The focus of my research from 1997 to the present has mainly involved: 1. Yunnan’s Jingpo tribe and the Zaiwa tribe’s conception of the person; 2. A comparative study of the concept of the person among China’s southwestern ethnic minorities; 3. Anthropological studies of ethnic history as well as merchandise, rankings, and nationality in the Dehong Jingpo region. In the context of anthropological theory, the main focus of my discourse is on the relationship between man and object (concept of the person and exchange), as well as the gradual formation of rituals and performances (remembering and forgetting). I think that these two avenues of theorization are important for understanding the region. Conversely, sources gathered from this region also challenge existing theories.
In the future, in addition to doing comparative research on China’s southwestern region through work teams, my own studies will concentrate on self-identification and the self within the larger concept of the person, especially in the context of various historical experiences—the former colonization in Burma; China’s experience of empire, maintaining a chieftain system, and becoming a nation; and modernization in contemporary China, etc.—and see what influences these experiences have on the self-development of individuals in the concept of the person. Therefore, my current field research subject has gradually shifted from the Jingpo people living in mountainous areas to the Jingpo people living in urban areas, and from an older population to a younger one.
The focus of my research from 1997 to the present has mainly involved: 1. Yunnan’s Jingpo tribe and the Zaiwa tribe’s conception of the person; 2. A comparative study of the concept of the person among China’s southwestern ethnic minorities; 3. Anthropological studies of ethnic history as well as merchandise, rankings, and nationality in the Dehong Jingpo region. In the context of anthropological theory, the main focus of my discourse is on the relationship between man and object (concept of the person and exchange), as well as the gradual formation of rituals and performances (remembering and forgetting). I think that these two avenues of theorization are important for understanding the region. Conversely, sources gathered from this region also challenge existing theories. 