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WELCOME TO ETHNIC-CHINA!

A multi-lingual, multi-sourced resource site by and for those interested in China's minority ethnic cultures

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Ethnic-China provides easily accessible information on China's minority ethnic nationalities. At present available material on these many unique and often culturally threatened peoples remains meager. Ethnic-China hopes to remedy this situation.

In order to accomplish this objective in a virtually unlimited and comprehensive manner not only present the materials we have gathered and created to date but also solicit the help of all who wish to contribute their knowledge and expertise to this site.

At present the few webs that deal with China's minorities tend to address their complex cultural systems in the most simplistic of terms. Descriptions of dress, courtship practices, local songs and dances, basically those perceived features that differentiate them from the majority Han, are emphasized, and those at no great depth. This is not surprising when attempting to describe so many peoples in a single work. Neither is it possible for us to do so alone. We can, however, set up a networking system that will prove to be the single most important resource for the study of China's minority peoples. This is Ethnic-China.

Apart from the sheer number of ethnic groups that should be addressed, pause a moment to consider the various disciplines and perspectives from which each group may be viewed. Anthropologists, musicologists, linguists, textile or jewelry specialists, political scientists, sociologists, and students of religious systems and, of course, the casual reader, travellers or potential travellers, all can both benefit from and contribute to what will steadily become a tremendous repository of collective knowledge of these vanishing indigenous cultures.

Apart from general works in different languages, there exist a wealth of published books, articles, documentaries and unpublished dissertations that contain detailed work on individual groups. As interest in this field of study grows exponentially, the number of such studies produced is expanding rapidly. What limited sources that do exist are often bound by language limitations. Ethnic-China is open to all. It is our aim to collect and include as much material in all formats as possible in order to create the most comprehensive single source of material in a variety of languages and media that exist in the world.

Such a goal can only be accomplished collectively. Towards this goal we solicit your help. Do you have either published or unpublished materials on China's minorities that you would like to see posted on this site? Would you like to share your course syllabi on related subjects with others? Personal travel accounts in China's minority areas are also useful to many.

Links and references to as many groups as possible will be constantly added as we identify them and as they are received by us. We are also developing an annotated bibliography of titles in a variety of languages that discuss China's minorities. Many are anthropological works, others magazine articles, others travel accounts, whatever we own or have found useful. Of particular use for those not fully literate in Chinese are the descriptions of the many works by the Chinese on their own peoples, previously inaccessible to many scholars. For those interested in the purchase of many of those still in print, we will make these available for purchase whenever possible, including music and documentaries.

A fledgling project now, over several years Ethnic-China will evolve into the most complete website on China's minorities and will become the resource base of first resort for both scholars, students and anyone interested in the subject. While the Ethnic China site may seem small at first, as contributions come in, we expect it to expand dramatically over the course of many years of effort.

Authors of all materials included will be identified and your contact information will be included if desired. This helps to build the infrastructure of a body of scholars, photographers and persons interested in this fascinating area of study and exploration. We will be making copies of articles, papers and dissertations available at a reasonable fee, if the authors so desire. As we develop, a number of books, periodicals, music tapes and CDs will be made available to those throughout the world with little or no access to them. Lists of documentary films available for purchase will be included. The proceeds from such sales will go to the authors and artists responsible for the work, with Ethnic- China only charging an expedition or handling fee. This is obviously not a profitable endeavor. Rather, our goal is to fill a significant gap in a subject we ourselves feel personally invested in.

Our goal is nothing short of providing a central means of access to printed information, recorded audio and visual media and materials of every sort relating to China's ethnic peoples. Ethnic-China presents scholars, photographers, filmmakers, popular writers, explorers and all combinations of the above with a forum through which to share their work with others, while reaping the benefits of the kindred endeavors of others. Please contribute and visit our site as we develop over the years!

All such materials may be addressed to: ---------