The Yunnan Initiative
[continued]
As the outcome of the Yunnan policy may have global implications, it calls for substantial collaboration of an international nature. Many organizations outside China are already involved in collaborative activities in fields related to those identified in the Yunnan government’s policy. We encourage continued collaborative participation of these and other organizations toward the implementation of the policy. To further strengthen international collaboration, Yunnan should seek to create a non-governmental vehicle or means, consisting of provincial leaders, community representatives, nationalities cultural leaders, and scholars and relevant professionals, to provide coordination and liaison among Chinese and international organizations and to counsel administrators.
To realize the goals of the stated policy, we believe that the following concrete areas should be explored:
- Conduct a comprehensive survey of the cultural resources of the nationalities of Yunnan as well as the ecological resources of the Province, to be built on the foundation of the recently completed survey of artists and artisans.
- Continue and expand the promotion of nationalities cultures and arts education in order to: cultivate a younger generation of cultural conveyors (tradition bearers) through self-motivated community-based cultural studies and conservation efforts; educate young nationalities artists in their own legacies so that they can contribute to the continuation and development of their cultures, work which has begun on a limited basis; develop a corps of professionals to participate in conservation and development at both the provincial and community level.
- Include extended programs and curricular coverage on nationalities cultures and their environmental awareness in the Yunnan education system. Once implemented provincially, promote the inclusion in China’s national education system so as to improve the cultural and social standing of the nationalities throughout China.
- Broadly expand the current systematic support for fieldwork and research in nationalities regions, which must be regarded as the foundation for cultural and natural conservation as well as for economic and social development planning.
- Continue the initiative of honoring community mentors and rural master artists as sources for indigenous knowledge and as cultural mentors in the provincial education system. Honor communities as well as promote community-based conservancy and development.
- Plan appropriate types of tourism that would maintain cultural and ecological integrity, and contribute to the conservation of cultural heritage and so as to benefit the local people directly in an integrated manner with the participation of the communities.
- Raise awareness of the importance of restoring and preserving significant traditional structures, roadways, residences, and rural landscape forms. Historic preservation is a vital strategy in cultural conservancy and economic development. Such built or natural environments will also serve as resources for appropriate tourism development. Replication must not be equated to preservation.
- Promote sustainable architectural and landscape design in urban as well as rural planning in harmony with traditional built environment. Encourage the adoption of locally available construction material and building skills.
- Recognize traditional performance practices as the most accessible and representative of nationalities intangible culture. Protect the integrity of the legacies by eliminating the erosion caused by the “song-and-dance” practices and the “reform” efforts based on Western concepts and techniques. Authentic legacies, including ritual activities, are not only a crucial factor in cultural conservancy and development, but also of high value internationally.
- Engage the artisan sector in the conservation and development of a full spectrum of craft skills and traditions and broaden the economic base of the sector beyond the “arts-and-crafts” tourist market and household utilitarian consumption by creating new markets and expanding commercial opportunities in new directions, such as architectural and industrial design products evolved from crafts traditions.
- Recognize that creativity propels cultural development. Encourage creativity and innovation in all art forms founded on a thorough knowledge of one’s own heritage as well as a measured assimilation of ideas from other cultures.
- Provide technical assistance in community-based planning and business training for local communities, which is sensitive to culture and nature conservancy as well as social development.
- Expand the utilization of indigenous knowledge and artistic legacy by engaging in scholarly and market research for policy purposes on innovative cultural products and a sustainable green economy.
- Increase current opportunities for scholars, artists, professionals, scientists and administrators to work jointly with collaborating experts from abroad; offer in-depth briefings, demonstrations, site visits and dialogues on Yunnan cultures and conditions to professional visitors. Cultural understanding should be recognized as a prerequisite for international collaboration.
We trust these recommendations can effectively enhance the coordinated and balanced development of culture, ecology and the environment, and the economy and society of Yunnan for all the peoples of its 26 nationalities. And, we hope the Yunnan Initiative will serve as a point of reference for peoples all over the world facing similar issues.
Note
The population of China is made up of numerous culturally or linguistically distinct constituent groups. Each of these groups is called a nationality (minzu). There are a total of 56 such nationalities recognized in China, the largest of which, the Han, numbers over a billion people (approximately 93% of the total population), and one of the smallest, the Lhoba, numbers around a thousand. Yunnan Province has 26 nationalities, the most in all of China, and almost 40% of the total population of the province is non-Han.
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