ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the causality in terms of the local scheme of time, according to which the Kachin regulate their activities rhythmically. It discusses a Kachin cultural model of nature and environment. The chapter focuses on the Jinghpaw branch in China, most of whom live in Tongbiguan and Kachang Townships, Yunnan Province. The time scheme characterizes the relations between humans and nature/environment into a rhythmic pattern: The seasonal rhythm defines human activities within a year, and the divination table specifies those within a day and a night. According to these rhythms, people plan their activities and formulate their relations with the surroundings, generating a synchronization among humans, other creatures, and the physical environment. Kachin animal-sacrifice makers treat Chinese folk belief as a resource for daily life regarding relations between humans and spirits. From the Chinese, the Kachin learned to associate catastrophic environment changes with social-historical changes.
