Trends in Non-agricultural Work Using Skills: Case Study of Bai People Village in Heqing, Yunnan, China

Abstract

 Ceurrent trends in non-agricultural work are the subject of a case study on a village of the Bai people in Heqing County, Yunnan Province, China. Non-agricultural work has continued since the late Qing dynasty with non-agricultural work in the construction industry, including carpentry, thriving. Prior to the Republic of China, local construction was carried out from within the county and the neighboring county of Lijiang. The impetus for change was government recruitment of road construction workers in Zhongdian (Gyalthang) in 1957. In 1970, the village began to receive frequent requests for construction work within Zhongdian. Since the initiation of economic reforms in China, villagers have continued to build in their hometowns of Heqing County, Lijiang, and Diqing Tibetan autonomous prefecture, including Zhongdian. According to two surveys of all households conducted in 2007 and 2021, the construction industry has been affected by the economic situation. Although there has been a slight decrease in construction demand, the construction industry, including carpenters, continues to prosper even today. After the economic reforms in China, non-agricultural work using skills spread from carpentry to silver handcrafts and automobile repairs. A 2021 survey found a small number of villagers working in factories in Taizhou, Zhejiang. The background to this is a rapid spread of small electric trucks from around 2014. As a result, non-agricultural work without skills in villages, such as driving agricultural trucks has almost disappeared. Following the diffusion of small electric trucks among households, demand in the village for transportation using agricultural trucks disappeared. Residents engaging in non-agricultural work using agricultural trucks did not have skills, so they chose factory work in coastal areas where wages were relatively high. Non-agricultural work using skills was traditionally considered necessary for villagers to survive in China's outlying regions.