Title

A Preliminary Study on the Tribal Political System of the Pai Yao in Liannan, Guangdong 

Author

Hsieh, Jiann

Genre

Article  

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Abstract

    This paper is designed to study the tribal political system of the Yao in Liannan, Guangdong through the methods of historical reconstruction, study restudy and intensive reviews taken in a series of anthropological fields studies during the past few years. Its purpose is threefold: (1) to explore the traditional leadership and power structure of a diffused government based on a segmentary lineage system and how that power structure functioned in a simple and non-state society; (2) to delineate both formal and informal social controls on order to find out the norms and regularities which underlay the Pai Yao’s behavior; and (3) to examine the periodical blood feuds among the different sections of the Pai Yao society and to provide plausible explanations of the socio-cultural factors which had led to confrontation and conflict.