1This dissertation presents a localised perspective of contemporary multi-ethnic rural Chinese society. Based on a village ethnography in the mountains north of Lijiang, deep in north-western Yunnan, within the region of the Tibetan-Yi Corridor, this research aims to contextualise the conception of ‘Naxi minority nationality’ (naxizu 纳西族). By studying the territorial practices of this small community in the field of rituals and kinship, it demonstrates that ‘being Naxi’ is defined beyond the state’s sole standardised vision of minorities in China and that it also represents a particular ‘way of life’. Based on a localised study of Naxi kinship, the analysis of the concept of lineage coq-o and of its ritual functions questions the bond inhabitants form with their territory within the encompassing political and cultural framework. Beyond lineage structure, the concepts of yagoq (home, family) and yagoq-xi (kin), as well as the system of patrilineal ancestor worship, contribute to questioning the matrilineal nature of some practices. These concepts test the closeness of kinship groups relations and their link to the territory. The local social system thus revealed shows the complexity of kinship relations and the impossibility of considering minzu as hermetic and fixed groups. It also reveals the constant reshuffling of local groups whose many members have diverse geographic and cultural origins. Naxi kinship appears as an adaptable social relationship that shows ‘flexible’ global patrilineality that accommodates the use of temporary features of matrilineality, such as uxorilocal marriage. The rites support this kinship by allowing the inclusion of outsiders. This survey, spread over four years from 2016 to 2020 and involving several long immersive field trips, was conducted just before the pandemic. It presents an in-depth and invaluable look at this rural society which has been inaccessible over the last two years.