Tian Xintao, aged 75, was born in Daba Township in Yongshun County. Encouraged by her father, she attended school, first in Yongshun and Huayuan, and later in Changsha, the provincial capital of Hunan Province, and is one of a very limited number of Tujia women to have acquired a good education in that period. After Liberation she trained as a teacher and taught at the Henan Teacher Training College in Xinxiang for many years from 1953 to 1999. She occupies a key role in recent Tujia history as it was through her petitioning, whilst attending the National Day celebrations in Beijing as a delegate in 1950, that research into the distinct ethnic identity of the Tujia was initiated by the government. This culminated in the formal recognition of the Tujia in 1957 as one of China's 55 ethnic minorities. Although Mrs Tian has lived outside the Tujia heartland areas for some 50 years, she retains vivid memories of her time there, as narrated in Stories of Yongshun and Hunting a Tiger, and has extensive knowledge of traditional culture. The language archive includes her performance of kujia, the cycle of songs wailed by the bride before and during her wedding (see Kujia Part 1 and Part 2). She is seen here wearing traditional Tujia clothing.
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