An Analysis of the Multiple-interaction Characteristics of Christian Indigenization in the Ethnic Minority Areas of Southwest China: A Case Study of the Lahu Funeral Ceremony in G County of Southwest Yunnan

Abstract

Christian indigenization in the ethnic minority areas of Southwest China is part of the culture change of the ethnic minorities. There appear in the Lahu funeral culture the changes of cremation and ground burial being practiced in parallel, erecting a cross and at the same time building a tomb and setting up a tombstone of typical Han style. Furthermore, the traditional Lahu concept of “the souls returning to the land of the ancestors” is found being replaced by or mixed with concepts of “the souls going to heaven” and “the souls residing in the tomb”. These changes reflect that Christian indigenization in the ethnic minority areas of Southwest China is not a two-way interaction of Christianity and the culture of a specific ethnic minority, but the multiple interaction and fusion of Christianity, the culture of the ethnic minority and cultures of the surrounding peoples.