Change of Swidden Farming and its Ethnoecological Meanings:The Case Study of a Yi Village in Yuanjiang County,Yunnan Province

Based on field work in Shansuzuo village located in Yuanjiang county of Yuxi City,this paper attempts to review great changes that swidden farming has undergone and tries to probe into its ethnoecological meanings.The research findings show that swidden farming practised by Yi people of the study area,is actually a means of livelihood conforming with ecological principles,which embodies some seemingly plain but profound ecological wisdom as follows:1)rational utilization of resources to maintain the balance between human beings and forest ecosystems;2)precautions against fire to avoid ecological disaster in swidden farming;3)diversified exploitation of forest resource to prevent overuse or exhaustion of certain resource.Nevertheless,swidden farming has undergone drastic changes induced by rapid social advancement,resulting in its eventual replacement by agro-forestry in Shansuzuo village.