YNU ethnology project receives national funding

A total of 28 major National Social Science Foundation art projects recently got the green light -- including one from Yunnan University in Kunming, capital of China's  southwestern province of Yunnan -- according to an announcement by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

A project called "research on the integration of multi-ethnic art and the Chinese national identity" -- whose chief expert is Li Shiwu, a professor from the School of Ethnology and Sociology at Yunnan University -- was on the list and will receive national funds, YNU officials said.

They said this is the first project that has made it to the list of major National Social Science Foundation art projects from universities and colleges in Yunnan province.

The research focuses on the multi-ethnic artistic blending of 56 ethnic groups and their ancestors in China -- and its social and psychological functions in promoting the identity of the Chinese nation -- as its subject. The research looks at the comprehensive achievements related to multi-ethnic artistic integration and the identity of the Chinese nation.

Team members include Associate Professor Zhu Hu from East China Normal University, Professor Feng Wenkai from Inner Mongolia University, Professor Qin Xu from Zhejiang Conservatory of Music and Professor Gong Lijuan from Guangxi University for Nationalities.

YNU officials said that the project's listing reflects the  strength of research in the discipline of ethnology at YNU and provides a future direction for ethnology to open up other new disciplines.