Abstract: there are various survival forms and cultures in ethnic minority areas, and there are multiple levels of values that affect society. Although Yunnan Province is a relatively prominent ethnic gathering area of “border, poverty, few and poverty”, it also has a long history of ethnic tolerance and symbiosis. Based on the viewpoint that social existence determines social consciousness in Marxist theory, this paper analyzes the whole and classification of the social survival form in Yunnan ethnic areas, explores the influence of the difference of ethnic survival and development on the cultivation of socialist core values, and provides reference for the study of the same law in other ethnic areas.

Key words: ethnic areas, socialist core values, harmonious values