In the Manchu village of Sanjiazi, China, there is a population of a little over 1,000 people. Three-fourths of the people in this village identify themselves as part of the Manchu culture; however, only 18 people in the entire village are able to speak Manchu fluently. During the 17th century all the villagers could speak Manchu, but due to the drastic increase in the predominance of the Mandarin Chinese language and culture, the majority of the villagers abandoned their native language and started to learn Mandarin. By learning Mandarin, it was easier to get jobs, communicate with other people from outside the village, and understand what was going on politically and economically in the country. Throughout the generations, therefore, the number of people who learned Manchu kept getting smaller and smaller because of the language’s relative unimportance in society. To try to preserve the language, the Manchu people set up an elementary school that teaches the language. Only 76 people go to this school, however, which is obviously not enough people in order to save the language. Soon, the entire Manchu language will be lost, as well as the culture since the most of the Manchus have forgone their native customs and taken up Mandarin ones in order to fit in to Chinese society. There are no longer any Manchu-style homes in the village, less people own or wear ethnically Manchu dresses, and Manchu rituals are not practiced as often as they used to be. Sadly, it is inevitable that the Manchu culture be lost to history, ceasing to exist in the near future.
I think you presented the information well. It's interesting that there is this village in china. I never knew about this so I guess your blog was informative, however I think it may be possible to revitalize if a big enough movement is created, and they say if there is a will there's a way.
ReplyDeleteI like how you presented a language that was endangered as a result of a larger majority language taking over and "crushing" the minority language. I thought your blog was informative as well I had never heard of this language and culture before.
ReplyDeleteWow, only 18 out of 1000 people speak it fluently? I think this just goes to show that the passing of a language down to younger generations is vital for a language to continue surviving in a region that is ruled by an even larger language. However, it is not surprising that people choose to switch over to the dominant language, Chinese, since it is necessary for communication and jobs.
ReplyDeleteI think this entry alludes to an interesting idea to ponder; what's the difference between giving up one's culture for practical purposes and doing the same for societal purposes? Clearly, there is a link between the two in this case. However, I wonder if there was not an urgency to switch to the majority language for economic reasons, whether the language would still be endangered. On the other hand, societal pressure to do so may be just as great or even greater in forcing people to forgo their heritages. After all, peer pressure is present in almost any culture regarding a vast variety of issues.
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