Ethnic Classification and Culture: The Case of the Tujia in Hubei, China

Specific cultural practices, or their absence, definitively mark many ethnic identities. Why then are cultural practices frequently at odds with ethnic categories? The case of the Tujia, an ethnic minority in China, demonstrates the disjuncture between officially assigned ethnic categories, culture and local identity. It also suggests a potential explanation for why such disjunctures occur. State officials apparently classified Tujia in terms of actual cultural practices that were not important locally. There may be a general pattern that outsiders classify others based on culture while locals classify themselves based on socio-political experience.