ABSTRACT
By the nineteenth century, Li people were found largely in the Wuzhishan area of Hainan Island. They practiced slash-and-burn agriculture and lived under headmen who were known to the Qing government. By the last decades of the nineteenth century, Qing military stationing, missionary education, and the introduction of paddy farming had shifted priorities to commercial development. The new leadership was drawn into the Japanese invasion and the internal war between the Communist and Nationalist forces, while, at the same time, an increasing public awareness of the Li people’s indigenous ethnicity was promoted by campaigns that attempted to educate them. In the national context, the indigenous character of the Li people became better known than their economic transformation. However, opening the Wuzhishan area to outside influence has eroded traditional ways of life. A very significant change was introduced by writing. The increasing use of writing in religious practices was gradually replacing indigenous religious rituals in which texts had played no part.
