num_pages: 205
description: Two very different ethnic minority communities -- the Naxi of the Lijiang area in northern Yunnan and the Tai (Dai) of Sipsong Panna (Xishuangbanna), along Yunnan's border with Burma and Laos -- are featured in this comparative study of the implementation and reception of state minority education policy in the People's Republic of China. Based on field research and historical sources, Lessons in Being Chinese argues that state policy, which is intended to be applied uniformly across all minority regions, in fact is much more successful in some areas than in others.In Lijiang, elite members of the Naxi ethnic group (minzu) have a centuries-old connection with Chinese state educational systems as avenues to social mobility, and have continued this tradition under Communist rule. In contrast, Sipsong Panna functioned in many ways as a separate kingdom until 1950, with its own script and an educational system centered in Theravada Buddhist monasteries. Today, most Tai parents in the are
language: English
title: Lessons in Being Chinese: Minority Education and Ethnic Identity in Southwest China
titlecomplete: Lessons in Being Chinese: Minority Education and Ethnic Identity in Southwest China (Studies on Ethnic Groups in China)
ratings_count: 1
publisher: Univ of Washington Pr