2014
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Sylvie Beaud, « La diversité des Han de Yangzong (Yunnan) au prisme des discours sur l'origine du Théâtre de Guan Suo », Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, ID : 10.3406/asie.2014.1437
The inhabitants of Yangzong (Yunnan Province) are famous for their masked ritual, the Guan Suo Opera, which stands as a local emblem supporting their Han identity. The Guan Suo Opera was likely brought to the Chinese southwest by garrison soldiers, and took shape during the 19th century in the Yangzong valley. As such, the study of its creation in the region provides an understanding of the interaction between imperial military, i.e. central culture, and southwestern local culture, and also of the present-day Han population's ethnicity. Based on the discourses of the three main families of actors, the depicted origins of the Guan Suo Opera highlight a peculiar vision of history, neither linear nor chronological, but which proceeds by retroactive and embedded references. In light of the historical evidence, these discourses also portray the region as a multi-ethnic ensemble of villages, which "became Han" under the coercive establishment of central authority.