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This investigation has two objectives: (1) to contextualize the historical development and progression of Buyi Opera in Ceheng, Guizhou Province, China, within the socio-political milieu and (2) to critically evaluate the contemporary status, ideological implications, and cultural politics underlying the conservation efforts of Buyi Opera within local, regional, and national frameworks. Utilizing a qualitative approach that combines document review, in-depth interviews, direct observation, and focus groups, this research encompasses expert input from Guizhou Opera Artists Association, academic scholars, Buyi Opera performers, and local inhabitants of Ceheng. Although the exact origins of Buyi Opera remain uncertain, its cultural peak is traced to the Qianlong Emperor's reign (1736-1795) during the Qing Dynasty. In the present, it remains a living cultural practice among the older residents of Ceheng, despite limited engagement from the younger generation. The study reveals how Buyi Opera, with its distinct performance dynamics and evolving modern adaptations, navigates the space between traditional values and contemporary realities. Furthermore, it scrutinizes the state and community-led revival strategies under the umbrella of Chinese cultural heritage and their implications for cultural identity, production, and power dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

he current academic researches on Guizhou’s edible fungi mainly are based on biology, economics, horticulture, and agricultural sciences, etc., which lack historical studies. Therefore, based on the existing local chronicles since the Ming and Qing dynasties, combined with other relevant historical records, this study analyzes and investigates the historical consumption and commercialization of edible fungi in Guizhou, aiming to enrich and supplement the historical documentation related to the economic development history of Guizhou during that period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unbalanced pattern of population urbanization in Guizhou is mainly restricted by natural background conditions such as karst landform environment, and is also closely related to economic and geographical factors such as the developing difference in various regions in the province, the number and density of cities and towns. Based on the regional differences in the population scale and density in the Qing Dynasty, this paper discusses the regional distribution of the number, density and hierarchical status of towns, and analyzes the internal relationship between urban distribution and regional geographical factors such as population, immigration, historical construction, economic development and ethnic situation, which can deepen the understanding of the evolution process of Guizhou's population distribution and urbanization pattern, and provide a certain historical basis for Guizhou's population development and urbanization policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Karst regions are exceptionally responsive to global change with their harsh natural environment, fragile ecology, and acute human-land conflicts. The reconstruction of cropland spatial pattern in karst areas during the historical period is typical for studying human-land relations in karst areas and has important practical significance for climate study. The ecological environment changes at regional and global scales, primarily to provide essential data and a theoretical basis for studying the inverse evolution of rock desertification in karst areas. Guizhou province, a typical karst area, was selected as the research area in 1820. Based on the correction of historical population data and cropland data, a reconstruction model of cropland spatial pattern in karst areas during the historical period was constructed by selecting factors such as elevation, slope, soil types, organic matter content, climatic productivity potential, distance to river and distance from settlements to reconstruct the spatial pattern distribution of cropland in 1820 of Guizhou. The results show that the data on cropland recorded in Guizhou during the Qing dynasty is too low, mainly due to Yin-Ni and the policy of Tu-Di-Mian-Ke. In 1820, the total area of revised cropland in Guizhou was 1,851,792 hm2, with the highest proportion of 14.32% in Dading Fu and the lowest in Songtao Ting at 1.6%. Only 30% of the grid in Guizhou has a cropland distribution. It is mainly concentrated in the central part of Qianzhong District (Anshun and Guiyang Fu), the southern part of Qianbei District (Pingyue Fu and southern Zunyi Fu), the western part of Qiandongnan District, the central and eastern parts of the Qiandongbei District. The overall average reclamation rate of land in Guizhou is 10.93%, the highest reclamation intensity in Qianzhong District, with 8.5% of grids ≥ 50%, and the smallest in Qianxinan District, with only 1.65% of grids ≥ 50%. The analysis is validated by comparing the reconstruction model and the reconstruction results. It can be seen that the reconstruction model and research results of this paper can more objectively reflect the distribution of cropland in karst areas during the historical period, and the reconstruction model is suitable for karst areas with low productivity levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Daoism: Religion, History & Society is the property of Chinese University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sax biinv emerged in the mountainous areas of southern Guizhou during the Ming and Qing periods, at a time when serious conflict broke out between the government and local society. The Ming opened a major postal road to Yunnan through southeastern Guizhou, and the Qing continued to advance their armies through the untamed Miao lands in the mountain areas of southeastern Guizhou, opening up a trade route between Guizhou and the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi. To counteract this, the minority peoples of southeastern Guizhou put up one rebellion after another, until finally in the 18th century the Qing government was able to subdue the area. In the course of this intense conflict, new symbols and new legends made their appearance in local society, along with new customary laws and social structures. These were meant to help stabilise local Kam (Dong) society, which was becoming unstable. The fieldwork site for the present study -- Bian village, is located in a remote mountain area between the northern part of Congjiang county and the border with Liping county in Guizhou. This is one of the areas in which sax biinv appeared. As far as Bian village is concerned, the sax biinv are not just the stuff of rumour or legends, but are a fact of life in local society, and the subject matter of a social drama in which all residents take part. This article will first explain the social origins of witchcraft accusations against sax biinv. Then, using Turner's theory of social drama, and making use of materials drawn from ethnographic research, it will explain how witchcraft accusations against sax biinv, conveyed through rumour and legendary stories, were used in order to mobilise local society, and enact a series of social dramas in which their neighbours' reputations were blackened. The third part will examine in detail how this social mechanism affects marriage patterns in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the coinage bronze manufacture of the Qing dynasty, lead mining in Guizhou Province played important roles in the Qing mining industry and on the economic and social development of this frontier area. However, estimates of lead output and sales volumes of this area remain largely obscure for historians, leaving the evaluation of its compact on local society groundless. Based on detailed textual study of the mining factories memoirs of annual sales volumes found in Qing archives, this paper provides a new estimate of the lead output and sales volume in this area and examines the previous calculating methods of mine output volume of the Qing dynasty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]