Ethnic Residential Segregation: The Migration and Settlement of Sanqiao People of a Marginal Ethnic Group, and the Construction of Ethnic Identity

Sanqiao People is the marginal ethnic group who moved from Qiuli, Jingzhou of Hunan Province to the border areas of Liping and Jinping counties in Southwestern Guizhou Province because of the exploitation of mountain areas along Qingshui River during the Qing Dynasty. The patterns of migration and settlement and ethnic residential segregation of Sanqiao People are both materialized metaphor of cooperation, distinction, resistance generated in resources competition in the area, as well as a cultural protection and a cultural expression for the necessity of ethnic survival. The pattern of ethnic residential segregation in co-living environment of multiple ethnic groups is not only a form of ethnic boundary distinction, also a necessary form of constructing ethnic identity.