Abstract
Yao people have been self-sufficient through the cultivation of terraces for over 600 years in Dazhai village Guangxi Prefecture of China. As the village assigns tracts of forests to households, it regards water sources and the forest plots as part of a contract responsibility system, and manages the land resources as collectively owned. This paper discusses the following two issues: First, to study the traditional values and regulations that sustain the system of customary law over forest water sources in Dazhai village; second, to investigate the village commons that manages natural resources in the modern life of Dazhai village.
