A Century of Change in Mosuo Matrilineal Families and Gender Division of Labor: A Case Study of Daluoshui Village, Yongning Township, Ninglang County, Yunnan Province
This article examines the century-long transformation of matrilineal families and gender division of labor among the Mosuo people, using Dalaoshui Village in Yongning Township, Ninglang County, Yunnan Province as a field site. The Mosuo, residing around Lugu Lake on the Sichuan-Yunnan border, are renowned for their matrilineal households and the "walking marriage" (zouhun) system of non-cohabiting visiting partners. Tracing ethnic classification history and genetic/linguistic ties to neighboring Yi, Naxi, Pumi, and Tibetan groups, the author analyzes the "family house" (jiawu) as the core physical, kinship, and economic unit of Mosuo matrilineal organization. The study shows that since the twentieth century, Mosuo family structures and gender roles have evolved through distinct historical phases: chieftain (tusi) rule, the people's commune era, and ethnic tourism development. With tourism now flourishing locally, the Mosuo have developed cultural self-awareness and taken grassroots action to preserve their distinctive matrilineal culture and traditions amid modernization.
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