Leaders of Clans and Educated Local Functionaries Emerge as a New Leading Stratum

It is true that the percentage of Yi cadres among all functionaries in Liangshan Prefecture is still quite low. Though 46 percent of the population in Liangshan are Yi, the minority cadres make up only 28.6 percent. Among the enterprise cadres they constitute only 9.6 percent (He Mingwei 1996, 16—18), and only one of sixty directors of enterprises in Liangshan is Yi (Yang Hui 1995, 50—52).

But there is a growing number of qualified Yi people taking over responsible functions and endeavoring to act in the interest of their nationality. The stratum driving the growth of ethnicity is the educated stratum among the non-Han peoples; that upper stratum is generally the primary supporter of ethnicity. Establishment of a school system in and for the minority areas, in order to educate skilled people needed locally, has significantly increased the number of people belonging to this stratum. Of course, higher education is in many ways designed to integrate members of non-Han peoples into the community of Chinese-language speakers and Chinese culture (through the use of the Chinese languages and through having institutions of higher education in Han Chinese areas); but in recent years, this

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educated stratum increasingly has come to identify itself again with the culture, values, and traditions of their own peoples. The liberalization process since 1979 has led to the articulation of ethnonational interests among this stratum. Among the Yi, this “ethnic revival” manifested itself at the outset in cultural demands, but political issues have begun to be discussed as well.