Evolving humanity, emerging worlds

Manchester, UK; 5th-10th August 2013

(MUS06)

Women Culture Museum in China: ways of seeing the changing national culture (IUAES Commission on the Anthropology of Women)

Location Alan Turing Building G108
Date and Start Time 09 Aug, 2013 at 14:30

Convenors

Ga Wu (Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences) email
Qu Yajun (Shaanxi Normal University) email
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Short Abstract

Transforming Chinese Female Images in the National Exhibition Culture Centers. Women Culture Exhibition Project Women Culture Exhibition Project is with an exhibition room of over 10 items of collected cultural treasures that are to be exhibited under five special topics.

Long Abstract

This exhibition project is presently supported and has been organized by the sole all-around women museum in China.

1. Her story her story is their stories

2. Women's Characters in Jiangyong around Jiangyong County, Hunan province of China.

3. Women Craftwork.

4. Wedding dresses in Han and ethnic minority China This part mainly exhibits bride's wedding dresses.

5) Any nation's marriage customs have its own tradition. The style, the color and the pattern of the wedding clothes maintain a stable content, a nation's oldest worship and its symbol.

This panel is closed to new paper proposals.

Papers

The role of Tujia women in the process of economic reformation

Author: Tong Zhang (Ethnology )  email
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Short Abstract

Tujia is a minority group living in the west of Central China, Hubei province. Since 30 years ago, China began to have reform in economics. Tujia people gradually walk out of their own traditional way of life. This paper will talk about how those women make themself adapted to the modern time.

Long Abstract

There are three part of the paper. First, the begining of the market reform, whichi was lasting 10 years until 1989. Tujia area was still not effected so much by the changing policies. But, outsides came to the area to sell products bring them new idea and new style of life. Some Tujia women began to try new things. Second, groups of young Tujia girls and women going out of mountains, working inside cities as cleaners and house keepers. Few of them became the business women, and brought a lots of new messages to hometown. That is the time when was before 2004; Third, since 2004, jobs in cities were not very easy to have , Tujia women began immigrating back to hometown, these was not whole story at all , most of them are not clear wether going back old life or insist living in the cities where they do not have belonging feelings at all. At the end of paper, it will tell what kind of changes in this minority ares actually brought by Tujia women.

Three kinds of Gender Discourses and the Analysis of Relative Museums

Author: Qu Yajun (Shaanxi Normal University)  email
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Short Abstract

In the modern public discourses of China, exist three kinds of gender discourses whose individual complexity contributes to the unprecedented, complicated relations among them.

Long Abstract

The first one: mainstream gender discourse. By absorbing the essence of Social Emancipation Theory of Marxism, the mainstream gender discourse offers the vivid description of modern women image under leading of the Communist Party of China since 1949. - the Analysis Based on China Women and Children's Museum.

The second one: feministic discourse. The introduction of the western feminism into China since 1980's has reconstructed and developed "women voices" which, rising in May 4 Movement, has been cut down for more than 20 years. - the Analysis Based on Women Culture Museum.

Sometimes, the difference between the second and the third discourse (the Discourse of the market economy) becomes indistinct because "personalization", "privatization" are used as "margin", "non-mainstream" by western feminists to fight against "center", "mainstream". - the Analysis Based on China Sex Culture Museum.

The Relics of History and Experienced Regret:

Author: Li Xiaojiang  email
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Short Abstract

The museum was originally a product of international cooperation, and the result of the collaboration of academia and women's circles. Therefore, this article runs through the perspective of comparative research.

Long Abstract

In early 1992, the Women's Museum preparatory meeting was held in Zhengzhou city, Henan province, and I adopted the title of honorary curator of Women Culture Museum of Shaanxi Normal University in the end of 2011. 20 years have passed. This article from the founder's perspective, focus: 1.Motivation and initial goals of establishing women's museum; 2.The main participants in the preparatory process and related historical events; 3. Comparative study in international perspective. The museum was originally a product of international cooperation, and the result of the collaboration of academia and women's circles. Therefore, this article runs through the perspective of comparative research. I will target to save and organize women relics, re-observe those achievements and shortcomings in the course of practice.

Women's Cultural Museum of the Shaanxi Normal University:

Author: LING LIONG NGO (UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN (MALAYSIA))  email
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Short Abstract

参观陕西师范大学妇女文化博物馆:一些看法

2011年本人赴西安参加学术会议。主办当局安排参观了该博物馆,我留下了深刻的印象。在马来西亚,还没有类似的妇女博物馆,在此,我只能以海外华人的身份提出三点拙见:(1)多与国际、外界交流,并加强宣传,让海内外都知道文物馆的存在(2)文物馆的文物以及规模很有限,是否可向民间募捐妇女文物以丰富馆藏,这一点校方或可以与官方以及民间合作(3)可以定时举办研讨会或小型座谈会,集思广益,让文物馆能办得更为出色。

Long Abstract

During a visit to the Women's Cultural Museum of the Shaanxi Normal University in October 2011, I was impressed with Nüshu, the syllabic script used exclusively by women in part of Hunan province of southern China. As an overseas Chinese from Malaysia where there are no such museums, I have three points to share: 1) To make its presence known, the museum can engage in academic exchanges with and promotions for research to the rest of the world. 2) As the museum is limited to its collection of women's exhibits in a small scale, the Shaanxi Normal University can work with the government and society and ask for donations of women's artifacts. 3) Regular organization of seminars, forums or conferences can provide a channel for ideas and a stepping stone for making the museum a unique place for understanding women's culture in China.

Keywords:

Women's Cultural Museum, Nüshu, women's artifacts, women's culture.

Role of women in traditional cultural heritage. ----For example, to folk paper-cut

Author: liu jianxia (Shanxi Administration Institute)  email
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Short Abstract

[摘要]民间剪纸是中华文明持久性的重要因素,同样是民族传统文化的经典,维系着整个民间艺术最本原的文化根基。民间剪纸来源于生活,剪纸的创作者多是女性,通过剪纸这种特殊的艺术形式,她们表达着对生活、对自然的认识。她们把朴素的思想情感、悠久精湛的手工技艺都融入到薄薄的纸片上,并结出累累艺术硕果。女性创造出的这种成就,在中华文明中女性群体集体性失语的大背景下是极其罕见的。农村劳动妇女的生活生存状况与中国民间剪纸艺术风格有着千丝万缕的联系,其修养、经验、阅历、情感、愿望等等,是中国民间剪纸艺术风格形成的主要因素。

Long Abstract

Role of women in traditional cultural heritage.

----For example, to folk paper-cut

Shanxi Administration Institute Liu Jianxia

[Abstract] The folk paper-cut is not only an important and persistent factor in Chinese civilization,but also the national traditional culture classics.It maintains the cultural foundation of the whole folk art of the most primitive. Folk paper-cut from the life of the paper-cut creator, mostly women, through paper-cutting art form this special, they express their understanding of nature and life. They put the naive thought emotion, long exquisite workmanship into thin pieces of paper, and bearing art achievements. The achievements of women to create, background of female group collective aphasia in Chinese civilization is extremely rare. Life and living conditions of rural labor women there have all kinds of connections with contact with Chinese folk paper-cut art style, their training, experience, emotion, desire, and so on, are the main factors of Chinese folk paper-cut art style forming.

[keyword] traditional culture; female; paper-cut art.

Culture Survival and Cultural Ecological Optimization ——A Investigation on the Cultural Ecological Reserve "Luowu Tribe" Project of Maojie Township, Wuding County, Yunnan Province

Author: Huihua XIAO (Chuxiong Academy of the Yi Culture)  email
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Short Abstract

Establishing ethnic eco-tourism village is an important method to strengthen ecological improvement and environmental protection work and implement the strategy of sustainable development, it have a significant effect on the developing and protecting of the Yi ethnic group's cultural ecology.

Long Abstract

   The author investigates the Cultural Ecological Reserve "Luowu Tribe" Project of Maojie Township, Wuding County, Yunnan Province, to analyzes and explores an effective method sustain its development that respect and protect the tradition of the Yi culture and integration of Yi Cultural tourism projects on the basis of subject to the common prosperity and harmonious. The author points that the protection and the inheritance of the Yi people's traditional culture should start from protecting the successor and creator of culture, and proposes a viewpoint of static and dynamic protection and inheritance, and effectively explores an ethnic development model that suit our measures to differing conditions in terms of locality, time, issue and persons involved.

The Living Heritage in Western China: the Symbols of the Universe in Naxi Women Dresses

Authors: Xinyan Chi (Nanjing Normal University)  email
Jia Wang (Shenzhen Bailu Travel Agency)  email
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Short Abstract

The women dresses in Western China on behalf of Naxi ethnic displayed the astronomy philosophy of 12 earthly stems and the reproduction worship, showing that they have the same ancestors as other Chinese ethnics.

Long Abstract

The sheepskin cape with 7 stars worn by Naxi Women in Yunnan consists of 2 big circles, 7 small circles and 2 hanging fringes, representing the sun, the moon, the stars and light beams respectively, which is the most primitive dress remains to stand for the primitive universal characteristics. Its connotation is "the stars change in positions", to take the Big Dipper as 12 time zones to build coordinate - 12 earthly branches. The creation of 12 constellations with 7 bright stars instead of the Big Dipper was the most outstanding achievements in astronomy.

The figure 7 is regarded as the figure of life in the universe. In Chinese mythology of the world creation Nuwa spent 7 days to create life, and it was extended to the figure for the women reproduction cycle in HuangDiNeiJing in which double 7s were the start of the reproduction cycle.

Qiang girls perform their adult ceremony at the day of double-7s years old (14 years), with the decorations of semi-circle and 7 hanging fringes to form a necklace of the moon with 7 stars.

Yi girls' headdress has 7 pendant chains on both left and right sides, and their tobacco pouch has 7 hanging fringes deriving into 14 fringes.

headdress of Jiarong Tibetan girls has 49 (7×7) beads rings.

The girls of multiethnics in Gansu Qinghai Plateau carry their purses with 7 hanging fringes..

There were a lot of girl dresses with figure 7 unearthed in Xiaohe Cemetery in Tarim Basin.

Women's Museum in China and Its International Comparison

Author: Ga Wu (Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences)  email
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Short Abstract

Based on comparing with global women's museum, this paper proposes advice of how to improve women’s museum in China in the new century.

Long Abstract

Chinese women's Museums can bring new vision for its people. This is the original intention of the women's museum. Each women's museum has its own exhibition plan and each exhibition area will be arranged more scientifically. Compared with the international women's Museum such as the Camille museums in France, the Silk Museum in Germany, the Artemisia Gentileschi in Italy, Marie Curie Museum in Poland, the themes of women's museum in China need to be strengthened. After comparing with them, this paper proposes advice of how to improve women's museum in China in the new century. First of all, building new museums needs new technologies and the connection between technology and culture. We should organize diverse lectures covering diverse subjects: Psycholinguistics, ethnic linguistics, language and media studies, history, archeology, music, history, history of painting, art history, philology and traditional media, and online media, museums, heritage science, new technology multimedia digital technology, new technology and media applied arts, multimedia audio research and publication of the image, Charlotte Turpie Lyon, (Charlotte Perriand) Philippe Starck (Philippe Patrick Starck). These lectures have to be involved with media design, media architecture, visual-spatial design, dance, music, theater, sculpture, painting, narrative images, photography, embroidery, textiles, architectural views, etc. Such women's museum is a museum with innovative exhibition, a joint exhibition and a mobile exhibition. Of course, there should be project arrangements and translating of books before the build of museums.

This panel is closed to new paper proposals.

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