Moso

As a result, marriage and tisese have both become legitimate forms of sexual union and reproduction in Moso society, with tisese being the most dominant practice.

Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008

Sono and Moso | Miette's Bedtime Story Podcast front page archive about contact

Sono and Moso | Miette's Bedtime Story Podcast 2010

This is vividly illustrated by the Moso society in Ninglang and their views on sexual union.

Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008

The case of Moso hence illustrates the dynamics of native society and negotiations between local and state powers.

Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008

Chuan-Kang Shih, "Genesis of Marriage among the Moso and Empire-Building in Late Imperial China," The Journal of Asian Studies 60, no. 2 (May 2001): 381-412. back

Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008

Unlike most communities in the world, the Moso did not have the marriage system before the Mongol conquest, but a system of visitation called tisese (to walk back and forth).

Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008

While in many aspects sinicization seemed dominant in Yunnan, tisese, a symbol of native culture, remains the primary institution for the Moso people. 213 The dual sexual union in the Moso people serves as a vivid illustration of the process of "middle ground," a term invented in American frontier studies.

Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008

It is also what distinguishes the Moso people from other ethnic groups.

Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008

The Mongol introduction of marriage to the Moso elite in the thirteenth century and the reform of the native chieftain system by the Qing state made marriage a prerequisite for the succession of chieftainship.

Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Yunnan (Second Century BCE to Twentieth Century CE) 2008

Moso bamboo Phyllostachys pubescens is not one of the endangered bamboo species.

Fab Fabrics: Greenyarn’s Bamboo Ecofabric 2009