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The Huashan Rock Art Site & The Local Ethnic Culture |
In the past, Chinese scholars who studied the Huashan rock art have generally focused their research on the interpretation of the motifs and the cultural meanings behind the images (e.g. Qin et al. 1987; Chen 2001). Distinctive from the mainstream Han ethnic culture, the local culture, which is thought to have produced this unique rock art, is considered to have been created by ethnic minorities of south-western China, who shared more resemblance to the ethnic groups of Southeast Asia than to the northern Chinese. The local ethnic minorities have a long and complicated history, and their names have been changed and differently recorded through time.
Detian waterfall, the international waterfall between China and Vietnam
The scenery of the
Zuojiang river valley
However, it is generally believed by Chinese scholars that an ancient group called Luo Yue was responsible for producing the Huashan rock art site between the Warring States Period (403–221 BCE) and Eastern Han dynasty (26-220 CE) (Qin et al. 1987: 137). In many areas of the world the political events in the area where rock art is situated are unknown for the time the rock art was produced. The assumption is that the politics of the area were static and uneventful. However, both historical and archaeological sources prove that this was not the case in the Guangxi area in the period when the Huashan rock art is presumed to have been painted. Therefore, a brief discussion of the historical and archaeological background of this area helps to better understand the ethnic culture of the Luo Yue people.
Local Zhuang girls singing in
their traditional costume
A local in the
Huashan area
Local life in the
Huashan area
The typical karst typography landscape
in the Huashan area
→
Huashan Rock Art Index
→
China Rock Art Archive
→
Bradshaw Foundation
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