Modern Road and Traditional Social Changes of Ethnic Minorities：Based on the Investigation of Puxiong Yi Society Along the Chengdu-Kunming Railway System

Yang Mei

DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1674-9391.2023.3.012

Abstract：

Taking the Chengdu-Kunming train route as the research point and Puxiong town as the fieldwork site， this study conducted a diachronic investigation on the shaping and influence of the Chengdu-Kunming railway route on Puxiong Yi society， aiming to provide a new path and angle to study local social and economic development from the perspective of modern transportation.

Before the Chengdu-Kunming train was put into operation， the villages in Puxiong town were typical traditional Yi villages. The local social structure was built on the basis of close kinship. Every village showed the characteristics of a geographical community and a kinship （blood-relation） community， and its society was homogeneous in many ways. Results show the Chengdu-Kunming train trajectory has brought great development opportunities to Puxiong Town： The Chengdu-Kunming route has not only promoted the social and cultural exchanges between Yi people and other ethnic groups， but also promoted the continuous flow of migrants through the railway trajectory. As a result， Shimudi Village， where Puxiong Railway Station is located， has gradually transformed from a simple and traditional Yi village into a central village and complex community for settlers. Although the land area of the community is small， it is fully equipped， including barber shops， tea houses， karaoke halls， and other daily leisure and entertainment sites. These factors together make the community show obvious modern characteristics， and turn it into the transportation， economic， and cultural center of the surrounding Yi area.

However， with the electrification of the whole section of Chengdu-Kunming Railway， a large number of railway-related units withdrew from Puxiong Town， foreign investment has mostly dried up， and local urbanization came to a halt. Therefore， the local government and villagers of Puxiong Town had to find a new path of local social transformation and development. Finally， the town turned its focus to cultural development and rejuvenation， vigorously developed the culture-centered tertiary industry， gradually built unique Puxiong cultural tourism projects such as “the most beautiful terraces on Chengdu-Kunming Railway” and “he first Yi Embroidery Village on Chengdu-Kunming Railway”， and actively applied for various intangible cultural heritage grants to pass on the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage. Thus， Chengdu-Kunming train continues to play a role in promoting local economic and cultural development as well as rural revitalization. And Puxiong Town enjoys the reputation of being a “star town on Chengdu-Kunming railway route” in this new era.

The case study of Puxiong Town arguably shows that for the Yi people in Liangshan—a remote area deeply hidden in the southwest of China—the route can be an important carrier for social and cultural transformation. Especially against the background of the national poverty alleviation and rural revitalization strategy， the transportation infrastructure of Liangshan is constantly improving. The roads under construction and planned to be constructed ideally will open a new situation of “interconnectivity and opening up to the outside world” for Liangshan， potentially providing a most basic infrastructure guarantee for local social and economic development in Liangshan. In addition， Puxiongs case also reveals that， faced with the influx of immigrants from various cultural backgrounds， a local society should strengthen its own initiative in cultural transformation， so as to gain more autonomy in development planning， and thus strengthen the endogenous resources and impetus for cultural inheritance and development.

Key Words：

Chengdu-Kunming Railway; Puxiong; force of modernity; rural revitalization; transformation