–December 25, 2003; May 18–June15, 2004; November 15–22, 2004; July 11–September 15, 2005; and January 23–February 24, 2006.

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straight line, and market days are arranged to ensure that they do not open on the sameday. This set has been named the Jinping market group.
Another market group, the Zhemi group, starts at Dingqing on Day 1 and moves insequence to Pinghe, Mengla, Sankeshu, Zhemi, and finally Mahuangtang. Zhemi andMengla are about 40 kilometers apart. The days of the markets held at the towns in
between, namely Dingqing, Sankeshu, Mahuangtang, and Pinghe are organized so thatthey do not clash. The market at Mengla is also included in the Jinping market group,and the Pinghe market is located in Lüchun county, west of Jinping county. Thus it isclear that this market system is not confined to administrative boundaries. There aremarkets along the road going southwest of Pinghe, at Apu, Xingsai, and Banpo. The Apu
and Banpo markets are held every 12 days rather than every 6 days. The market at
Qiaocaiping is currently not operating, although it is part of the Zhemi group.
Villagers access the markets by two methods. The first is by walking. The Alu
people from villages north of Zhemi, for instance, carry their vegetables on foot along themountain roads, a journey of three to four hours each way, within a radius of about eight
kilometers around Zhemi. The second method is to get rides on vehicles traveling along
the road. Vehicle transportation allows people from villages located up to about 20 kilometers either side (east and west) of Zhemi to attend the market, thus extending therange of access. There are many Kucong villages scattered on the mountains south ofZhemi, and those within eight kilometers of Zhemi travel to the market there. Therefore
the Zhemi market serves as a focal point that draws local people from all directions, either
down the mountain roads, or along the main highway, but most villagers travel to themarket on foot.
Next, let us consider the distance between towns that have markets. The second
market in the Zhemi group is at Pinghe, which is 17 kilometers from Zhemi. Dingqingis 8.5 kilometers from Zhemi and 10 kilometers from Sankeshu. Sankeshu is 7.5 kilometers from Mahuangtang, which in turn lies 15 kilometers from Mengla. The average
distance between towns that have markets is 10.5 kilometers. If we draw circles with aradius of eight kilometers on a map that shows Zhemi, Dingqing, and Sankeshu, we see
from the overlap of the circles that virtually all of the villages in the Zhemi valley fallwithin at least one of the circles. Thus, markets in the six-day cycle are spaced at relatively fixed intervals along the main highway and are positioned within walking distanceof all the surrounding villages.
Outdoor Stalls versus Permanent Structures
Outdoor stalls at the markets can be classified into three patterns. The first patternoccurs at Zhemi and Mahuangtang. At Zhemi, the stalls are clustered into groups, start-

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ing with livestock stalls near the intersection with the main highway, then fruit andvegetable, and meat and fish stalls on the side street, miscellaneous goods for a 200-meter
stretch along the major thoroughfare, and clothing along another 100 meters on the major
thoroughfare (Fig. 3). Likewise at Mahuangtang, the stalls are grouped with fruit andvegetables first (near the main highway), followed by meat and fish, miscellaneous goods,
foodstuffs, and clothing on the side street. In this pattern, food stalls dealing in products
such as meat and fish, and fruit and vegetables are concentrated in the area near the mainhighway.
The second pattern can be observed at Dingqing and Pinghe. At Dingqing, meat andfish stalls are clustered near the main highway, with miscellaneous goods coming next,
followed by fruit and vegetables (Fig. 4). The Pinghe market has two sections: parallelto the main highway there is the eastern market road with fruit and livestock and thewestern market road with food and miscellaneous goods. Further north there is an open
area which has cooked food and clothing stalls on the western side and pork stalls at the
far western end. In this pattern, meat and fish stalls are separated from those vending
fruit and vegetables.
The third pattern is found at Sankeshu, where the market begins with miscellaneous
goods and clothing near the main highway, followed by fruit and vegetables, then meatand fish (Fig. 5). Here, stalls vending meat and fish, and fruit and vegetables, rather thanbeing closest to the market entrance, are situated the furthest away.
With the exception of the third pattern, it can be seen that food stalls, particularly
meat and fish, and fruit and vegetables, are generally concentrated at the entrance of themarket near the main highway, where the largest number of people congregate. Regardless of some minor variations, we can say that the grouping of stalls according to commodity categories is a feature common to all periodic markets.
Next, let us examine the correlation between attendance at a market and the number
and type of outdoor stalls and permanent shops. Zhemi has the largest number of outdoor
stalls at 293, followed by Pinghe (228), Sankeshu (146), Mahuangtang (94), and Dingqing(93). Zhemi also has the highest attendance at peak periods (around 1,200 people), followed by Sankeshu (587), Mahuangtang (386), and Dingqing (194). These figures equate
to 4.1 visitors per stall at Zhemi, 4.0 at Sankeshu, 4.1 at Mahuangtang, and 2.1 at Dingqing.
Apart from Dingqing, the data indicates an average of around four visitors per stall at
peak times, suggesting a strong correlation between the overall attendance and thenumber of stalls.
Zhemi once again has the greatest number of permanent shops (80), followed by
Dingqing and Mahuangtang (10 each), and Sankeshu (7). Permanent eating establishments are present at every market. Zhemi has many more permanent shops than other180

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Fig. 3 Periodic Market at Zhemi

Why Periodic Markets Are Held

Fig. 4 Periodic Market at Dingqing

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Fig. 5 Periodic Market at Sankeshu

towns with markets. Many of these are run by brokers who deal in valuable cash crops
such as black cardamom ((Amomum tsao-ko Crevost ett Lem.), cotton, cassava, and lemon
grass. Mahuangtang has only one broker who buys cassava, while Sankeshu and Dingqing
have none. Thus, Zhemi is more heavily involved than other markets in purchasing cash
crops.
Outdoor stalls can be broadly classified into two groups: specialty stalls that tradein commodities of a particular category or provide specific services, and general stalls.
Specialty stalls can be further divided into five categories: daily goods, foodstuffs, leisureitems, clothing, and services. All the markets have specialty and general stalls that sell
clothing, fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, cooking ingredients such as bean curd,
tobacco, liquor, and leisure items (music tapes, CDs, and VCDs). Stalls vending foodstuffs
account for nearly half of the total (45–50 percent), which indicates the importance ofWhy Periodic Markets Are Held183

food as a commodity, regardless of the size or type of market.
Many of the markets do not provide a full range of commodities and services. The
types of permanent shops and outdoor stalls at a market will vary depending on thenumber of people who assemble. The market at Zhemi is both the largest in size and themost comprehensive in terms of the range of commodities and services on offer. A ratioof around four customers per outdoor stall at peak times is thought to be the result ofvendors adjusting the number of outdoor stalls to match customer numbers, which as
noted earlier, are inherently limited at each market.
Regulation of periodic markets is done by the commerce office of the local government. Tax is levied according to the space used by vendors—floor-space vendors pay
RMB 2 per day, collected on each market day; table vendors and suspended shelf vendors
pay RMB 30 quarterly in addition to RMB 3 per day at the market. The fees coversanitation and security.
Periodic Markets as Seen from Types of Vegetables Vended
In order to ascertain the market characteristics from the types of vegetables sold at
different times, let us consider the vegetables on offer at the market in Zhemi during therainy season (May and June) and the dry season (October and November). Fieldwork
conducted during the rainy season revealed that 38 different types of vegetables werevended at markets in Zhemi. In order of importance, they were Chinese leeks, followedby chillies, kidney beans, onions, eggplants, potatoes, and cucumbers. Vendors at Sankeshu
offered 20 types of vegetables during the rainy season. Here the most common vegetables were cucumbers, followed by chillies, kidney beans, various leafy greens, pumpkins,
eggplants, potatoes, and Chinese cabbage. The Dingqing market had 27 types of vegetable in the rainy season, with Chinese leeks being most popular.
Vegetables vended at Pinghe during the dry season were chillies, followed by various leafy greens, bean sprouts, ginger, dokudami ((Houttuynia cordata Thunb.), onions,
Chinese leeks, and buckwheat leaves, in order of popularity. Mahuangtang offered 27
types of vegetables during the dry season, with Chinese cabbage topping the list. Vendors
at Zhemi sold 51 different types of vegetables during the dry season.
Next, we shall consider the relationship between buyers and sellers of vegetables.
As mentioned above, Zhemi is home to at least eight different ethnic groups, who are
distributed unevenly throughout the valley. Hani are numerous around Pinghe in L
Lüchuncounty to the west, while Kucong mostly live around Zhemi and Dingqing in the mountains to the south. Many Alu and Hani people dwell in the mountains to the north. Miao
are concentrated in the nearby mountains which stretch from Sankeshu to Mengla, while
Dai and Zhuang live on the Pinghe plains.

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The overwhelming majority of the vegetable stalls at Pinghe is run by Hani (83percent), with Han (16 percent) featuring as the only other significant ethnic group. At
the Zhemi market on November 15, 2003, Dai ran nearly all of the fruit stalls (94 percent),
while Alu (71 percent) dominated the vegetable stalls, with Dai (24 percent), Yao (3percent), and Han (2 percent) following far behind. At the Zhemi market a year later onJune 6, 2004, Dai vendors ran all the fruit stalls, while vegetable vending was shared by
Alu (54 percent), Dai (35 percent), and Kucong (11 percent). While the numbers for Alu
and Dai vendors were similar to those observed the previous November, it was interesting to note the appearance of Kucong vendors as they had been absent the year before.
Hani (43 percent of the stalls) were the most common vendors at the Dingqing
market, followed by Dai (13 percent), Alu (7 percent), and Yao (6 percent). Miao vendors(82 percent) dominated vegetable stalls at Sankeshu, with Hani and Miao together
accounting for a mere 6 percent.
This data indicates that the ethnic breakdown of stall operators in each market
reflects the ethnic composition of the local area, and that markets provide villagers with
opportunities not only to purchase their daily necessities, but also to sell produce suchas vegetables.
Let us examine the commercial behavior of villagers who visit the markets to sell
their vegetables. For the purpose of analysis, we shall look at attendance numbers at theZhemi market and the commercial behavior of Alu at that market. An hourly analysis of
crowd figures indicates that people start arriving at the market from around eight o’clockin the morning. Visitor numbers grow steadily and peak at 11 o’clock, declining thereafter until about 2 o’clock, when the market essentially finishes.
About one-third of the stalls at the Dingqing, Sankeshu, Mahuangtang, and Pinghe
markets sell fruit and vegetables. The vendors are generally from ethnic groups livingin the surrounding areas. The trading pattern is similar to that observed at Zhemi: vendors sell fruit and vegetables for income, which they then use to purchase daily necessities before returning home in the afternoon. In this way, the market functions as a site
for conducting small trade which enables local ethnic peoples to convert their produce
into cash. Furthermore, periodic markets are differentiated by the types of vegetables
and other commodities vended.

IV Key Requirements of a Periodic Market
Conversion of Produce into Cash for the Purchase of Daily Necessities
The primary role of periodic markets is to provide villagers from the surrounding areas

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with an opportunity to sell their vegetables and other produce in order to obtain cash forthe purchase of basic daily necessities. The markets represent an important and reliable venue for trading by local villagers, and this fact allows us to conclude that the mostimportant role of the periodic market is as a place to generate cash for the purchase ofdaily necessities. This characteristic has been pointed out in the aforementioned pre-war
Japanese studies of Chinese markets, and also constitutes a universal truth that applies
to periodic markets all over the world.3) Villagers seek to gain profit at periodic markets
by offering different agricultural produce; to this end, they constantly have to devise
livelihood strategies different from those of other producers.
Location within Walking DistanceMarkets in the six-day cycle are spaced at regular intervals along the main highway, anarrangement which is designed to compensate for the lack of transportation in the Zhemi
valley. Due to the complex topography of river valleys surrounded by mountains, markets
must be located within eight kilometers of villages, a distance of three to four hours ofwalking one way, which allows villagers to return home on the same day. As noted
earlier, virtually all of the villages in the Zhemi valley fall within at least one of the overlapping circles with an eight-kilometer radius drawn around the periodic markets at
Zhemi, Dingqing, and Sankeshu. Therefore, we may say that the second key requirementof a market is location within walking distance.

3) Based on studies of markets in Shandong and Henan provinces during the 1930s, Amano Motonosuke
claims that “farmers lived and worked within a radius of approximately six kilometers centeredaround markets. Their limited scale of production and/or consumption is too small to warrant
moving out of this economic sphere to deal directly with larger trading centers. Given their size,
it is not worth the time or cost involved in transporting any surplus produce out of the region. They
can manage little more than to take their goods to markets within walking distance and sell theirproduce there in exchange for the goods they need” (1953).
B. Malinowski and J. de la Fuente describe the market in functional terms as a place where “manypeople can bring their produce on a weekly basis and sell it to obtain income. For producers, themarket represents their best source of purchasing power and a place to obtain profit. The market
is like a bank that is always nearby and always accessible” (1987).
Ishihara Hiroshi has studied markets in the context of world history. He claims that “vendors at
regular markets are mainly dedicated small-scale farmers and vendors doubling as traders, as wellas craftsmen, based on reports from around the world. Purchasers, based on examples from aroundthe world, are mostly small-scale farmers, with the exception of traders who bring in goods from otherregions. A significant proportion of purchasers come to markets both for selling and purchasing”(1987).
The first requirement of the market—converting produce to cash for purchasing daily necessities—can be seen as a universal principle that applies to regular markets around the world, not just to
those in Jinping county and traditional China.

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Traveling Traders and the Market Network
Access to multiple markets is extremely important for traders who exclusively run outdoor stalls. Of the 321 categories of commodities sold at the periodic market at Zhemi,
43 categories (including vegetables, pork, and fish) were produced and consumed within
the Zhemi valley. Most of the vegetables vended at the Zhemi market on November 15,
2004, were grown by Alu people on their own land. The remaining 278 categories of commodities (equivalent to 87 percent) came from outside the Zhemi valley area. Travelingtraders bring in commodities not produced in the valley in order to profit from the pricedifferential. The vast majority of these traders are ethnic Han Chinese.
Traders travel to periodic markets each time they are held. Having a market at thefoot of the mountain provides a convenient way for villagers to sell agricultural produce
and obtain manufactured goods that are not produced in the valley. The six-day market
cycle allows traveling traders to rotate around several different markets, thus ensuringthat they are able to satisfy the demands of villagers throughout the whole valley. Forthem to be able to do this, markets must be held at places accessible to traders. Therefore, we can conclude that periodic markets form at intersections of vertical and horizontal transportation—that is, at points that connect vertical conveyance of local produce up
and down mountain sides with horizontal transportation of manufactured goods fromoutside and along the valley floors by traveling traders.
The six-day cycle ensures that market days along the highway do not overlap. This
makes it possible for both traveling traders and villagers to access multiple markets.
Outdoor stall traders do not obtain fresh fruit and vegetables and miscellaneous everyday
items for sale at periodic markets direct from major cities such as Kunming, but rather
from closer towns, such as Jinping and Mengla, to which these commodities circulate
through the market network. The market network stretches all the way from Dukou atthe northern tip of Jinping county to Pinghe in Lüchun county along the main highway,
as if linked together in a chain. Traveling traders do not live dispersed in all the different
towns and villages. Instead, they form groups which are based in towns like Jinping,Mengla, and Zhemi. The traders attend markets held on days that do not clash, moving
their stalls from one market to the next. In other words, traveling traders utilize thevariation in market days to their own advantage.
The mobility of the traders helps to boost the number of stalls and the range ofcommodities on offer, which in turn enlarges the scale of the market by attracting more
people. While periodic markets function first and foremost as a place for local villagers
to trade their produce, traveling traders also play an important role in them. Thus, thethird key requirement of a periodic market is the existence of a marketing network andtraveling traders who service it.

Why Periodic Markets Are Held187

Brokers and Cash Crops
Nearly all the Miao people around Mahuangtang cultivate cassava in their gardens.
Simply by selling some cassava at market mornings, they can earn good money for purchasing other goods. The cassava is not consumed in the Zhemi valley, but is transported
by brokers to factories outside Jinping county and processed into starch.
For example, a broker at the Zhemi market purchases cassava in bulk along withother important cash crops from the valley such as black cardamom, lemon grass, andcotton. This gives villagers another option apart from selling small quantities of cassava
at their vegetable stalls: they can also sell larger quantities directly to a broker. Zhemi
has the greatest number of brokers dealing in cash crops, and consequently attracts thelargest number of villagers in the valley. In this way, some markets play a bigger role
than others in allowing villagers to dispose of cash crops on a regular basis. The presenceof traders such as brokers dealing in cash crops who are connected with the outside
market network constitutes the fourth requirement of a periodic market.
Assembly of Small Traders, Diversity of Choice, and Greater Commodity Range
The characteristics that distinguish the various markets in the six-day cycle are morethan just differences in the types of fruits and vegetables offered. All the markets do notprovide the same range of commodities and services, so villagers may choose which one
to attend in accordance with their particular needs. Normally they will make use of
several different markets rather than restrict themselves to just one.
At first glance, market stalls appear to sell a similar range of goods in each category.
Of the 321 different commodity categories on offer at the Zhemi market on November
15, 2003, 37 percent were available at only one stall, another 18 percent were available
at only two stalls, 9 percent were available at only three stalls, and 5 percent were available at only four stalls. Thus, more than half of the 321 commodities on offer could only
be purchased from one or two stalls at the market. The number of different commodities
available at any given stall, meanwhile, ranged from 6 to 15. Thus, the stalls generally
offer a fairly limited range of goods. However, this is precisely what enables them todifferentiate themselves from others selling different types of goods.
The market brings together stalls vending the same categories of goods because
having a large number of stalls makes up for the fact that most stalls are small and only
stock a limited range of commodities. The stalls can differentiate themselves by selling
specific types of goods, while the market as a whole can provide a wide range of goods
by bringing together the various types of stalls. Thus, the market provides diversity ofchoice and a larger range of commodities by bringing together a variety of small traders.

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V Discussion: The Level of Freedom in Periodic Markets
Writing about the trans-Mekong trade in northern Laos and northern Thailand, Andrew
Walker (1999) has suggested that the dichotomy between regulation and liberalization
does not hold when looking into the micro-level dynamics of local trade networks. He
challenges the common assumption that the past was a period of regulation, while thepresent and future are heading towards liberalization. It could be argued that his conclusion that the current situation is one of interwoven practices of regulation and liberalization, drawn from analysis of border trade, can be applied to smaller marketplaces. While
the states of the region seem to be moving towards more liberalized market-driven
economies, improved road access and information technology extend the possibility ofstate encroachment into local matters.
Past research has demonstrated that a key feature of periodic markets in traditional
China was their accessibility and the freedom that they afforded local residents in buying
and selling commodities. Can these features be found in the markets in Jinping county?
Fruit and vegetable stalls at Zhemi market were the exclusive domain of Alu and Dai
during the dry season, but Kucong vegetable vendors joined them during the wet season.
At Nafa, meanwhile, some stalls were manned by traders from Vietnam who crossed over
into China to attend the market. At markets in Jinping county, stallholders are free tosell whatever they like once they have paid the required fees. Thus, markets in theZhemi valley are not monopolized by goods sold by specific organizations or particularethnic groups. Anyone can sell their products at periodic markets provided that they can
produce commodities of saleable value and pay the charges levied by the local government.
The openness and freedom of markets in Jinping county exerts a strong influence
on commercial relations among ethnic groups. Producing items such as indigo dyed
clothing and baskets for carrying loads on the back, for instance, involves several different ethnic groups. In the case of dyed clothing, Hani, Yao, and Dai peoples each contribute specialized skills to tasks such as making thread from cotton, spinning thread into
cloth, and dying cloth. No one trader takes responsibility for the overall production
process. It is the market environment that makes this form of specialization possible, inparticular the situation which permits participation by anyone and allows vendors to bringin goods that help them to differentiate themselves from others. The market enables
any producer to sell their produce, and encourages spontaneous specialization of tasks
within the production process. Periodic markets in Jinping therefore fulfill an importantrole in ensuring producers the freedom to sell their produce while at the same timeencouraging specialization of production skills.

Why Periodic Markets Are Held

189

Spontaneous specialization of manufacturing and processing tasks come about notbecause different ethnic groups are inherently skilled at particular tasks, but because bybringing different peoples together the market environment encourages better understanding and awareness of different skills and abilities. In other words, the market
encourages natural specialization through better awareness of differences. This functionof the market helps to differentiate production processes and also boosts awarenessamong the various groups of their own ethnic uniqueness. By doing so it contributes tothe creation and recreation of cultural identities.
The freedom afforded by the market environment can be seen as related to thesteady increase in the number of markets in Jinping county. In 1989 there was only one
periodic market in the Zhemi valley, the one held at Zhemi itself; today there are six.
There can be no doubt that this is due to the fact that Jinping is a remote outlying regionof Yunnan province where “transport is inconvenient.” Even within this context, periodic
markets may be considered relatively free and unregulated, and suited to conditions in
the area. The revival of the periodic market can be traced to the introduction of production subcontracting in the early 1980s, which effectively removed much of the regulationon the economic activities of villagers and traders.
It is also interesting to note that in other places, this freedom has taken the form of“freedom to disengage” when the participants perceive that the space of exchange hasceased to serve its purpose. In the market of Sa Pa, in northern Vietnam, where ethnic
Vietnamese traders have come to monopolize the most profitable areas of trade, theuplanders have refused to compete in what they see as a losing battle (Michaud andTurner 2000). These findings support the assertion that for upland people marketplaces
are about more than economic transactions. This also reconfirms the importance of thefinding in Jinping that no particular group or product dominates the market, and may be
a significant explanation for the resilience of these markets. Importantly, the “divide”
between upland and lowland is crossed with regularity and ease. In fact, it could be suggested that the lack of upland and lowland tension in the periodic markets is one of theirmost important characteristics.
Traveling merchants from the lowlands, primarily ethnic Han Chinese, and uplandproducers and sellers are able to ensure that the periodic market days do not overlap
through the use of a shared calendar. From the uplanders’ point of view, this calendar isa useful bridge between cultural differences that might otherwise confuse the functioningof the market. At the same time, the market provides space for economically defined
niche products, display and trade in traditional handicrafts, and an important place forsocial life outside the village. As mentioned by Kuroda (2003), there are many noneconomic aspects of life that are visible at markets. In Jinping, the coming together of190

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diverse peoples at periodic markets is an opportunity to renew relationships, enjoy special foods, and exchange information. The marketplace as an arena of social interaction
is often overlooked by research that is preoccupied with their economic functions. Thisis probably even more so in the current period of rapid socio-economic transition, andfurther detail of the dynamic interactions at markets in areas such as Jinping may provide
valuable information on how local communities adapt to the social transformations thatare sweeping the region.

VI Conclusion
The periodic markets of Jinping enjoy continued popularity and are an important pillar in
the local economy. The previous analysis has emphasized how autonomy of the local
economy—by which we mean the freedom, flexibility, and dynamism of the periodic
markets—has encouraged its growth. Located in a border region at the forefront ofregional economic integration, these marketplaces accommodate both traditional andcash crops, catering to a wide selection of consumers. The periodic markets function
with a high degree of spatial fluidity, and are sustained by the flow of products facilitatedby the diverse range of actors involved in the operation of the marketplaces. The cultural
diversity that characterizes the markets is facilitated by the shared use of the Chinese
zodiac to determine market days among groups using different calendars and, at the sametime, allow the traveling merchants to avoid overlap in the multiple markets. This paper
has suggested that these marketplaces are important in ethnically diverse areas as they
enable interaction between people, encourage specialization and development of niche
products, and contribute to the complex fabric of social life that characterizes the uplandareas. They also suggest the existence of local strategies for negotiating increasingly
complex currents of regulation and liberalization. That these markets operate on aregional scale, based on decentralized interactions between diverse actors, attests tosocial mechanisms that thrive on diversity and are not hindered by the perceived uplandlowland divide.
Accepted: December 4, 2012

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