The deer turned her head: Ethnic options for the Hainan Li

For two thousand years the Li people of Hainan Island maintained their language, customs, and ethnic identity despite Chinese political control. In the last century, however, Li traditional culture has been undermined by Chinese and foreign influences, with the pace of change accelerating under Communist rule. Yet even as assimilation proceeds, many aspects of ethnicity survive. The Li who receive a Chinese higher education and attain prestigious jobs are accepted with reservations into Chinese society, but most Li remain illiterate, poor, and objects of prejudice. The Chinese state offers assimilation yet defines minorities as primitive and childlike; the Li respond with a mixture of traditionalism, assimilation, activism, and cosmopolitanism. Out of this Li-Han dialogue comes an ever evolving definition of ethnicity.The Li, indigenous people of Hainan Island, have retained a strong identity organized around performance of traditional rites and customs, despite a 2,000-year relationship with the Chinese. But with the growth of state power and accelerating economic development, Li distinctiveness is weakening.