The Ho people of Laos represent a historically formed Sino-indigenous ethnic community that migrated from China's southwestern frontier to Laos,serving as a paradigmatic case of overseas cohesion between Han and non-Han Chinese populations.Their ethnic identity has been shaped through Laos' ethnic identification system and national policies,with local governments consistently recognizing the Ho as significant ethnic constituents in both ideology and practice.Social boundaries have reinforced the Ho's reflexive self-identification,while elite organizations under state auspices orchestrate collective performances of traditional culture across subgroups to express ethnic identity.The Spring Festival "Unity Banquet" exemplifies interactive processes among Ho subgroups and between the Ho community and the state,where Chinese cultural elements,Lao mainstream culture,and subgroup traditionsintermingle,reflecting the Ho's survival strategies and cultural consciousness within Laos' ethnic policy framework.This demonstrates that the Ho's "pluralistic unity" identity emerges from the interplay of state construction and self-construction,with subgroups evolving from "spontaneous community" to "self-conscious community" and finally "self-determining community" through multilayered interactions.Historically shared Chinese cultural practices among subgroups form the foundation for Ho identity expression,while their identity construction process itself disseminates core Chinese cultural values.
