The Grail Principle and the Mosuo Mother's House
This article examines Riane Eisler's "Grail vs. Sword" partnership-domination theory in relation to the Mosuo matrilineal household culture of the Lugu Lake region. Eisler, a prominent feminist cultural anthropologist, argues that societies oriented toward "partnership" (symbolized by the chalice/grail, associated with life-giving and mutual empowerment) differ fundamentally from those oriented toward "domination" (symbolized by the sword, associated with conquest and control), and contends that early Chinese tradition originally followed a partnership model before shifting toward domination. Chinese scholars, notably the Partnership Studies Group, have responded by tracing surviving matrilineal and group-marriage patterns among groups like the Yi in Ninglang, Yunnan, as living evidence of this earlier tradition. The author uses the Mosuo case to test Eisler's framework, while also critically noting structural limitations within Mosuo matrilineal society—including economic backwardness, egalitarian distribution discouraging individual initiative, gender-role tensions, and educational underdevelopment—that complicate its status as an ideal partnership model.
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