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The Yi Nationality |
The Yi nationality has a population of 6,570, 000, mainly distributed over Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. The Yis are mainly engaged in agriculture, but animal rearing is important, too. They have made unique contributions in such areas as agriculture,astronomy,calendar, meteorology and medicine. The Yis have their own spoken and written language.They have produced a great number of important historical and literary works. Their singing and dancing style is always distinctive - vigorous and unsophisticated.
The Yi nationality has lived for generations among the high mountain ridges in southwest China. A harsh environment has forged the Yi people's characters: they are determined,straightforward, brave and strong. The Yis who live in concentrated communities in the Liangshan area proudly call themselves "magic eagles," and the eagle is indeed a symbol of the Yis' courageous spirit.
The Yi nationality has a long history. They had their own spoken and written language very early in history. Their literature is one of several in China that go back a long way. Documents on history, religion, literature and medicine written in the Yi language are a valuable cultural legacy.Their mature language, complete calendar, documentary achievement and brilliant culture were greatly admired by other nationalities as early as 200 B.C.
Their costumes, which vary a great deal in style and color, reflect the Yis' traditional culture and sense of style. Yi people living in different areas have evolved different costumes and customs, which can be divided on a geological basis into the Liangshan, Wumengshan,Honghe, southeast Yunnan, west Yunnan, and Chuxiong types.
The Liangshan costumes are simple and unsophisticated. More than anywhere else, this area shows the Yi costume as it always has been. The girls' colorful head scarves, giving expression to their wisdom and love for beauty, are seen as the symbol of freedom and happiness by the local people. Adult men often leave a long lock of hair at the back of their head. Known as "heavenly bodhisattva," it symbolizes that a man's dignity is sacred and should not be tampered with. They also like to wear a bluish cloth turban with the end tied into a cone which juts out from the right side of the forehead. Known as the "hero's knot," this is to display their courageous spirit.
Fire worship and sacrifice is very popular in all Yi communities. The Yis worship fire believing that fire can purify everything. It also symbolizes the Yis' pursuit for brightness. The Yis in the Liangshan area regard the fireplace in the house as the holy place where the God of Fire lives, and no one is allawed to tread within the sacred area.
The Torch Festival is the most widespread traditional holiday among the Yis. It is usually held on June 24 or 25 of the lunar calendar. At every Torch Festival, all the Yi people dress up in their holiday best to sing and dance and hold horse-racing and wrestling competitions.When night falls, they move around their houses and fields with torches in hand. Circling the blazing bonfire,they sing and dance enthusiastically until daybreak, praying for a prosperous year and banishing the ghosts and evil spirits.
The Flower Sticking Festival of the Yis in Dayao County of Yunnan province is unusual.Every year on lunar February 8, the Yi people will always gather from all around at the Tanhuashan Mountain, where they pick flowers to put in their hair or stick in their doors. They stamp their feet and sing celebrating the good things in life and hoping for good times ahead.The festival is held in memory of a Yi girl named "Miyilu" who sacrificed herself to save her Yi sisters in ancient times.
There are many different wedding ceremonies amongst the Yis.Among these living in the Liangshan area, an old custom of "snatching the bride" is still commonly carried out. At the time of the wedding, a dozen or so strong men are chosen from among the relatives and friends of the groom's family. Led by the groom's brother, they go to meet the bride at her home bringing gifts of meat and wine. Hearing the news of their coming, members of the bride's side hide behind the door with buckets of water. As soon as the bride-snatching group arrives, they pour the water right over them. The bride-snatchers, don't seem to worry at all about the ambush, but press on eagerly into the courtyard. The second barrier is set before the bride's dressing room, which is guarded by her relatives. This time, they use soot from the stove,and smear the faces of these bride-snatchers who are trying to get inside. It' s all done with great good-humor. As soon as one of the bride-snatchers touches the bride's dress, her family has no right to block their way any more. Then, the groom's brother quickly carries the bride on his back and rushes out of the room under the cover of his mates, heading straight for home. The veiled bride starts "wailing" to show that she is not willing to leave her parents.Her relatives chase after the snatchers pretending to seize her back. Not until the group carrying the bride has gone finally out of sight does the bride-snatching rite come to an end.
The Yis have made original contributions to the rich legacy of Chinese medicine. Their medical treatise On the Universe and Human Kind described anatomy and theories about the channels of breath and blood. The theory of "three channels for inhaled clean breath" and "three channels for exhaled spent breath," is much the same as the theory of "six channels" in traditional Chinese medicine, and is of great scientific value. Twenty-eight volumes of medical books on internal cures, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, physiology and acupuncture have been unearthed from Chuxiong prefecture, in Yunnan province. Medical books such as Identifying Medicines and Seeing Doctors from Guizhou province and Qishusu from Luquan,Yunnan province also compiled lists of medicines and prescriptions. The Yunnan White Medicine, which is world famous for its effectiveness in curing wounds by stopping bleeding and reducing inflammation, is produced according to a secret recipe handed down from generation to generation among the Yis.
The Yis live on corn and buckwheat. They like to eat Tuotuorou (meat in cubes) and drink wine. Their wooden wine cups and rice bowls are unique in style. Because of different local conditions in regions, their houses differ in style. There are "Wabanfang" (houses built with tiles and wood planks) in the Liangshan area, "Tufang'(house made of earth), Diaolou (tower castle), "Duomufang"(wooden stack house) and "Houpianfang" (thick plank house) in the north of Guizhou and Yunnan and "Ganlanfang' (split level house) in Guangxi.
The Yi nationality is one of many who excel at singing and dancing. Their traditional tunes-ones for climbing mountains, greeting guests, drinking wine or celebrating weddings can be hummed by all the Yis. The accompaniment of such folk instruments as bamboo flute, copper drum, big flat drum, Hulusheng, Mabu, Bawu, Kouxian, Yueqin, and Kexiejuehei adds a great deal of charm to their singing and dancing. Songs and dances like "Guest from Afar,Please Stay," "Red Felt Cloak," "Axi Dancing under the Moon," and "Happy Nuosu" are famed in artistic and literary circles. |
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