Abstract: First from defining the concepts of “development” and “ethnic development”,this paper points out that the ethnic development is the whole and systematic change of ethnic social form,especially the change from traditional society into modern society.The paper further analyzes the subjective,historical,cultural,and homogeneous features of ethnic development and summarizes the theories of ethnic development after liberation,that is,from the theory of political equality to unbalanced economic development and to an over-all harmonious development,and gives them brief comments.It is pointed out that to promote the theoretical innovation of ethnic development,attention should be given to its subjective position,cultural reconstruction,and human value increase.

Key words: ethnic development, theories, reflection