Lesser Dragons: Minority Peoples of China

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Lesser Dragonsis a timely introduction to the fascinating and complex world of China's `national minorities'. Based on detailed research, including the author's first-hand fieldwork in several minority areas, it introduces the major non-Han peoples of China, including the Mongols, the Tibetans, the Uyghurs of Xinjiang and the Manchus, and traces the evolution of their relationship with the Han Chinese majority. Each chapter discusses one of the most important minority groups, while an additional chapter is devoted to the parallel but different world of inter-ethnic relations in Taiwan.

Lesser Dragons will interest anyone who wishes to understand the reality behind the region's conflicts that are increasingly being reported in the Western media, including the tense security situation in Xinjiang, China's attitude to Tibet and the Dalai Lama, and the resistance of Mongolian herders to the loss of their grasslands. It examines cliches, such as those found in the Chinese press that portray the ethnic minorities as colourful but marginal people, and shows how their religions, cultures and above all their languages mark them out as distinct from the Chinese majority yet endangered by forces of integration.

Reviews

The relationship between majority and minority ethnic populations has challenged many nations. In Lesser Dragons, Michael Dillon provides a highly readable account of the modern Chinese approach. The well researchedbook is informative on the Chinese experience and more widely relevant for its insights on the pros and cons of different approaches. * Asian Affairs *
In Lesser Dragons, Michael Dillon demonstrates how divergent historical contexts, as well as the politics of ethnic classification in the PRC, have come to bear on contemporary ethnic minority identities and relationships with the state . . . Overall Lesser Dragons is a comprehensive overview of minority peoples of China. * China Review International *
Lesser Dragons: Minority Peoples of China explores the recent history of a dozen or so ethnic groups scattered across Chinas continental periphery and in various parts of China proper. It devotes separate chapters to the largest and most prominent of these groups (Tibetan, Mongol, Uighur, Hui, Miao, and Manchu), as well as to Han subgroups such as the Hakka people in Taiwan and on the mainland. Written in a fluid style and unburdened by disciplinary jargon, it is replete with vivid descriptions of geography, ethnography, and other relevant subjects that general readers will find enlightening. Indeed, considering that very few social scientists have studied the full array of Chinas minority regions and cultures, it can serve as a handy reference work for almost anyone, including specialists, in search of a comprehensive introduction to the subject. * New Books Asia *
This is an informative book . . . deft in covering an immense terrain. It will be of interest to many readers, particularly those interested in the politics of Chinas ethnic minorities a topic of enduring fascination. * Matthew S. Erie *

Author Bio

Michael Dillon was founding director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at Durham University and has been a visiting professor at Tsinghua University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society, and a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.