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0УДК 911.2
THE PRACTICE OF "WAITING FOR WATER" AND LOCAL ORDER IN WATER SHORTAGE MOUNTAIN VILLAGE IN WUMENG MOUNTAIN
AREA
Yang Liyun
The School of Social Development and Public Administration, Northwest Normal University
Lanzhou, PRC 905389535@qq.com
Abstract. The practice of "waiting for water" (ЩЖ) in the mountain village in Wumeng mountain area (ЩШШЖ) is a collective behavior derived from the special geographical, ecological and human space, which is the result of the comprehensive effect of the local climate conditions, water distribution and the livelihood model of tobacco cultivation. In the practice of "waiting for water", a set of order system followed by the local people is formed, which is related to the ethics and morality of the villages and the closeness between the people, and has become a cultural representation of great local social significance. It can be seen that the observation and discussion centered on water"can be used as the thinking direction of studying the localism in remote mountain villages.
Key words: The practice of "waiting for water", Local order, Water shortage mountain village, Water culture.
ПРАКТИКА "ОЖИДАНИЯ ВОДЫ" И МЕСТНЫЙ ПОРЯДОК В ГОРНОЙ ДЕРЕВНЕ С ДЕФИЦИТОМ ВОДЫ В ГОРАХ ВУМЕНГ
Ян Лиюнь,
Школа социального развития и общественного Администрация Северо-Западного педагогического университета
Ланчжоу, КНР 905389535@qq.com
Аннотация: Практика "ожидания воды" в горных деревнях Вуменг, испытывающих дефицит воды, представляет собой коллективное поведение, обусловленное конкретным географическим, экологическим и человеческим пространством, и является результатом сочетания местных климатических условий, распределения источников воды и моделей жизнеобеспечения, связанных с выращиванием табака. Практика "ожидания воды" привела к созданию системы порядка, которой следуют местные жители, которая связана с этикой деревни и близостью людей, и стала культурным представлением местного социального значения. Очевидно, что наблюдение и обсуждение, сосредоточенное на "воде", может быть использовано в качестве направления размышлений при изучении "вернакулярности" в отдаленных горных деревнях.
Ключевые слова: водная культура, дефицитные горные деревни, местный порядок, практика "ожидания воды ".
ТООЛУУ АЙЫЛЫНДАГЫ ВУМЕНГ ТОО АЙМАГЫНЫН "СУУНУ
KYTYY" ПРАКТИКАСЫ ЖАНА СУУ ТАРТЫШТЫГЫНДАГЫ
ЖЕРГИЛИКТУУ ТАРТИП
Ян Лиюнь
Социалдык внYгYY жана коомдук мектеп башкаруу, ТYндYк-Батыш педагогикалык университети
Ланчжоу, КЭР 905389535@qq.com
Аннотация. Вуминг тоолуу аймагы суу жетишсиз тоо айылдарында "суу кYтYY" практикасы атайын географиялык экологиялык жана адамдык мейкиндиктен алынган биргелешкен ЖYPYм-турум болуп саналат жана жергиликтYY климаттык шарттардын, суу бвлYштYPYYHYн жана тамеки встYPYYHYн жашоо YлгYлврYHYн комплекстYY таасиринин натыйжасы болуп саналат."Суу кYтYY" практикасында айылдын этикасына жана адеп-ахлак нормаларына жана адамдардын ортосундагы аралыкка байланыштуу тартип системасынын топтому тYЗYЛYп, жергиликтYY коомдук мааниге ээ маданияттык репрезентация болуп калды. "Сууну" негиз кылган байкоо жана талкуу алыскы тоо айылдарынын "жергиликтYYлугун" изилдвв YЧYн ой ЖYгYртYY багыты катары колдонулушу мYмкYн экенин кврYYгв болот.
Ачкыч свздвр: "Суу кYтYY" практикасы, жергиликтYY тартип, Суу жетишсиз тоо айылы,; Суу маданияты.
The proposing of the question
Water is one of the indispensable and important natural resources for human
survival and life, which is closely related to the survival and development of
individuals, families and villages.Wang Mingming believes that the water-centered
research perspective is the supplement and extension of the earth-centered research
perspective proposed by Mr. Fei Xiaotong[1—18-23]. An academic concept related to
water is water culture, which is "the related culture about water that exists in
different nationalities, regions and countries. In short, water culture is the related
culture for human beings to understand, use, and control water"[2—1-8]. At present,
the research on water in the anthropological field focuses on the following four
aspects: first, the research of the relationship between water and national
governance, the second is the research of water and local social governance, the
third is the research of the mode and concept of water resources utilization in the
local society[3—50-58][4—44-50][5—51-58], and the fourth is the research of water as a local
The above research focuses on discussing the culture and society of
abundant water areas, while the society that lacks water and related cultural matters
is relatively few, mainly involving the study of local water cases caused by water
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shortage [7—102-110+124][8—9-14], research on the common water resources competition under the background of the rise of tourism[9—200-210+11], analysis of the causes of water shortage in local society[10—29-35], the study of water shortage society and the social change brought by modern water use mode[11—94-99]. However, researches on people's practical behavior in water shortage villages during water shortage period and their construction of the village order and the local society are relatively lacking.
Affected by the high terrain and many mountains, the villages in Wumeng mountain area are relatively scattered, and the phenomenon of seasonal water shortage is widespread. Baimuke Village(S^f4^) , a small mountain village of Banbipo Liangzi(^M^^i) in the east of Wumeng mountain, is a unincorporated village under the jurisdiction of Rongsheng Village(^I^i) Committee, Xuanwei City(^M^), Yunnan Province. The village is located at the extrusion of the Baihu Mountain(^^^) in the north and Qinglong Mountain(# ~ЖШ) in the south, and the local people are used to call the buffer zone formed by the extrusion of two mountains "Wazi"(^^). Moreover, there are more villagers surnamed Yang in Baimuke Village, so Baimuke Village is called Yangjia Wazi ( ШШШ^). Rongsheng Village is 1,600 to 1,950 meters above sea level. Many large mountains makes the village scattered on the top of the mountain, mountainside, foot and depression. Among them, the villages located in the gentle mountainous area have a large living population, up to thousands of people, while the villages located in the steep mountainous area have a small population, about 100 people. Baimuke Village is a small village, located in the narrow area of depression, so the population is small. By the end of 2018, the village has only 20 households with 72 people. Since the 1980s, Baimuke Village are facing water shortage from January to April every year, which means that the villagers of the village spend up to a third of the year going to the water source "waiting for water"1 to obtain groundwater resources to meet the needs of daily life and agricultural production. By 2003, with the completion of the Nasa Creek' s JM) water diversion project, the river at the foot of the mountain was diverted 1,820 meters upstream to Rongsheng Village. Apart from that, the government in the village built multiple reservoirs used to store water during abundant water season and release water during water lack season, making the water shortage and
1 "Waiting for water" refers to the behavior of people taking turns to wait for water from wells and
fill it with water storage tools during the water shortage period. It has a certain code of conduct, which is called "keeping water" (^Ж) in the study of Tai Wenze et al. This paper uses the concept of "waiting for water" based on the expression of local society.
seasonal uneven distribution problems of Baimuke Village effectively alleviate. By around 2010, the migrant of a large number of young workers in Baimuke Village reduced the village population, which led to the decline of tobacco planting industry. Besides, The reduction of water used for water diversion and production has also greatly alleviated the water difficulties in the winter and spring seasons, and the villagers' "waiting for water" behavior has also disappeared.
Relying on shoulders to carry water home from the water source is the way to use water resources in Baimuke village. In the more than 30 years of "waiting for water" in Baimuke Village, there was no tap water in the village, nor was the groundwater from the water source to the pipeline facilities of each household. The villagers could only rely on the way to carry the water storage tools full of water home. On the one hand, this traditional way of transporting water made people have to go to the water source in both dry season and rainy season, and "waiting for water" became people's daily life. On the other hand, this way was also conducive to the allocation of the resources in the village, that is, the villagers could use the bucket to collect the water in the water source during this period of time to transport the water full of water storage tools home first, and then returned to the water source to continue to "wait for water", if the villagers had land or work tasks near the wells they could also carry out some agricultural work when "waiting for water". In addition, the villagers would also gather by the well when "waiting for water" to communicate and share information with each other, which made the well have the significance of social connection as a public space.
It can be said that "waiting for water" is not only the daily practice of the villagers of Baimuke Village in a specific period, but also the collective behavior of the village society which is related to the village relationship, local order and the social significance of public space, and has strong regional characteristics. Therefore, this paper takes the practice of "waiting for water" in Baimuke Village as the starting point, and on the basis of analyzing the background of "waiting for water" in villagers, it sees the village norms and social order construction around the use of water resources.
Background of "waiting for water" behavior in mountain villages
The practice of "waiting for water" in Baimuke Village belongs to the product of a specific historical period. The generation of "waiting for water" behavior in the village is related to the local climate conditions, water distribution and livelihood mode.
First of all, the precipitation characteristics of less rain in winter and spring, and heavy rain in summer and autumn are the climatic conditions of "waiting for water" in Baimuke Village. Different from northwest China, where less rainfall
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leads to water shortage, Baimuke Village belongs to a middle temperate monsoon climate, with obvious seasonal characteristics of rainfall, that is, less winter and spring rainfall and more rainfall in summer and autumn, which makes people's "waiting for water" behavior show seasonal accordingly. The water used in the production and living of the villagers in Baimuke Village mainly comes from groundwater and natural rainfall, and natural rainfall directly affects the size of groundwater water, that is, the groundwater water is large when the rainfall is more, while the groundwater water is small when the rainfall is less. The seasonal imbalance of rainfall has aggravated the shortage of water resources in winter and spring in Baimuke village, which means that villagers can only rely on groundwater to meet their daily production and life needs in winter and spring. In the drought, due to the fact that the groundwater water output is small, it takes time to "waiting for water", and the villagers will only transport the water home after the water quantity accumulates more.
Secondly, water source is scattered and water volume of the nearby water source is small which is the real situation of "waiting for water" in Baimuke village. Bamuke village is adjacent to the top of the mountain, and the high terrain makes it have no water such as rivers and lakes except the groundwater outlet. There is only one well used in the village all the year round, namely Yangjia Dajing(t^^^#), which is located behind the residential houses at the highest part of the village, and the farthest one is within five or six minutes' walk. Although Yangjia Dajing is called Dajing (namely a big well in English), it is only a well with a capacity of about 250L and a diversion pipe the thickness of a fist. It was not expanded until around 2003 into a reservoir with a capacity of about 3,000 L. In the rainy season the water output of Yangjia Dajing can not only meet the village, surplus water will flow from the well outlet to low valley, while in the dry season the well water is far from meeting the needs of the village, according to villagers described that the water in the pipe was thinner than the little thumb, and an hour of water output can only fill local commonly used two plastic bucket, about 25L. The real situation of the small water quantity in the dry season makes people have to go to the water sources of other places when the water consumption is large. In addition to the Yangjia Dajing, the villagers of Baimuke Village also get water from Yimoluo(#^^), Laocaodong(^tf^), Chushuidi(^7K№), Lixin Creek(^f^zhM), Lishu River(^^^M), etc. , but people rarely go to these places to fetch water. Each family goes out to fetch water a total of 10 to 20 times a year, because the water sources are far from Baimuke village while the water output of those which are not too far away is very small, and these water sources
are also supplied to villagers in other villages. For example, Yimoluo is located behind the depression of Baimuke Village, and it takes 15 to 20 minutes to walk down from Baimuke Village to Yimoluo, while 30 minutes to go up; Laocaodong, located on the mountain of Baimuke Village, takes 20 minutes to go up and 10 minutes to go down; Chushuidi is located behind Qinglong Mountain next to Baimuke Village, which takes 30 to 40 minutes to go or return; Lixin Creek is located in another group of villagers in Rongsheng Village Committee, which takes about an hour to go or return; Lishu River is located at the foot of the township government, and it takes 1 hour to walk down and more than 2 hours to go up. Among them, the hydraulic discharge of Yimoluo, Laocaodong and Chushuidi is as small as Yangjia Dajing, for which it takes a long time to collect water. While the Lixin Creek and Lishu River is far, so that only farmers who are able to get more water at one time will go to these two water sources. For most farmers, it is not cost-effective to get water in the distance, so the villagers mostly choose to collect water at Yangjia Dajing.
Basic Situation of Water Intake Point in Baimuke Village
Water Source Distribution Site Water Quantity Time Taken to Reach The Destination Time Taken to Return Frequency of Water Intake by Villagers
Yangjia Dajing In the village Small Within minutes 5 Within 5 minutes Highest
Yimoluo In the village committee Small 15 to minutes 20 30 minutes Lower
Laocaodong At the junction with neighboring townships Small 20 minutes 10 minutes Lower
Chushuidi At the junction with neighboring townships Small 30 to minutes 40 30 to 40 minutes Lower
Lixin Creek (Ä^hM) In the village committee Big About 1 hour About 1 hour Occasional
Lishu River (mn^M) In the territory of Township Big About 1 hour More than two hours Occasional
Data source: Based on the author's field survey data in 2018.
Thirdly, the large demand for water quantity in spring tobacco seedling is the key reason for "waiting for water" in Baimuke Village. Since the 1980s, the main livelihood of Baimuke Village is farming and family feeding, among which the crops are mainly corn and potatoes, and cash crops are tobacco, feeding livestock like pigs, less cattle and sheep. Water has a great impact on the agricultural production of Baimuke Village. For example, corn and other crops in Baimuke Village are mostly planted when the land is wet after rainfall. With the arrival of the rainy season, the rainfall can meet the growth and development of all crops and the drinking needs of livestock. In the dry season, water is mainly used for the cultivation of tobacco seedlings, the drinking of livestock, and the daily needs of families. According to the villagers YXF, every year from January to April her family is cultivating tobacco seedlings, tobacco seedlings need to water every 3 days, her home for 8 acres of tobacco seedlings need to water 20 buckets of water; she feeds two big pigs and two little pigs, which need 4 buckets of water a day. If the villagers raise cattle (generally only 1 cattle), it needs 2 buckets of water a day; in daily life, cooking and drinking need 2 buckets of water every day. It can be seen that YXF's family needs about 26 buckets of water, about 325L, during the day of watering the tobacco seedlings, and it usually only needs 6-8 buckets of water per day, just like the farmers who do not grow tobacco. It can be seen that for the villagers of Baimuke Village, the watering water for tobacco seedlings is the main destination of water for farmers in the dry season. After 2010, the reduction of tobacco farmers and the disappearance of collecting water in the village can be proved to a certain extent.
It can be said that "waiting for water" is the result of the villagers of Baimuke Village to adapt to nature and local ecology in the long-term history. "Waiting for water" has become a way of life for people, and in countless practices has also derived from the water intake mode connected with the geographical environment, livelihood characteristics, cultural background of the mountains.
Construction of local social order in the behavior of "waiting for water"
The study conducted by Tai Wenze on a water-deficient village in northwest China believes that "the social significance of abundant water and spring water is concentrated in the 'keeping water' life during drought"[11-96], and puts forward that "First come, first served" is the basic principle of " keeping water ", the behavior in "keeping water" makes the drought-time water spring have the significance of the village communication moral cultivation stage"[11-97]. The "keeping water" here is the same as "waiting for water" in this article. Although the field point of this
paper is Baimuke Village in Wumeng Mountain, southwest China, a series of unwritten village norms have been formed in the practice of "waiting for water". Among them, "First come, first served." is the most important principle of "waiting for water", which is not only related to the order of various households taking turns to collect water, but also involves the relationship between people, moral ethics and village order.
The order of "waiting for water" is determined by the order of farmers placing their buckets and other water storage tools in wells. During the drought, there would be always villagers collecting water next to the well. By asking the villagers who collected water, they could know who had put the water storage tools next to the well. In addition, because each villagers will do different marks on their own water storage tools to show the difference, usually by tying different colors of wool or tying different knots, these marks can allow the host to find his or her water storage tool after it lost, and the villagers can also by identifying the bucket to know what families have lined up "waiting for water".
At the same time, the "waiting for water" will be supervised by villagers waiting for water. After placing the water receiving tool in the well, the villagers spontaneously took turns to wait for the water receiving. Villagers can do other farm work when it is not their turn to receive the water, and upon a turn to get it, someone has to wait by the well, either an adult or a child. The purpose of doing this, on the one hand, is to connect the water in time, not to let the water loss, on the other hand, is to prevent other families to jump the queue to catch water or take the accumulated water away. According to the villagers, if no one waits by the well to catch water when it's your turn to catch water, the water may be collected by other passing villagers, and you have to queue up again to catch water.
In addition, the length of time the villagers collect water and the amount of water are determined by the number of water storage tools that the villagers send to the well. Villagers in Baimuke Village, in order to receive more water when "waiting for water" in the dry season, will specially buy some water storage tools. The commonly used water storage tools that are easy to move to the well include open plastic buckets, plastic buckets that can be sealed, large basins, big pots, plastic water tanks, big teapots and so on. Villagers need to place their spare water storage tools beside the well before it's their turn to collect water. Generally, the water storage tools in each household are concentrated. When it is the turn to receive the water, the villagers can only fill the water storage tools that have been placed next to the well, otherwise it will cause the dissatisfaction of the next water collector. This principle is strictly followed during the day, but at night, without the supervision of the other villagers, the people who collect the water not only fill
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the tools placed next to the well with water in advance, but also fill the unmovable storage containers by transporting water.
Although the order of "waiting for water" in the dry season is strictly observed by the villagers of Baimuke Village, the phenomenon of "giving water" (namely "let the other person get the water first") will also exist as appropriate. The situation of "giving water" exists in villagers in the same village as well as the villagers from different villages. For people in the same village, no one is willing to "borrow water" unless there is no water in the urgent need of water. Even if the occasional "borrowing of water" occurs, the amount of water borrowed is very small, usually a teapot or a bucket of water. When people from other villages come to the well and wait for water in the village, if there are few people "waiting for water" at this time, then the people from other villages will choose to wait, and follow the principle of "First come, first served", but they often choose to go to other water sources to "wait for water" if there are too many people "waiting for water". If the person who is collecting water is related to the village outside, the person who is collecting water can "give water" to the villagers, that is, let the man from other village fill their own water storage tools, usually one or two buckets of water. But the water given to others by the person who is receiving water must be deducted from the prescribed amount of water he should receive, namely that he needs to take one or two less buckets to ensure that the next person will receive the water on time.
Based on the above analysis, it can be seen that a set of "waiting for water" orders is formed around the practical activity of "waiting for water" integrated into daily life in Baimuke Village, which is closely related to the moral ethics and social relations of the village. Specifically, on the one hand, the villagers require that the order of "waiting for water" should be strictly observed, and on the other hand, considering human feelings, face, relatives, etc., they also allow appropriate behavior of crossing the line. When the appropriate behavior of crossing the line exceeds the allowable range, the village norms do not work.
In the practice of "waiting for water" in Baimuke Village, the behavior anomie occurs mainly about people jumping the queue to seize water supply or receiving too much water in order to obtain more water resources. Among them, collecting too much water connection can be divided into two situations, including the actual water supply exceeds the water storage tool capacity used in the queue and the person does not reduce water supply accordingly after "giving water". In the situation of "crossing the line", the villagers give their discourse maintenance by means of scolding or fighting. The scolding usually occurs between the hostess of the two families, and the fighting between two families will evolve to a struggle
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between two clans. These behaviors of crossing the line will eventually be mediated with the help of intermediaries or village cadres, but whether it is scolding or fighting, the contradictions caused by the competition for water resources will affect the harmony and stability of interpersonal relations in the village for a long time, which will also leave a bad impression on other villagers. On the one hand, the anomie behavior in "waiting for water" is caused by the shortage of water resources, and on the other hand, it is related to the common order of "waiting for water" in the village that does not have compulsory effect. But in general, both the construction of the order of "waiting for water" and the occurrence of disorderly behavior reflect the lack of water resources in Baimuke Village of Wumeng Mountain area and people's value of water resources.
Conclusion. The study of the practice of "waiting for water" in the mountain village in Wumeng Mountain area shows that under the background of the special geographical and ecological environment and livelihood mode, "water" once became the social network center in the village, and "well" also became a public space for people to gather, chat and exchange information. For villages that lack local beliefs and clear constraints of village rules and regulations, the practice of "waiting for water" has constructed a set of order system extending from the interior of the village to the surrounding villages, which is related to the moral ethics of the village and the distance between people, and has become a cultural representation of local significance. In the modern situation of population outflow and livelihood changes, the traditional "waiting for water" order is deconstructed, and new water use models and norms are generated. Therefore, with "water" as the center of the local changes to observe and discuss how remote mountain village step by step into the modernization process provides the thinking direction and research perspective.
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