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Sour, Spicy and Raw: A Historical Review of Dai Food Transformation in Yunnan

  • Asia Review
  • Abbr : SNUACAR
  • 2015, 5(1), pp.139~164
  • Publisher : 아시아연구소
  • Research Area : Social Science > Social Science in general

Jiansheng Huang 1

1윈난민족대학

Candidate

ABSTRACT

Dai food is experiencing a dramatic change in the modernization processtaking place in the Dai communities in Yunnan Province, China. Theinterpretation of this changing process has to be done with reference to thepolitical economic circumstances although diet seems to be determinedby personal choice. This ethnographic study is intended to explore thehistorical traces of such change and its socio-cultural significance amongthe Dai communities in the context of China’s many endeavors to integratethese “marginalized (or uncivilized) people” into “the nation building” process,and also in the context of the interaction between Yunnan and the Southand Southeast Asian nations. Two historical periods highlight the mostsignificant changes of Dai food system: 1) China’s socialist constructionin which the political campaigns such as “democratic reform”, “People’sCommune” and “zhishi qingnian shangshan xiaxiang” (the movement ofeducated youth going to work in the countryside or mountain areas) with the plantationof rubber trees had limited impact on the Dai community life; 2) the timeof PRC’s national campaigns of “borderland prosperity” and “assistingthe development of ethnic minorities” following China’s EconomicReform. Both periods have resulted in intensive interaction between theDai communities and the Chinese Han or the people from South andSoutheast Asian peoples. These events had significant impact on the Dai food customs. None of these, however, is not as dramatic as what has beenhappening in the last 10 to 20 years under the impact of marketization andpopulation migration. They include the diminishment of sources of Daifood owing to the change of agricultural practices and increased popularityof Dai food due to the rampant increase of Dai restaurants in big cities(such as Kunming, Beijing, and Shanghai). Other factors include cooking methodsthat have been amended to cater to various peoples, some ingredientsare chemically synthesized rather than being derived from plants accordingto the traditional ways of the Dai people. Furthermore, more religiousactivities provide chances for people to participate in rich banquets morefrequently and there has been more alcohol drinking among the Dai,particularly men. These result in changes of the Dai traditional recipes thathave significant impact on the Dai people’s health. Obesity is becominga common phenomenon among the Dai people who were traditionallyknown for their slim figures. This essay concludes that the change of Daifood system is an integral part of the complex modernization processwhich involves a vast number of political, economic and cultural factors.

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