A Study on the Chess Culture of Ethnic Minority Groups in Gansu Province

As a region inhabited by large populations of ethnic minority groups, Gansu province boasts rich ethnic cultural resources which reflect traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage that had taken shape thousands of years ago. Among these are various ethnic folk chess games. They are time-honored with many types such as the “Fang” chess of the Hui ethnic group, the “Jiu” chess of the Tibetans, the “King and Ministers” chess, the Mongolian chess, the Mongolian military chess, etc. These games embody distinctive ethnic and regional characteristics, as well as the cultural elements of a particular ethnic minority group. It is of great significance, therefore, to study the ethnic chess by collecting, documenting and comparing different types of related chess. The paper explores ways to standardize, protect and promote them scientifically in joint efforts, and draws a conclusion that examining their significance in the present era and the ethnic characteristics is the key to understanding the profound culture behind the chess.

Analysis of the Features of the Vernacular Plank Houses of the Qiang Ethnic Group in Southern Songpan County: A Case Study of Xiaoxinggou

The Qiang ethnic group in southern Songpan county lives in vernacular plank houses(VPHs) with an architectural tradition that dates to the period of the ancient Di people.VPHs are now mainly constructed in settlements of ethnic groups such as Baima Tibetans, Amdo Tibetans, and the Qiang people living in Wenxian county, Longnan city of Gansu province, and Maoxian, Lixian, Wenchuan, and Beichuan of Sichuan province respectively.Although VPHs of the Qiang people living in southern Songpan share many similarities with those of adjacent Tibetans in structure, construction, and spatial layout, they feature the Qiang people's unique architectural culture, and reflect a style transition from VPHs in the north to blockhouses in the south.The VPHs, as represented by those in Xiaoxinggou, play a significant role in the diversified architectural culture of this ethnic group.Their unique cultural value is worthy of further exploration and protection.

Indigenous Knowledge on Soil Classification of Ethnic Groups in Luang Prabang Province of the Lao PDR

The objectives of this study were to demonstrate ethno-scientific elicitation techniques in retrieving indigenous knowledge at village-level, and to document the indigenous soil classification systems of different ethnic groups in Luang Prabang province in the Lao PDR. The study area comprised three villages – Nambo, Huaymaha and Thapo, in the Phonxay district of Luang Prabang province. Three ethnic groups were covered by the study – Hmong, Khmu and Lao Loum. All three ethnic groups used soil color as main criteria for soil classification. However, even within the same ethnic group, sometimes different villages have differences in the way they classify soils; this was apparent for the Hmong ethnic group in the villages of Huaymaha and Nambo. A significant difference of the Lao Loum ethnic group from the other two, was the emphasis used in classifying soil types according to their water holding capabilities. In contrast, the Khmu and Hmong classified many soil types in relation to their rock content (‘with rock’ or ‘pure rock’ sometimesbeing used). The results of the study suggest that the ethnic groups classify the soils in relation to their potential for different types of agricultural production.

Study on Cultural Connotation of Tattoo Custom in Women of Yi Ethnic Group in Liangshan

Tattoo custom in women of Yi ethnic group is a human cultural phenomenon with very rich connotation.Its social and psychological motive is complex.It is a comprehensive expression of religion,culture and custom of Yi ethnic group under specific historical and regional conditions.

The Polymorphism of the HLA-DRB1 Locus of the Guangxi Zhuang People and Its Comparison with the Main Surrounding Ethnic Groups

To explore genetically the origin, migration and relationship of the Zhuang people in Guangxi province with the main surrounding Chinese and the ethnic groups in Southeast Asia, the distributions of the HLA-DRB1 locus among the populations in these regions were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction—sequence specific primer (PCR-SSP) technique among 265, healthy, randomly selected and unrelated Zhuang adults, aged 17-32, whose families had lived in Guangxi province for more than 3 generations. Every allelic frequency was comparatively analyzed with that of some main Chinese and Southeast Asia populations. It was found that 13 HLA-DRB1 alleles were detected among these 265 selected individuals, but other 13 alleles failed to be discovered by using the 23 pairs of primers designed in the present study. The most common alleles were HLA-DRB1*1501, HLA-DRB1*1601/2 and HLA-DRB1*1401/4 with the allele frequencies of 0.291, 0.198 and 0.106 respectively. Although alleles of HLA-DR1*0701/2, HLA-DRB1*08 and HLA-DRB1*1306/1406 could be detected also, but their frequencies were rather very low. The overall allele distribution profile on HLA-DRB1 of Zhuangs was much closed dramatically to those of Buyis, Northeast Thais, Dai Lues, Southern Hans and Singapore Chinese, but was more far away from that of northern Hans and Hanai Kinhs, as compared to the representative ethnic groups in Southeast Asia. In addition, the blank of HLA-DRB1*1502 was a characteristic allele for Zhuangs was commonly detected in Southeast Asia, especially in Thais. It is concluded that a very close genetic relationship exists between Zhuangs and Buyis on the basis of their extremely similar background on HLA-DRB1 locus.

The Study of the Language Functions in the Benzhu Worship of the Bai Ethnic Groups in Dali,Yunnan

The Benzhu worship is a traditional folk activity of the Bai ethnic group in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Prov?ince, which has long history with colourful culture. When the sacred ceremonies are held, Bai villagers always get together to celebrate. In the Benzhu worship, language plays significant functions, including the performative function, recreational function, emotive function and interpersonal function.

民族,还是“族群”——释ethnic group一词的涵义

“氏族→部落→民族”是人们共同体演进的普遍规律。在世界人们共同体演进的过程中没有“族群”位置 ,不宜以“族群”取代民族 ,也不宜以“族群”表达民族以下支系。

美国等西方国家应用ethnic group的实证分析

英文 ethnic group一词传入中国并以“族群”、“民族”等中文概念广为流行 ,但是这一词语在美国等西方国家是如何应用以及应用于哪些群体却很少引起人们的关注。本文从美国等西方国家学界与官方应用 ethnic group的实证为例 ,论述和分析了西方国家应用这一词语的确指对象及其在理论和实践方面的矛盾。同时分析了 ethnic group作为西方“族际政治”话语的社会背景和作用。以期说明在引进这一概念和应用于本土实践时需要全面认识其含义 ,从而实现符合中国国情的科学吸收与借鉴。

对西方学界有关族群(ethnic group)释义的辨析

从西方学界有关这一术语的部分定义入手 ,从中抽取其普遍的要素进行应用性的分析 ,将这一术语的含义和应用限定于人类社会“族类”共同体范畴 ,并通过图式化的说明 ,就西方国家释义和应用这一术语的情况进行了辨识 ,以期为该术语在“本土化”(族群 )

Farming Ritual and Festival Folk Custom of Dong Ethnic Minority Group

In order to pray for harvest and express gratitude, Dong ethnic arranged sacrifices of farming in accordance with periodicity of rice production and its requirements to festivals and calendar. Meanwhile, New Year, Pray in Spring and Return in Autumn not only play significant roles in agricultural production, but also evolve to farming holidays which are enriched with more social connotations. Centered on husbandry and production, some folklore that is rich in local color has been formed in Dong society. The writer introduced some farming ritual of Dong ethnic group, such as, sowing, Kai Yang Men, Rain-praying, Chang Xin, reaping and Lunar New Year, summarized their belief in the land worship, festival ritual, ancestor ritual and ceres ritual. It is concluded that sacrifice is a production-related folklore, which is formed by repeated operation and constant practice. Some taboos were also prohibited in agricultural sacrifice because people were not able to change the unfavorable reality of farming with their insufficient experience and knowledge; however, they resorted to witchcraft for the purpose of harvest. It is believed that the activity of sacrifice will also be kept in the life of Dong ethnic group due to their dependency on agriculture and the land.

Ethnic group(族群)、Nation(民族)与中国的民族

本文从族群与民族概念的争论入手,揭示族群概念的引入是关于中国民族研究的深入。指出以族群替代民族是不能有效解决中国的民族问题的。由于中文"民族"一词已为民众所熟悉并在实际中不致引起误解,族群与民族可以在不同的层次上运用。

An epidemiology study of bronchial asthma in the Li ethnic group in China

Objective:To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of bronchial asthma in the Li ethnic group in Hainan,China.Methods:This study employed a stratified random sample design using custom-designed questionnaires.Subjects with asthma-like symptoms were first identified by two rounds of surveys and then confirmed by respiratory physicians using pulmonary function test,bronchial dilation test and challenge test.Demographic data,information on family history of asthma,history of allergies,smoking habits,domestic cooking fuel and other potential risk factors were collected.Logistic regression was performed to evaluate risk factors for asthma.Results: The prevalence of asthma in the Li ethnic group was 3.38%,much higher than the national average level in China.Aging,agriculture industry(the rubber industry in particular),rural residence,family history of asthma,history of allergies,cold air,inhalation of dust and irritant gases,smoking,domestic cooking fuel and living environment were associated with increased risk of asthma.Conclusions:The high prevalence of asthma in the Li ethnic group highlights the importance of asthma prevention and treatment in this population.Risk factors indentified in this study warrant special attention.Elevating public awareness about asthma in local communities will benefit the prevention of the disease.

Correlation between the Xba Ⅰ polymorphism of apoB gene and serum lipid profiles in Li ethnic group

Objective:To study correlation between the Xba I polymorphism of apoB gene and plasma lipid profiles in Li ethnic group.Methods:Total 1S1 cases of healthy Li people were recruited randomly by cluster sampling and 200 Han people were recruited as control;blood was drawn to analyze Xba I polymorphism distribution of apoB gene and serum lipid levels.Results:There were lower serum total cholesterol(TC)and low density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C)levels in serum of Li people;while,high density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C),X^-/X^-genotype and X^+allele frequencies exhibited higher levels than Han people.Interestingly,HDL-C level was reduced,while LDL-C level was enhanced in subjects carrying heterozygous(X^-/X^-)genotype compared to homozygous(X^-/X^-)genotype.Additionally,there were no difference in serum level of triglyceride,TC,apoprotein A(apo A)and apoprotein B(apo B)between Li and Han people,the same results were showed between X^-/X^+and X^-/X^-genotype carriers.Conclusions:XbaⅠpolymorphism of apoB gene is correlated to the profiles of serum lipid level,X^-/X^+genotype carriers are phenotyped with higher LDL-C level and lower level of HDL-C in Li ethnic group.

Genetic polymorphism of mitochondrial DNA HVS-I and HVS-II of Chinese Tu ethnic minority group

We analyzed the two hypervariable segments HVS-I and HVS-II of 108 Chinese Tu ethnic minority group samples for forensic and population genetics purposes, Comparing with Anderson sequence, 79 polymorphic loci in HVS-I and 40 in HVS-II were found in Chinese Tu ethnic minority group mtDNA sequences, and 90 and 64 haplotypes were then defined. Haplotype diversity and the mean pairwise differences were 0.9903±0.0013 and 5.7785 in HVS-I, and 0.9777±0.0013 and 3.5819 in HVS-II, respectively. By analyzing the hypervariable domain from nucleotide 1,6180 to 1,6193 in HVS-I, we defined some new types of sequence variations. We also compared the relationship between Tu population and other populations using mtDNA HVS-I sequences. According to Rst genetic distances, the phylogenetic tree showed that the Tu population, the Xi＇an Han population, the Chinese Korean, and the Mongol ethnic group were in a clade. This indicated a close genetic relationship between them. There were far relations between the Tu population and other Chinese southern Han populations, Siberian, European, African, and other foreign populations. The results suggest that Tu population has a multi-origin and has also merged with other local populations.

THE STUDY OF POPULATION GENETIC RELATION AMONG TEN ETHNIC GROUPS IN NORTHWEST CH INA

Objective To investigate the genetic relation am on g ten ethnic groups in northwest China. Methods Allele frequ encies of six STR(short tandem repeat ) loci in D13S1358, VWA, FGA, D5S818, D13S 317, and D7S820 were collected from Lasa Tibetan, Changdu Tibetan, Xi'an Han, G ansu Dongxiang, Gansu Yugu, Xinjiang Uygur, Ozbak, Kirgiz, Sibe, Ningxia Hui by the results of State Key laboratory, Forensic Science Department, school of medi cal, Xi'an Jiaotong University and internet biological information data bank, a nd compared with that of the Mongolian, Zhuang in China, and White and Negro in USA. The polymorphism index (H, DP, PPE, PIC) and genetic distance, then the phy logenetic tree of all population were reported. Results The res ulting tree topology exhibited strong geographic and racial partitioning consist ent with that obtained with HLA and classical genetic polymorphisms. Conclusion The results suggest that forensic STR loci may be particular ly powerful tools and provide the necessary fine resolution for the reconstructi on of recent human evolutionary history.

Form Gene Clustering Method about Pan-Ethnic-Group Products Based on Emotional Semantic

The use of pan-ethnic-group products form knowledge primarily depends on a designer＇s subjective experience without user participation. The majority of studies primarily focus on the detection of the perceptual demands of consumers from the target product category. A pan-ethnic-group products form gene clustering method based on emotional semantic is constructed. Consumers＇ perceptual images of the pan-ethnic-group products are obtained by means of product form gene extraction and coding and computer aided product form clustering technology. A case of form gene clustering about the typical pan-ethnic-group products is investigated which indicates that the method is feasible. This paper opens up a new direction for the future development of product form design which improves the agility of product design process in the era of Industry 4.0.

Endogamous marriage and the prevalence of hemoglobin E in ethnic groups of northern Thailand

Objective:To investigate the impact of the endogamous marriage culture on the prevalence of the hemoglobin E(HbE) recessive variant.Methods:The prevalence of the hemoglobin E(HbE)recessive variant was determined by dot-blot hybridization in 4 endogamous villages(1 Mlabri and 3 Htin ethnic groups) in comparison with 9 other nearby non-endogamous populations.Results:Although the overall HbE prevalence in the population studied(8.44%,33/391)was not significantly different from that of the general southeast Asian population,a high prevalence and individuals with homozygous HbE were observed in two villages,the Mlabri from Wiang Sa district and the Htin from Thung Chang district of Nan province(26.3%and26.9%,respectively).The low HbE allelic frequency noticed in some endogamous populations suggests that not only endogamy but also other evolutionary forces,such as founder effect and HbE/β-thalassemia negative selection may have an effect on the distribution of the HbE trait.Conclusion:Our study strongly documents that cultural impact has to be considered in the extensive prevalence studies for genetic disorders in the ethnic groups of northern Thailand.

GENETIC POLYMORPHISM OF SIX Y CHROMOSOMAL STR IN CHINESE HUI ETHNIC GROUP

Objective To study genetic polymorphism of 6 Y chromosomal STR in Hui ethnic group living in Ningxia Hui ethnic autonomous region, in order to evaluate their usefulness in forensic science and enrich the Chinese genetic information resources. Methods We investigated 101 unrelated, healthy, male individuals of Hui ethnic group and studied their allelic frequency distribution and haplotype diversity of 6 Y chromosomal STR. Primer for each loci was labeled with the fluorescent by FAM (blue) or TAMRA(yellow). The data of Hui ethnic group were generated co-amplification, GeneScan, genotype, and genetic distribution analysis. Results 31 alleles and 43 phenotype(DYS385) were detected, with the frequencies ranging from 0.0099-0.7129. Out of a total of 101 individuals, 96 showed different haplotypes; 91 were unique; 5 were found 2 times. The haplotype diversity for 6 Y-STR loci was 0.9990. Conclusion The date obtained can be valuable for individual identification, paternity testing in forensic fields and for population genetics because of 6 Y-STR loci high polymorphism.

ANALYZING HLA HAPLOTYPE OF THE LOCI HLA-A,-B, AND-DRB1 IN MONGOLIA ETHNIC GROUP

Objective To investigate HLA-A,-B and -DRB1 allele and HLA-A-B-DRB1 haplotype frequencies in Mongolia ethnic group. Methods HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 allele and haplotype in the Mongolia ethnic group were investigated based on 93 individuals by PCR- sequence-based typing (SBT) method. Results Twenty-one alleles were detected for HLA-A, 44 for HLA-B, and 26 for HLA-DRB1. The most frequent alleles were HLA-A*2402(0.2097), HLA-B*1302(0.0699), and HLA-DRB1*0701(0.1237). The most common HLA-A-B-DRB1 haplotype were A*3001-B*1302-DRB1*0701, A*0101-B*3701-DRB1*1001, followed by the A*0201-B*4601-DRB1*0901, A*2402-B*4801-DRB1*1101, A*2402-B*5201-DRB1*1501, A*3201-B*3503-DRB1*1301, and A*3303-B*5801-DRB1*0301, which were also presented in Chinese populations. Conclusion The data can be used in forensic and paternity tests to estimate the frequency of a DNA profile or anthropologic research. The characteristics of the distribution of HLA alleles revealed that Mongolia ethnic group is characterized by northern Mongolian Chinese.