THE WAY OF CULTURAL BRAND BUILDING OF YUNNAN ETHNIC MINORITIES - A CASE STUDY OF THE " MOH-NIN-HEI CARNIVAL" OF THE WA NATIONALITY IN CANGYUAN WA AUTONOMOUS COUNTY

Abstract

The "Moh-Nin-Hei Carnival" organized by the Wa Autonomous County in Cangyuan, Lincang City, Yunnan Province, is regarded as a successful example of grassroots government's efforts in the ethnic festival industry. The purpose of this paper is to study the content and impact of the " Moh-Nin-Hei Carnival" so as to explore how local governments can build ethnic minority cultural brands. In the course of this research, the author utilized the observation method and the literature research method. The research found that: 1. The annual program of " Moh-Nin-Hei Carnival" is rich and diverse in content, and the festival organizers will make adjustments and changes to the content of the activities according to the trend of the times and the preferences of the public; in terms of the form of the program, it fully embodies the intermingling of ethnicity and fashion, and commercialized items are interspersed in the display of traditional Wa culture, which transforms the ancient festival into a festival industry that can bring huge economic benefits. 2. The success of the " Moh-Nin-Hei Carnival" has had a positive impact on local tourism, economy and society. 3. The local government has helped to promote minority cultures to the world stage in the following aspects: (1) Utilizing the cultural characteristics of minority cultures to enhance the attractiveness of tourism; (2) Rich and diversified contents of the festival, combining the inheritance of traditional culture with innovation to create a unique and energetic sense of cultural experience; (3) Effective use of multi-channel publicity for the festival; (4) High degree of cooperation between the local government departments and the local residents to help promote the local culture. Jointly helping to promote local culture to the whole country and the world; (5) Creating a unique, distinctive, cultural symbol that belongs only to the nation. This paper selects the festival activities of Wa ethnic group in Yunnan, and suggests that researchers can explore the strategies of ethnic minority cultural branding from other angles, such as: establishing ethnic cultural communities, using new media technology to establish a cultural branding network platform, etc., and also compare and contrast the similarities and differences in the strategies of China's ethnic minorities and those of other countries in the inheritance and building of ethnic cultural branding.