生态人类学的本土开拓:刀耕火种研究三十年回眸——尹绍亭教授访谈录

An Interview with Prof. Yin Shaoting on the Local Development of Ecological Anthropology: A Review of the Slash and Burn Cultivation Research in the Past Thirty Years

生态人类学是人类学的一门重要分支。扎根于中国田野中的生态人类学家们用独特的视角解读生态与文化的互动关系。尹绍亭教授是改革开放后国内最早从事生态人类学研究的著名学者。20世纪80年代,在全国对当代刀耕火种农业一边倒的批判声音中,尹教授在大量调查的基础上,用文化适应的观点阐释了刀耕火种,并运用文化生态系统的方法进行研究,指出当代的刀耕火种农业是土著民族对生态环境适应的生计方式,揭示了其盛行和延续的文化生态原因,总结了刀耕火种丰富的传统知识和生态智慧,为农业文明和生态文明的传承,为学界和社会正确认识刀耕火种,为政府决策提供了有益的参考。紧扣时代脉搏,开拓创新,这是尹教授三十多年学术生涯的一贯追求。在刀耕火种研究的基础上,立足于生态人类学,拓展跨学科研究,在生态与文化多样性研究、文化生态村建设、生态环境史研究等方面,尹教授亦锐意探索,取得了丰硕的成果,产生了广泛的影响。这篇采访大致反映了尹教授的学术经历、治学思想、理论方法、研究特色以及孜孜以求、严谨踏实的学者风范。

Ecological Anthropology is an important subdiscipline of anthropology. Ecological anthropologists who are deeply rooted in the fields of China interpret the interactive relationship between ecology and culture from special perspectives. Prof. Yin Shaoting, a famous ecological anthropologist since the reform and opening-up in China, explained the slash and burn cultivation from the point of view of cultural adaptation based on a great number of investigations. He applied the method of cultural ecology system to his study,pointing out that the contemporary slash-and-burn agriculture is a livelihood mode for indigenous peoples to adapt to the ecological environment, revealing the cultural and ecological reasons why the slash-and-burn cultivation had ever prevailed and lasts till now, and summarizing its rich traditional knowledge and ecological wisdom. Prof. Yin Shaoting's research is valuable not only for the heritage of agricultural civilization and ecological civilization, but also for a better academic and social understanding of the slash-and-burn cultivation. Furthermore, his research provides helpful reference for government policy-making.