The present study focusses on the description and analysis of the religious beliefs and practices of a central Taiwanese spirit-writing cult or "phoenix hall" (luantang). A phoenix hall is a voluntary religious association of congregational character centring upon communication with the gods by means of the divinatory technique of "spirit-writing" (fuluan). While spirit-writing can be and is used as an oracle for the solving of believers' personal problems, its more high-profile application is for the writing of so-called "morality books" (shanshu), i.e., books of religious instruction and moral exhortation. Spirit-writing cults are nowadays the most important sources of such works. Much attention has been given to morality books as mirrors of the social concerns of their times, but comparatively little work has been done on the groups that produce them and the meaning these works have for them. An adequate understanding of the meanings and functions of morality books, however, is impossible without some knowledge of the religious groups that produce them and the role played by morality books in their beliefs and practices. It is the objective of this thesis to provide a detailed description and analysis of one such group, the "Temple of the Martial Sage, Hall of Enlightened Orthodoxy" (Wumiao Mingzheng Tang), a phoenix hall in the city of Taizhong that was founded in 1976 and has played a significant role in the modern development of the shanshu genre through the active and varied publications programme of its publishing arm, the Phoenix Friend Magazine Society. The study utilizes data extracted from the Hall's published writings as well as interview, observation, and questionnaire data collected during an eight month period of field research in Taizhong. Part I provides a macrohistorical overview of the development of spirit-writing cults on the Chinese mainland (chapter 1) and on Taiwan (chapter 2) since the nineteenth century, leading up to the case-example's microhistory (chapter 3). Part II is devoted to an account of the beliefs and practices of the Wumiao Mingzheng Tang, including descriptions and analyses of its organization, deities, ritual activities, concepts of moral cultivation, and of the body of morality book literature it has produced over the years. The appendix contains samples of the cult's morality book and scriptural literature, as well as of various liturgical texts.

The present study focusses on the description and analysis of the religious beliefs and practices of a central Taiwanese spirit-writing cult or "phoenix hall" (luantang). A phoenix hall is a voluntary religious association of congregational character centring upon communication with the gods by means of the divinatory technique of "spirit-writing" (fuluan). While spirit-writing can be and is used as an oracle for the solving of believers' personal problems, its more high-profile application is for the writing of so-called "morality books" (shanshu), i.e., books of religious instruction and moral exhortation. Spirit-writing cults are nowadays the most important sources of such works. Much attention has been given to morality books as mirrors of the social concerns of their times, but comparatively little work has been done on the groups that produce them and the meaning these works have for them. An adequate understanding of the meanings and functions of morality books, however, is impossible without some knowledge of the religious groups that produce them and the role played by morality books in their beliefs and practices. It is the objective of this thesis to provide a detailed description and analysis of one such group, the "Temple of the Martial Sage, Hall of Enlightened Orthodoxy" (Wumiao Mingzheng Tang), a phoenix hall in the city of Taizhong that was founded in 1976 and has played a significant role in the modern development of the shanshu genre through the active and varied publications programme of its publishing arm, the Phoenix Friend Magazine Society. The study utilizes data extracted from the Hall's published writings as well as interview, observation, and questionnaire data collected during an eight month period of field research in Taizhong. Part I provides a macrohistorical overview of the development of spirit-writing cults on the Chinese mainland (chapter 1) and on Taiwan (chapter 2) since the nineteenth century, leading up to the case-example's microhistory (chapter 3). Part II is devoted to an account of the beliefs and practices of the Wumiao Mingzheng Tang, including descriptions and analyses of its organization, deities, ritual activities, concepts of moral cultivation, and of the body of morality book literature it has produced over the years. The appendix contains samples of the cult's morality book and scriptural literature, as well as of various liturgical texts. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate

After the Opium War, China has entered a rapid transformation. At the later period of Qing Dynasty, fictions were put to excellent, it was emphasized the actual function of the social. It reflected social conditions and enlighten the people through advocacy fictions. Intellectuals deeply appreciate female issues tightly linked with the fate of the country, and carried out the large-scale feminist movement of the later period of Qing Dynasty. Through against foot-binding, build female schools , promote freedom of marriage, established the independent personality of female, and the liberated women totally. Fictions were written female lives and reflected women' issues at this time. "Huang Hsiu Chiu" reflected female lives and situations very well in many feminist fictions, it was centered foot-binding, female education, women' issues. Miao-Ru Wang had created a a group of new revolutionary female who be strong, be no fear of might by female writing in "Female Prison Flower". These females found themselves in the corresponding relationships of saving the nation, women's rights, and woman's education.

La mobilité rurale-urbaine est sans contredit l’un des phénomènes les plus marquants que la Chine a connus depuis ses réformes des années 1980. D’une ampleur colossale, elle a constitué un fondement essentiel de sa transition et de son développement économiques. Or, si l’impact social de cette mobilité a été abondamment étudié dans les villes où séjournent les paysans, il demeure peu connu dans leur communauté d’origine, et encore moins en contexte de « nationalité minoritaire ». Reposant sur une enquête de terrain de plus d’une année, cette thèse en géographie sociale examine la (re)construction sociale dans une communauté rurale et minoritaire (c.àd. Hmong ou Miao) de Chine en lien avec le phénomène de la mobilité de travail. D’une intensité croissante, la pratique de la mobilité de travail par les membres de cette communauté est double. Les migrants sont soit des herboristes ambulants dans les villes de l’espace régional, soit des travailleurs salariés dans les villes orientales du pays. L’utilisation d’une approche du changement social intégrant les sphères du réel et de l’imagination et prenant en compte les dimensions territoriale et économique du phénomène migratoire est originale. De même, l’importance égale portée aux discours et aux actions des migrants et des non-migrants dans le processus de transformation sociale se veut novatrice. Dans ses résultats, cette thèse fait état, premièrement, d’une refonte des logiques territoriales et économiques de la communauté étudiée sous l’effet du phénomène migratoire. De toute évidence, les fondements géographiques de son territoire se sont récemment complexifiés et multipliés. Désormais, une variété de lieux, de frontières, de réseaux sociaux et d’échelles se dessine dans les configurations territoriales de ses membres. Les implications économiques sont tout aussi patentes. Outre la forte dominance des transferts d’argent des migrants dans les budgets familiaux, les questions du développement et des inégalités aux différentes échelles de la communauté renvoient aujourd’hui essentiellement au fait migratoire. Deuxièmement, cette thèse montre la forte empreinte laissée par la mobilité dans la sphère sociale. Nécessitant soutien aux extrémités de leur parcours, les migrants sollicitent de plus en plus l’aide de leurs réseaux lignagers, claniques, villageois et matrilinéaires. Et dans ce processus, il n’est pas rare qu’ils enfreignent consciemment les principes hiérarchiques traditionnels de leurs rapports familiaux. Aussi, au travers de la mobilité, des groupes longtemps marginalisés, tels les femmes et les jeunes adultes, ont acquis estime, autonomie et pouvoir décisionnel. Parallèlement, l’ordre social s’est bouleversé. Ce n’est plus le volume de la production agricole, mais le nombre de travailleurs migrants qui détermine aujourd’hui les différentes classes sociales de la communauté. Finalement, dans le contexte plus large des populations rurales et minoritaires de Chine et du Massif sud-est asiatique, cette thèse fait ressortir l’importance d’aborder la question de l’impact social de la mobilité au-delà des paradigmes de la modernisation et de l’intégration. Contrairement à la plupart des écrits touchant à cette question, il ne suffit pas de porter le regard sur l’influence que les urbains et leur mode de vie soi-disant moderne exercent sur les migrants. Il est également nécessaire de reconnaître les capacités d’initiative et d’innovation sociale des membres de ces populations, migrants et non-migrants. Mais aussi, cette recherche démontre que la question identitaire se doit d’être prise en compte. Les sentiments de marginalité et de subordination demeurent vivaces au travers du phénomène migratoire. Et de tels sentiments semblent se traduire, le plus souvent, par un renforcement des liens sociaux et intracommunautaires au sein même de ces populations minoritaires. / Rural-urban mobility is unquestionably one of the most striking phenomena that China has experienced since the wide-ranging reforms of the 1980s. Besides its unparalleled magnitude, it has been an essential foundation of its economic transition and development. But if the social impact of mobility has been extensively studied in cities where ‘peasants’ (as farmers are called in China) sojourn, little is known of the effects of mobility in their community of origin, and even less when the community belongs to a ‘minority nationality’. Based on fieldwork conducted over an 18-month period, this dissertation examines the impact of labor migration on the social (re)construction of a Hmong (Miao) community in rural China. Practices of mobility for work purposes are twofold in the studied community: migrants are either itinerant herbalists in close-by cities or factory workers in the eastern cities of the country. An original approach to social change has been used, integrating the spheres of imagination and practice, and takes into account the economic and spatial components of the migration phenomenon. Moreover, this research proposes an innovative theoretical model, by giving equal importance to the discourses and the actions in the process of social change of both migrants and non-migrants. First, this study reveals the recent remodeling of the spatial and the economic foundations of the studied community. It shows that places, scales, social networks and borders all structure the community’s territory – in both real and imaginary spheres – and that they have become more complex and numerous as a result of the unprecedented circular migration of its inhabitants to and from their village. At the economic level, besides confirming dominance of remittances at the household level, it also appears that development and inequality issues are now addressed by members of the community primarily through the phenomenon of migration. Second, the results expose the strong imprint of mobility in the social sphere. In need of support, migrants and left-behinds are increasingly seeking help within their lineage, clan, village, and matrilineal networks. In this process, it is not uncommon for them to consciously go against the traditional family hierarchies. Through mobility, long marginalized groups such as women and young adults, have now gained esteem, autonomy and decision-making power. Meanwhile, the social order has shifted. It is no longer the volume of agricultural production, but the number of migrant workers, which now determine the social classes within the community. Finally, in the broader context of minorities in China and the Southeast Asian Massif, this dissertation addresses the debate about the social impact of mobility beyond the paradigms of modernization and integration. Unlike most of the literature pertaining to this issue, this research provides evidence that it is not enough to focus on the changes experienced by migrants through contact with urban dwellers and their so-called modern way of life. It shows that it is necessary to recognize the capacity for initiative and social innovation of all the members of these minorities, migrants or non-migrants. It also stresses the centrality of the question of identity. Feelings of marginality and subordination remain strong and they do not seem to fade as a result of migration. On the contrary, these feelings seem to most often result in a strengthening of social and community bonds within these minorities.

La mobilité rurale-urbaine est sans contredit l’un des phénomènes les plus marquants que la Chine a connus depuis ses réformes des années 1980. D’une ampleur colossale, elle a constitué un fondement essentiel de sa transition et de son développement économiques. Or, si l’impact social de cette mobilité a été abondamment étudié dans les villes où séjournent les paysans, il demeure peu connu dans leur communauté d’origine, et encore moins en contexte de « nationalité minoritaire ». Reposant sur une enquête de terrain de plus d’une année, cette thèse en géographie sociale examine la (re)construction sociale dans une communauté rurale et minoritaire (c.àd. Hmong ou Miao) de Chine en lien avec le phénomène de la mobilité de travail. D’une intensité croissante, la pratique de la mobilité de travail par les membres de cette communauté est double. Les migrants sont soit des herboristes ambulants dans les villes de l’espace régional, soit des travailleurs salariés dans les villes orientales du pays. L’utilisation d’une approche du changement social intégrant les sphères du réel et de l’imagination et prenant en compte les dimensions territoriale et économique du phénomène migratoire est originale. De même, l’importance égale portée aux discours et aux actions des migrants et des non-migrants dans le processus de transformation sociale se veut novatrice. Dans ses résultats, cette thèse fait état, premièrement, d’une refonte des logiques territoriales et économiques de la communauté étudiée sous l’effet du phénomène migratoire. De toute évidence, les fondements géographiques de son territoire se sont récemment complexifiés et multipliés. Désormais, une variété de lieux, de frontières, de réseaux sociaux et d’échelles se dessine dans les configurations territoriales de ses membres. Les implications économiques sont tout aussi patentes. Outre la forte dominance des transferts d’argent des migrants dans les budgets familiaux, les questions du développement et des inégalités aux différentes échelles de la communauté renvoient aujourd’hui essentiellement au fait migratoire. Deuxièmement, cette thèse montre la forte empreinte laissée par la mobilité dans la sphère sociale. Nécessitant soutien aux extrémités de leur parcours, les migrants sollicitent de plus en plus l’aide de leurs réseaux lignagers, claniques, villageois et matrilinéaires. Et dans ce processus, il n’est pas rare qu’ils enfreignent consciemment les principes hiérarchiques traditionnels de leurs rapports familiaux. Aussi, au travers de la mobilité, des groupes longtemps marginalisés, tels les femmes et les jeunes adultes, ont acquis estime, autonomie et pouvoir décisionnel. Parallèlement, l’ordre social s’est bouleversé. Ce n’est plus le volume de la production agricole, mais le nombre de travailleurs migrants qui détermine aujourd’hui les différentes classes sociales de la communauté. Finalement, dans le contexte plus large des populations rurales et minoritaires de Chine et du Massif sud-est asiatique, cette thèse fait ressortir l’importance d’aborder la question de l’impact social de la mobilité au-delà des paradigmes de la modernisation et de l’intégration. Contrairement à la plupart des écrits touchant à cette question, il ne suffit pas de porter le regard sur l’influence que les urbains et leur mode de vie soi-disant moderne exercent sur les migrants. Il est également nécessaire de reconnaître les capacités d’initiative et d’innovation sociale des membres de ces populations, migrants et non-migrants. Mais aussi, cette recherche démontre que la question identitaire se doit d’être prise en compte. Les sentiments de marginalité et de subordination demeurent vivaces au travers du phénomène migratoire. Et de tels sentiments semblent se traduire, le plus souvent, par un renforcement des liens sociaux et intracommunautaires au sein même de ces populations minoritaires. / Rural-urban mobility is unquestionably one of the most striking phenomena that China has experienced since the wide-ranging reforms of the 1980s. Besides its unparalleled magnitude, it has been an essential foundation of its economic transition and development. But if the social impact of mobility has been extensively studied in cities where ‘peasants’ (as farmers are called in China) sojourn, little is known of the effects of mobility in their community of origin, and even less when the community belongs to a ‘minority nationality’. Based on fieldwork conducted over an 18-month period, this dissertation examines the impact of labor migration on the social (re)construction of a Hmong (Miao) community in rural China. Practices of mobility for work purposes are twofold in the studied community: migrants are either itinerant herbalists in close-by cities or factory workers in the eastern cities of the country. An original approach to social change has been used, integrating the spheres of imagination and practice, and takes into account the economic and spatial components of the migration phenomenon. Moreover, this research proposes an innovative theoretical model, by giving equal importance to the discourses and the actions in the process of social change of both migrants and non-migrants. First, this study reveals the recent remodeling of the spatial and the economic foundations of the studied community. It shows that places, scales, social networks and borders all structure the community’s territory – in both real and imaginary spheres – and that they have become more complex and numerous as a result of the unprecedented circular migration of its inhabitants to and from their village. At the economic level, besides confirming dominance of remittances at the household level, it also appears that development and inequality issues are now addressed by members of the community primarily through the phenomenon of migration. Second, the results expose the strong imprint of mobility in the social sphere. In need of support, migrants and left-behinds are increasingly seeking help within their lineage, clan, village, and matrilineal networks. In this process, it is not uncommon for them to consciously go against the traditional family hierarchies. Through mobility, long marginalized groups such as women and young adults, have now gained esteem, autonomy and decision-making power. Meanwhile, the social order has shifted. It is no longer the volume of agricultural production, but the number of migrant workers, which now determine the social classes within the community. Finally, in the broader context of minorities in China and the Southeast Asian Massif, this dissertation addresses the debate about the social impact of mobility beyond the paradigms of modernization and integration. Unlike most of the literature pertaining to this issue, this research provides evidence that it is not enough to focus on the changes experienced by migrants through contact with urban dwellers and their so-called modern way of life. It shows that it is necessary to recognize the capacity for initiative and social innovation of all the members of these minorities, migrants or non-migrants. It also stresses the centrality of the question of identity. Feelings of marginality and subordination remain strong and they do not seem to fade as a result of migration. On the contrary, these feelings seem to most often result in a strengthening of social and community bonds within these minorities.

Basé sur un terrain ethnographique réalisé en 2019 dans le district de Sa Pa (province de Lào Cai, Vietnam), ce mémoire porte sur les relations complexes entre les populations locales et l'État communiste à l'intérieur d'une aire protégée d'intérêt international, le Parc national Hoàng Liên Sơn. J'y approfondis une perspective socio-anthropologique de l'environnement à partir de l'expérience de deux groupes ethniques minoritaires répandus dans les hautes terres du Massif Sud-Est Asiatique, la famille linguistique Miao-Yao ou Hmong-mien. Jusqu'à récemment, les montagnards de Sa Pa devaient surtout composer avec les politiques de préservation culturelle sélective menées par les représentants de l'ethnie majoritaire Kinh (Việt), de même qu'avec des incitatifs de développement axés sur l'augmentation de la productivité rurale, l'accroissement de l'offre touristique (inter)nationale et l'expansion des infrastructures commerciales en zones urbaines. Toutefois, afin de répondre à la pression grandissante des groupes d'acteurs transnationaux face à la crise environnementale ces trente dernières années, la République Socialiste du Vietnam (RSV) s'est tournée vers la conservation ciblée de son territoire naturel, avec pour objectifs de fond la modernisation sociale et économique des régions périphériques. L'important réseau de réserves et de parcs dont Hoàng Liên Sơn fait figure de proue n'échappe pas à cette réalité, et représente l'offensive moderne du Vietnam pour garantir le contrôle de ses terres. Les institutions régionales, sous l'égide du système centralisé par palier du Parti Communiste, engagent désormais des politiques néolibérales basées sur l'intervention d'organisations non-gouvernementales et la gestion par des entreprises privées. Cette situation a une série d'impacts sur les populations locales, aux deux tiers composées de minorités ethniques Hmong, Yao, Giáy et Tày évoluant communément en milieu rural et agricole. Le système oppressif du Parc national contraint les montagnards à revoir leurs stratégies de subsistances et négocier leur position au sein de l'ensemble géopolitique. Fondée sur le point de vue émique des groupes lignagés Hmong et Yao – doublement marginalisés par leurs pratiques socio-économiques et leur distance historique avec l'État – cette recherche rassemble des données sur le système conservationniste vietnamien et les imaginaires environnementaux qui l'entourent afin d'en relever les contradictions et d'en apporter une critique anthropologique constructive. L'analyse donne place à des réponses multiples de part et d'autre, entre confiance, méfiance, résistance et espoir. / Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in 2019 in the district of Sa Pa (Lào Cai province, Vietnam), this thesis focuses on the complex relations between the local populations and the communist state within a protected area of international interest, the Hoàng Liên Sơn National Park. I deepen a socio-anthropological perspective of the environment from the experience of two widespread ethnic minority groups of the South-East Asian Massif highlands, the Miao-Yao or Hmong-mien language family. Until recently, the Sa Pa montagnards had mainly to deal with selective cultural preservation policies led by representatives of the majority Kinh (Việt) ethnic group, as well as with development incentives focused on rural and agricultural productivity, increased (inter)national tourism and the growth of commercial infrastructure in urban areas. However, in order to respond to the growing pressure from transnational stakeholders facing the environmental crisis over the past thirty years, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam engaged a major shift towards the targeted conservation of its natural territory, holding with background objectives of social and economic modernization for peripheral regions. The large network of reserves and parks of which Hoàng Liên Sơn is the figurehead is no exception to this reality and represents Vietnam's modern offensive to get a hand on its lands. Regional institutions, under the aegis of the Communist Party's centralized tiered system, now engage in neoliberal policies based on the intervention of non-governmental organizations and management by private businesses. This situation has a series of impacts on the local populations, two thirds of which are made up of Hmong, Yao, Giáy and Tày ethnic minorities, commonly living in rural and mountainous areas. The oppressive system of the National Park forces the montagnards to review their livelihood strategies and negotiate their position within the geopolitical ensemble. Based on the emic point of view of the Hmong and Yao lineage groups - doubly marginalized by their socio-economic practices and their historical distance from the state - this research brings together data on the Vietnamese conservationist system and the environmental imaginaries that surrounds Hoàng Liên Sơn in order to point out contradictions and bring constructive anthropological criticism upon it. The analysis gives way to multiple responses on both sides, between trust, mistrust, resistance and hope.