A Cultural Anthropological Study of Local Cultures in Hainan Island

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The main purpose of this research is to understand the cultural traits of each dialect/ language groups which have been co-existing in Danzhou-Lingao area of northwest Hainan and to investigate the boundary maintaining mechanism among them through fieldworks in the area. Cultural complexity of Hainan Island is not merely derived from its minority inhabitants such as Li and Miao, but also from various local cultures within Han Chinese population each of which has its own distinct dialect and custom. We carried out field research in 2002 and 2003 at local communities of such dialect groups as Danzhou-hua, Jun-hua, Kejia-hua (Hakka), and Lingao-hua (Limkow or Be), and also collected some data on other dialect/language groups such as Bai-hua (Cantonese), Hainan-hua (Hainanese), Putong-hua (Mandarin), and Li-hua (Li) speakers. We found evidences of rapid change in their way of life especially in the last two or three decades. But we also noticed that language communities of each dialect gro … More up are still maintained and some distinctive cultural traits such as the way of ancestor worship or marriage custom had been kept well into the late twentieth century. There are many cases of intermarriage between different dialect groups and in addition to the dialect of their own native community, most people can use other two or three dialects depending on situation. This condition of intermarriage and multi-lingual usage is not at all recent phenomenon for inhabitants of this area. Surname associations seems to have been functioning as an important junction among dialect groups. It is remarkable that, in spite of such close interactions among different dialect groups, linguistic and cultural differences among the local inhabitants have persisted for a rather long period. But on the other hand, at least at present, none of these, groups can be seen as an ethnic group in its strict sense, because people often use many different factors such as locality, origin, and linguistic or cultural affiliation for their own identification corresponding to different social contexts. Less