Our Courtyard - Bai people of South West China

Abstract

This documentary opens the gate to a courtyard and the lives of the Yang family as they look into the past and towards the future for guidance on how to secure a home in post-reform China. Yang used to live with his two uncles in his ancestral courtyard home until the Land Reform swept the country in the 1950's. As a result of the collectivization that ensued, his uncles were assigned `landlord´ class status, stripped of their property rights and evicted. Because he enjoyed `middle peasant´ status, Yang was allowed to stay. However, he was force to share the Yang clan courtyard with three poor peasant families, and has been living with them ever since. Today in post-Reform China's market economy, property rights have been restored and many Chinese are seeking to better their living conditions. The aging Yang now has the opportunity to buy back a portion of his family courtyard. At the same time, Yang's son dreams of building a courtyard home by the lake. This documentary opens the gate to the Yang ancestral courtyard and sheds light on the lives and emotions of the family as they look into the past and towards the future for guidance on how to secure a home in which they and the future generations of Yangs can continue to prosper.

Keywords

• China
• Bai ethnic minority
• kinship
• gender
• age
• everyday life