Yi Nationality

Before the founding of new China, due to different regions and dialects, there were many branches of Yi nationality, and there were many different names and claims. The main names were "Yi", "Black Yi", "white Yi", "red Yi", "Gan Yi", "Huayao", "Micha", etc.

Among the main self claiming, the Yi people in Zhaotong, Wuding, Luquan, Maitreya and Shiping, Yunnan, and the Yi people in Daliangshan and Xiaoliangshan, Sichuan call themselves "Nuosu", "Nasu" and "Nie Su", which account for about 1 / 2 of the total population. The Yi people in Ailao Mountain, Wuliang Mountain, Kaiyuan, Wenshan and Maguan in Yunnan call themselves "Misha (PO)", "lasu (PO)", "pulapo" and "Nipu". The Yi people in Guizhou call themselves "Nuosu", "Na", "Nuo" and "Nie".

After the founding of new China, after national identification and in accordance with the common will of the majority of Yi people, the "Yi" of Dingyi was taken as a unified national name.

There are different opinions on the origin of Yi nationality, mainly from the north, the south, the East and the indigenous theory of Yunnan. The consensus view in the academic community is from the north. According to the historical records in Chinese and Yi, the ancestors of the Yi nationality have a close relationship with the ancient Qiang people distributed in the West. The Yi nationality mainly comes from the ancient Qiang people.

From the 2nd century BC to the early AD, the centers of Yi ancestors' activities were about Dianchi Lake and qiongdu (now the southeast of Xichang, Sichuan). These areas are inhabited by tribes engaged in agriculture or nomadism, such as "qiongdu", "Kunming", "Laojin", "Meimo" and "dian". According to the historical legend of the Yi nationality, their ancestors lived in "qiongzhihalogen" in ancient times, and then went south to the banks of "Nuoyi" and "quyi" (i.e. Jinsha River and Anning River Basin).

After about the 3rd century AD, the ancestors of Yi nationality have gradually expanded from Anning River Basin, both banks of Jinsha River, Dianchi Lake and Ailao Mountain in Yunnan to northeast Yunnan, South Yunnan, Northwest Guizhou and Northwest Guangxi. Since Yi ancestors settled in the southwest, they have been continuously integrated with other nationalities. For example, many descendants of Pu people in the ancient South have become today's Yi people. There are many records about "Pu changed into Yi" in the ancient Yi literature annals of Southwest Yi in Guizhou. At the same time, many other tribes of the Yi language branch were distributed in the areas where the ancient Yi people lived. Therefore, the name of Yi nationality in history is very complex.

About 2000 years ago, the ancestors of the Yi nationality had transitioned to a patriarchal clan society. According to the records of Yi classics, the ancestor of the Yi nationality "Zhong mouyou" has six sons, which are the "six ancestors" respected by the Yi nationality. "Six ancestors" are the ancestors of the six branches of Wu, Zha, Bu, Mo, Nuo and Heng. According to the pedigree of father and son linked names handed down by an, the chieftain of Shuixi of the Yi nationality in Guizhou, an Kun, the chieftain of Shuixi, passed down 85 generations from Zhong mouyou to the third year of Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty (1664). From this point of view, "Zhong mouyou" was about a person in the early Warring States period. The branch of six ancestors marked the stage of Yi ancestors from clan and tribe to tribal alliance.

About the second and third centuries BC, the ancestors of the Yi nationality living around Dianchi Lake in Yunnan began to enter the class society. In the early Han Dynasty, Yizhou county was established in Dianchi Lake area (the former "Dian state") and the ancestors of Yi nationality were ruled by the "Dian king". In the 8th century, six local regimes appeared in the north of Ailao Mountain and Erhai Lake in Yunnan Province, known as "six Zhaos" (six kings). Among them, piroge, the leader of the "mengshe Zhao", unified the "six Zhao" in 783, established the "Nanzhao" slavery regime with the Yi nationality as the main body, including the Bai, Naxi and other nationalities, and was canonized as the "king of Yunnan" by the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, there were also "Luodian" and other regimes in the Yi region of Guizhou, commonly known as "Luo's ghost Lord".

In 937, the feudal "Dali regime" replaced the "Nanzhao" which collapsed due to the uprising of slaves and farmers. From then on, the Yi region of Yunnan began to move towards feudalism. After the 13th century, "Dali" and "Luodian" were successively conquered by the Yuan Dynasty, and roads, prefectures, counties and propaganda and comfort departments were set up in these areas. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the feudal landlord economy developed rapidly in many Yi areas of Yunnan, but in some areas, the feudal landlord economy and the remnants of slavery still existed in varying degrees. In the Ming Dynasty, there were three official positions in the Yi region, namely, Liuguan, Tuliu and tuguan, which played a very significant role in promoting the economic development of the Yi region. In the Qing Dynasty, the implementation of "changing soil to flow" strengthened the direct rule over the Yi areas, which disintegrated the Lord economy in most Yi areas and further developed the feudal landlord economy.

After the Opium War in 1840, China gradually became a semi feudal and semi colonial society, the majority of Yi people were also suffering, and opium was rampant in Yi areas. Liangshan Yi slave owners traded opium for a large number of guns and silver. With guns, they further expanded their forces around and kidnapped people of all ethnic groups as slaves. With guns, the enemies of the Yi people are fighting more and more frequently, so that the majority of the Yi people are in dire straits. Many Yi people are forced to leave their homes and migrate to the west of the Anning River to Lijiang.

In order to resist exploitation and oppression, the Yi people have fought bravely for many times in history. Especially in modern times, the resistance struggle of the Yi people merged into the torrent of the anti imperialist and anti feudal struggle of the people of all ethnic groups in the country. During the reign of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty, the uprising led by Li Wenwen of the Yi nationality in Ailaoshan was powerful and far-reaching, and persisted in the struggle for 23 years (1853-1876). At the end of the 19th century, the Yi and Hani people in Jinping and Yuanyang united against the French invaders invading China's border areas for many times. The people of Yi and Han nationalities in southern Yunnan have repeatedly opposed the construction of the Yunnan Vietnam Railway by the French invaders. In the 25th year of Guangxu (1899), the fire of French "Customs" led by Yi people Yang Ziyuan broke out in Mengzi. During the revolution of 1911 and the national protection movement, many Yi people took part in the struggle to overthrow the monarchy. From 1913 to 1916, the Yi People's uprising against slavery broke out in Mianning and yuekan areas of Liangshan Prefecture. Since the climax of the uprising was in 1914, which was the year of the tiger in the Yi calendar (in Yi language, the tiger was called La and Nian was called KU), it was called "Laku uprising" in history.

In 1927, the five or six hundred Han and Yi people in Mengzi County, under the leadership of the party, put forward the slogan of agrarian revolution and established Soviet power in the mountainous areas. From 1935 to 1936, the first and second front armies of the red army passed through Yi areas twice to publicize ethnic policies in Northeast Yunnan, North Yunnan and Liangshan Yi areas. They were supported by the majority of Yi people, and many outstanding children of Yi nationality joined the Red Army. In Mianning, the red army opened the prison and released the Yi people who "took a hostage shift". Inspired by the party's ethnic policy, Xiao Yedan, the leader of Guoji family of tuowu Yi nationality in Mianning, allied with Liu Bocheng, chief of general staff of the Red Army in the Yi sea in Mianning according to the traditional customs of the Yi nationality, which made the Red Army successfully pass through the Yi area and win the victory of crossing Dadu River and seizing Luding Bridge. Liu Bocheng also awarded the red flag of "Guji (i.e. Guoji) detachment of the Chinese Yimin Red Army" to little Jordan and encouraged them to organize guerrillas to resist the rule of the Kuomintang. The revolutionary fire sown by the Red Army is widely spread in Yi areas. People cherish the red flag and used items left by the Red Army with respect and thoughts for the Red Army. Many Yi people also name their children born this year after the Red Army, such as "Red Army provoke" and "Red Army Mo".

In the war of liberation, under the leadership of the party, the Yi people in Lunan Guishan and Maile Xishan established guerrilla armed and revolutionary base areas and waged a heroic struggle against the Kuomintang army. The Yi people and other ethnic groups in southern, northeastern, Western and Liangshan have also established guerrillas, which have contributed to the smooth March of the Chinese people's Liberation Army and the liberation of the above-mentioned areas. Many outstanding children of the Yi people have sacrificed their precious lives in the revolutionary struggle.

Before the founding of new China, due to the scattered residence of the Yi nationality and the extremely unbalanced social development, there were different social organizations and political systems in various Yi regions.

Chieftain system, feudal landlord system

Some chieftain areas in the north of Wuding and Luquan counties and the South Bank of the Red River in Yunnan Province still retained the economic remnants of the feudal lord system in the first half of the 20th century. The social and political system based on this economy is the chieftain system. Before the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the chieftain was still strong, the local land, mountains and forests were all owned by the chieftain, and the masses were subordinate to the chieftain.

In the past hundred years, the chieftain power has gradually declined. On the eve of the founding of new China, the economic form of the Lord system has been incomplete and broken. Although the chieftain used various methods to prevent the outflow of land, many "official fields" were transferred to the people in various ways. At the same time, there are more and more "private fields" opened by the people, which can not be controlled. On the eve of liberation, in the chieftain areas of Wuding and Luquan, the private fields of the people accounted for about half of the whole fields; In the chieftain district on the South Bank of the Red River, some fields have been transferred to the people, and some have obtained land ownership.

In Northwest Guizhou and Northeast Yunnan, there were still many residual forces of small lords before the founding of new China. These small lords are the remnant of "changing the land to the flow". There are many local items and forces in Weining, Bijie and Hezhang; Dafang, Qianxi, Shuicheng, Zhijin, Nayong and other counties have few soil items and weak power. Although there are remnants of feudal lord economy in both chieftain and tumu areas, there are certain differences and characteristics in the degree of survival and form of expression between them and even among regions.

Generally speaking, in the above-mentioned chieftain and tumu ruled areas, the exploitation of feudal lords is mainly physical land rent, including land rent, official rent, miscellaneous faction, deposit, etc. the amount of exploitation accounts for about 30-60% of the total agricultural income of tenant farmers, excluding labor land rent. After the Republic of China, the Kuomintang government successively implemented the Baojia system in this area from 1934 to 1935, and its political organization was basically the same as that in the Han area.

During this period, the vast Yi areas in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi and some Yi areas in Sichuan gradually entered a society dominated by the economic form of feudal landlord system. However, due to the different possession of means of production and the structure of class relations, there are still some differences in different places. In most of Yunnan, some of Guizhou and all of the Yi areas in Guangxi, the feudal landlord economy has become the main economic form of the society. The prevalence of land mortgage and pawn, especially the relationship of sale and purchase, led to fierce land annexation and class differentiation. As the main means of production, the average number of land occupied by landlords is more than seven times that of poor peasants. Landlords and rich peasants have more cattle, horses, donkeys, mules and other large livestock, and all kinds of agricultural tools are complete, while poor farmers have few large livestock and incomplete agricultural tools.

The landlord class in such Yi areas accounts for about 5% of the total number of local farmers, and the poor employed farmers account for about 60-80%. Some Yi landlords oppressed and exploited not only the peasants of their own nation, but also the people of other nationalities. At the same time, many Yi farmers were not only exploited by their own landlord class, but also ruled and exploited by Han landlords. However, in some poor mountainous areas, the degree of land concentration is low, and self-cultivation farmers account for the vast majority. For example, in the third township of Maitreya county, Yunnan Province, there were about 530 villagers during the land reform, of which Yi accounted for more than 80%. There were no landlords or rich peasants in the whole Township, and the vast majority were self-employed farmers.

In some Yi areas of Sichuan, the areas that have entered the stage of feudal landlord economy are mainly on both banks of Anning River in Liangshan Prefecture, near Sichuan Yunnan Avenue, and Leibo, Mabian, Ebian, Xuyong, Gulin and other counties close to the Han area. There are two situations in the above-mentioned areas: on both sides of the Anning River, near the Sichuan Yunnan Avenue and the marginal areas of Leibo, Mabian and Ebian, basically developed directly from the disintegration of the slave economy to the feudal landlord economy; Pingshan, Xuyong, Gulin and other counties made the transition to the feudal landlord economy on the basis of the disintegration of the feudal lord economy. In the areas where slavery directly developed into feudal landlord system, although the dominant mode of production of society has been feudal economy, because it was born out of slave society, the remnants and influence of slavery are still stubbornly retained.

In the Yi area of feudal landlord economy, capitalist factors have sprouted in the past century. Since the late 19th century, along the Yunnan Vietnam Railway and its branch line, due to the development of social productive forces, there have been a number of capitalist enterprises, some of which are operated by the Yi people. Around 1878, there were more than 20 Yi capitalists in Gejiu tin mining area. The smallest enterprise has more than 40 workers, the larger has 400 or 500, and the largest has more than 1000. After the Republic of China, a warlord bureaucratic group gradually formed among the Yi ruling class in Northeast Yunnan, and obtained the ruling power of Yunnan from 1927 until the establishment of new China. Some of them established or controlled some industrial and commercial institutions and enterprises and gradually embarked on the road of developing capitalism. For example, they controlled the financial institution of Yunnan - Fudian bank, and successively established industrial and mining enterprises such as Gejiu Tin Company, Yunnan tin smelting company, Yunnan mining company and North Yunnan Mining Bureau in Gejiu and North Yunnan. In addition to the above-mentioned "official and commercial" enterprises, they also set up some private enterprises in the name of collective shares or individuals. In the area of Zhaotong alone, there are more than a dozen businesses such as "Zhaotong people Industrial Co., Ltd." and "fuhegong", "Yongda", "qingfengxiang", "tongxieqing" and "Yutong", which are mainly engaged in the sale of cotton yarn, oil, mountain products and medicinal materials, as well as the sale of gold, silver and guns, and have opened some banks, banks and shops, Monopolized the industry and Commerce in Northeast Yunnan, Northwest Guizhou and some areas of Liangshan. In addition, they also set up enterprises, banks or offices in Kunming, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Slavery

Liangshan Yi area is still in a slavery society with strict hierarchy. The class relationship between slave owners, slaves and general labor producers is expressed in the form of strict hierarchy. All members of the society are divided into five levels of "ZMO", "Nuohe", "qunuo", "AGA" and "Xiaxi" according to the possession of means of production and strict level and blood relationship.

"Zimo" means "right" in Yi language and "chieftain" in Chinese. In history, it was the highest ruling level of the whole Liangshan Yi District. Later, it gradually weakened and the ruling area became smaller and smaller. The rule of "ZMO" in most areas was replaced by "Nuohe" hierarchy.

"Nuohe", which means "group", means master, subject and black. It is called "Black Yi" in Chinese. It is the de facto highest ruling level of Liangshan Yi society, accounting for about 7% of the local Yi population. It enjoys various political and economic privileges. It is the main occupier of means of production, land and "AGA" and "Xiaxi", which has an insurmountable gap with other levels.

"Qunuo" means white. It is called "Bai Yi" in Han Dynasty. It is the highest level among the ruled. It is between Black Yi and "AGA" and "Xiaxi", accounting for about 50% of the population. It belongs to the slave owners of Black Yi. It lives in the main and sub districts. It is not allowed to move at will. It has to perform certain unpaid labor for the main and sub districts every year. They generally occupy part of the land and means of production and living, and a few wealthy "qunuo" also occupy part of "AGA" and "Xiaxi".

"AGA" means "brothers and sisters inside and outside the door". Han said "settling down children", accounting for about 33% of the total population. There is no freedom of movement. Most of the year, the master performs unpaid labor for the master. The master can sell "AGA" by the whole family or individually. The children of "AGA" can be selected as "Xiaxi" by the master in whole or in part. Generally, they have a very small amount of land and other means of production and living.

"Xiaxi" means "brothers and sisters next to the master Guozhuang". In Han Dynasty, it is called "Guozhuang Wazi". It is the lowest level among the ruled, accounting for about 10% of the total population. They have nothing and have no personal freedom. They can be bought, sold and tortured by the master at will. After the master marries him and becomes a family, he can become "AGA". All members of the ruled hierarchy are called "festival partners" by the ruler. "Jie Gang" has the meaning of being ruled. In the past, it was called "Wazi" by the Han nationality.

There is no unified political organization in Liangshan Yi area. Except for a few ZMO (chieftain) ruled areas, the rule of nuohejia branch plays the role of political organization. The family branch has the characteristics of primitive clan organization. It is called "Chuxi" or "chujia" in Yi language. It is an organization based on paternal blood and linked by the pedigree of father and son. Each family branch has its common ancestor and surname.

Liangshan has many family branches, and there are about 100 Nuohe family branches. Each Nuohe family branch has a relatively stable region, and the family branches do not belong to each other. There is no permanent management organization in the family branch, but each family branch has a different number of leaders, known as "Suyi" and "degu". They have rich experience, are proficient in Yi customary law, are good at resolving disputes and are respected. Important matters within the family branch are decided by "Jier JITIE" and "mengge". In Yi language, the former means "negotiation"; The latter means "General Assembly". "Jier JITIE" is the meeting of leaders, which mainly discusses the internal problems of family branches and some problems between family branches. "Menge", that is, the general meeting of members of the family branch, is a major meeting attended by members of the family branch, which mainly discusses major events such as the killing of members of the family branch or armed struggle with foreign enemies.

Although the family branches of Liangshan Yi nationality do not belong to each other, the contents of the customary laws followed by each family branch are basically the same. When the head of the family branch exercises his power, there is no written law, and the only basis is to act according to the customary law. As the Yi proverb says, "Nuohe's children and grandchildren should abide by the rules left by their ancestors, and qunuo's children and grandchildren should obey them".

Customary Yi language is called "Jiewei", which means "rules" and "system". Under the strict hierarchy at that time, the main function of customary law was to maintain the sacred status of Zimo and Nuohe noble slave owners and protect the privileges of Zimo and Nuohe slave owners. The family branch shall punish the violators in accordance with customary law. For example, in order to maintain the "purity" of the lineage of the ruling level, intermarriage and extramarital sexual relations are strictly prohibited between the ruling level and the ruled level. Violators should not only be expelled from their families, but also be sentenced to death. Protect the property ownership of ZMO and Nuohe from infringement, and allow and protect them to go abroad to plunder slaves and property. However, the customary law restricts Nuohe's looting and theft of the property of members of his family, and the punishment for violators is quite severe. If the ruling level steals the property of the ruling level, if it is serious, it will be sentenced to death. Maintain the rule of ZMO and Nuohe over the hierarchy, and allow the suppression of the rebels.

Customary law stipulates that anyone who resists his master will be severely beaten, or sold or executed. Safeguard the interests of the family branch and unite or struggle with other family branches according to different situations. Customary law stipulates that each family branch must safeguard the interests of its own family branch and can fight for its own interests. This kind of struggle between family branches, sometimes even within family branches, is what is customarily called enemy armed struggle, and its essence is the war for interests between slave owners. In Liangshan Yi slave society, there are many families, many enemies and frequent armed fights, which have caused heavy casualties and property losses and hindered the development of society.

national autonomy

On January 10, 1951, the first Yi Autonomous regime in China - hongmaogu Yi Autonomous Region (district level) in Xichang county was established. In April and May 1951, two county-level regional national autonomy regimes were established, namely, the Yi Autonomous Region of Zhaojue County and the Yi Autonomous Region of Eshan county. With the further development of ethnic work and the implementation of ethnic policies, in the 1950s, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Honghe Hani Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture were successively established.

In 1956, the party and the government decided to carry out democratic reform in the Yi region of Sichuan and the Yi region of Ninglang, Yunnan, in accordance with the wishes of the broad masses of Yi slaves and the poor working people and after full deliberation and consultation with the ethnic upper class who supported the Communist Party. In the spring of 1958, the Yi nationality areas in Sichuan, Yunnan and Xiaoliangshan successfully ended the democratic reform movement. Through this movement, the slave system was completely destroyed, all the privileges of slave owners were abolished, and the land, cattle, farm tools, houses and food of slave owners were confiscated and expropriated, which were distributed to the broad masses of slaves and the poor working people.

From 1950s to 1980s, autonomous counties of Yi nationality or Yi nationality combined with other ethnic minorities were successively established in Jiangcheng, Ninglang, Weishan, Lunan, Nanjian, XUNDIAN, Yuanjiang, Xinping, Luquan, Yangbi, Pu'er, Jingdong and Jinggu in Yunnan, Weining in Guizhou, Longlin in Guangxi, Ebian and Mabian in Sichuan. In January 1979, Xichang area, where Yi people live more intensively, was merged into Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

faith

The religious beliefs of the Yi people are basically still in the stage of primitive religion. The concepts of nature worship, totem worship, ancestor worship and animism generally exist in the society. The priest "Bimo" and the wizard "sunI" of this nation have a certain influence in Yi areas, which is more prominent in Daliang Mountain and Xiaoliang mountain adjacent to Sichuan and Yunnan. In Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi and Yi areas, Taoism and Buddhism are popular in some areas, in addition to retaining the inherent primitive religious beliefs of the nation. Since modern times, Christianity and Catholicism have also been introduced into Yi minority areas.

Yi People's worship of nature comes from the concept that everything has a spirit. Due to the low productivity in Yi areas in the past, people lacked the ability to control nature, so they regarded everything as a spiritual thing and had life and will like people. This worship of nature developed simultaneously with the worship of human soul. Yi people believe that the soul is attached to the body at birth and exists after death. From this concept of soul, it is inferred that all things in the world have souls, and their activities or natural phenomena are regarded as the result of soul domination, thus forming the worship of nature. It generally exists in Yi society in the form of folk belief. There are mainly heaven worship, earth worship, water worship, stone worship, fire worship, mountain worship, etc.

According to the records of Yi ancient books, the Yi people had totem worship in the primitive times. They believe that human beings are related to animals and plants by blood. There are records in this regard in the epic "leot clothes" and "snow family (sub History)". At present, there are still a large number of totem worship relics in Yi society, mainly including bamboo worship, gourd worship, pine tree worship, millet tree worship, animal worship and so on. For example, the Yi people in SONGZIYUAN, Chengjiang County, Yunnan regard "golden bamboo" as their ancestral God. The Yi people in Ailao Mountain Area of Yunnan Province have always spread the custom of worshipping "Zuling gourd". Many villages in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan Yi areas have their own "sacred trees" and "sacred forests". The Yi people in Ailao Mountain, Yunnan Province, who call themselves "Luoluo", regard tigers as their ancestors. "Luoluo" means "tiger and tiger" in their language. Each family offers a portrait of their ancestors, called "niromo", which means "mother tiger ancestor".

Yi people believe that the soul still exists after the death of their ancestors, which can bring disasters and blessings to the living people, so they should worship it and pray for blessings to their children and grandchildren. Yi people believe that there are three souls after death. One soul guards the crematorium and tomb, one soul returns to the ancestral boundary to gather with the ancestral soul, and the other soul worships the ancestral tablet at home. But no matter which soul, whether it is safe or not is related to the rise and fall of future generations, so we need to pray for the protection of our ancestors. The ritual of offering and sending spirits are two important ancestor worship activities popular among the Yi people. The mourning ceremony is held on an auspicious day a few days or months after the funeral, presided over by Bimo. The ceremony includes several procedures: selecting spirit bamboo, summoning spirit and attaching bamboo, making Spirit card, offering medicine to eliminate disease, and sacrificing spirit. After the spirit calming ceremony, the spirit card is enshrined at home. Spirit sending is to send the ancestral spirit cards enshrined at home to the ancestral Lingqing cave of the same clan in the wild. The spirit sending ceremony is the most solemn. After the delivery time is determined, relatives and friends shall be informed. After hearing the news, relatives and friends shall bring gifts such as cattle, sheep, pigs and wine to attend. The most important activities of sending souls are a series of religious ceremonies held under the auspices of Bimo, each of which has a certain significance.

Bimo is a priest in the traditional religion of Yi nationality. In Yi language, "Bi" means praising and chanting scriptures during religious activities, and "Mo" means elders or teachers. Bimo came into being a long time ago. According to the legend of the Yi nationality, the earliest Bimo family was the "Shizi Shide" family, and later "lianglin", "shetongue" and other families became Bimo one after another. It is said that there are two famous BiMOS, adulp and biasilaze, who are famous for their high magic power. It is said that Bimo was originally held by Zimo, the highest ruling level of the Yi nationality, then by Nuohe level, and then passed to qunuo level of the ruled class. Before the founding of new China, Bimo in the Zimo hierarchy was rare. Only a few families in Nuohe class are engaged in this industry. A large number of BiMOS are held by qunuo. The famous qunuo Bimo families include "Jik", "Shama", "Qubi", "Ayu", etc. these families are hereditary Bimo families with a long history.

Bimo's religious activities mainly include: madudi (making spiritual cards), Zuobi (sending spiritual cards), zimobi (reading peace Sutra), Zhuo nishuo (reading Jingzhai Sutra), Xiaobu (reading mantra Sutra), zuonagu (reading healing Sutra), Li the next day (chanting ghost Sutra), Zuobi (chanting enemy Sutra), etc. In addition, he also presided over the alliance ceremony and the divine judgment ceremony in disputes.

SunI is a wizard in Yi society. "Su" means "human" in Yi language, and "Ni" means the scene when doing magic. SunI is generally held by members of the Trano or AGA hierarchy. SunI is not hereditary. Both men and women can serve as it. The magic tools are mainly sheepskin drum and wooden mallet. SunI did not understand scriptures, chanted scriptures and presided over major sacrificial activities. His main social function was to perform witchcraft, expel ghosts and cure diseases. SunI has a lower status than Bimo in Yi society, and the income from religious activities is also lower than Bimo.

Clothes & Accessories

The Yi nationality has many branches, scattered residence, complex natural environment and unbalanced social and economic development. Its clothing has formed obvious regional characteristics in terms of texture, style and pattern. Generally, it can be divided into six types according to the six Yi settlements of Liangshan, Wumeng Mountain, Honghe, Southeast Yunnan, West Yunnan and Chuxiong.

Liangshan

In Liangshan Yi traditional dress, both men and women wear right Lapel placket clothes, rub Erwa, felt and leggings, barefoot at ordinary times and hemp shoes in winter.

The man's head is wrapped in a bun. The styles of different sub dialect areas are different. He wears wax beads, tremella rings and other accessories on his left ear. Men's trousers are divided into "big trouser leg", "middle trouser leg" and "small trouser leg" according to different sub dialects in the northern dialect area.

Women wear pleated skirts and handkerchiefs. After childbirth, they can wear hats or handkerchiefs. They like wearing earrings, hand ornaments and silver collars. Traditional clothing materials are mainly self-woven and self dyed wool and linen fabrics, and the traditional colors are black, red and yellow. The patterns and decorations are mostly crowns, horns, sickles, ferns, panes and other animals and plants and living objects.

Wumeng Mountain

The costumes of the Yi nationality in Wumeng Mountain are blue and blue, with long shirts or short shirts, trousers, black or white handkerchiefs, white belts, embroidered high nails "kite shoes" or "Eagle Head shoes".

Men's clothing has no pattern and is covered with wool and felt. Women's clothing is decorated with color pattern combination patterns at the neckline, cuff, lapel and hem.

Red River

Most of the Yi men's clothes in Honghe area are lapel, short clothes and trousers. There are many styles of women's clothing, including long shirts, medium and long shirts and short clothes. Most of them have waistcoats, aprons and headwear. They especially like to use silver foam and wool as flowers. Most of the patterns are natural patterns, followed by geometric patterns.

Southeast Yunnan

The styles of Yi women's clothes in Southeast Yunnan are right placket or double placket tops and trousers, and skirts are worn in some areas. Men's wear is a pair of lapels, a coat with a waistcoat and wide trousers. Clothing technology includes cross stitch, embroidery, patching, batik, etc.

Western Yunnan

Most Yi women in western Yunnan are right placket clothes with short front and long back, trousers under, waistband and waistcoat. Women in Weishan and Midu counties wear sheep felt to wrap their backs.

The man wore a long right cardigan, a sheepskin waistcoat, wide trouser legs and a green handkerchief.

Chu Xiong

The Yi women's clothes in Chuxiong area are short clothes and trousers with right big lapel. In a few areas, they wear double Lapel clothes and flower skirts. The craft is mainly inlaid and flat embroidery, and the patterns are mostly flowers.

The costumes of women in Luquan, XUNDIAN and other places are ancient head clothes, which are short at the front and long at the back, wide and sleeveless.

The men's dress is a pair of jacket, a sheepskin jacket and trousers, and the custom of burning grass cloth and linen cloth is retained.

Architecture

Liangshan Yi folk house is "tile plank house"; In the north and middle of Guizhou and Yunnan, there are "earth Palm House", "square blockhouse", "stack wood house" and "Xiapian house"; Guangxi and eastern Yunnan are "dry fence" houses.

Yi villages are generally inhabited by ethnic groups and are mostly located on hillsides close to mountains and rivers, sheltering from the sun, lush trees, fertile land, open terrain and conducive to farming, animal husbandry and military defense. They are scattered in high mountains and concentrated in mid mountains and river valleys. A blood related family branch lives together to form a natural village, ranging from a few families to dozens of families. The blood related branches are scattered and adjacent.

According to the custom of Yi nationality, the son needs to build another house after marriage, and the parents live with the youngest son. The building materials of "tile house" are very simple, most of which are mountain grass, bamboo, wood, sand, block stone, etc., and few bricks and tiles are used.

The valley is slightly different from the high mountain area. Most of the river valley areas are earth palm houses, with earth as walls and wood as tiles. The internal partitions are made of wood plates, and the connections of beams, columns and rafters are all made of wooden tenons. Bamboo walls and tiles are often used in alpine areas, and bamboo walls are also used for internal intervals. Beams, columns and rafters are mostly made of bamboo or mixed with bamboo, and bound with bamboo strips and mountain vines. The tiles are compacted with stones, and the floor is generally rammed earth.

Today, brick houses have been widely built in Yi areas, and some places have also built buildings with national characteristics in appearance and very modern interior decoration.

diet

The Yi People's staple food is potatoes, corn, buckwheat, rice, etc. Non staple foods include meat, beans, vegetables, spices and beverages. Meat is mainly cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens. When entertaining guests, animals need to be killed. Killing cattle is expensive, followed by sheep and pigs. Beans are mostly soybeans, peas, peas, etc. a method of eating soybeans is called "duraba" by the Yi people, that is, grinding soybeans into pulp and cooking them with lees and pickled vegetables.

Spices mainly collect three kinds of wild plants, one is the leaves of "halagu", the other is the roots and flowers of the arbor "muku", and the other is the roots of the herb "cut batch Chek". These three plants have peculiar fragrance.

Drinks are mainly wine. The Yi people mainly treat guests with wine. The Yi proverb says that "the Han people value tea and the Yi people value wine" and "wine is a banquet. Killing pigs and sheep without wine is not a banquet", indicating the importance of wine. Yi People's wine mainly includes Tan Tan wine (also known as Za wine), bucket wine, water wine, etc.

Yi people in Liangshan like to smoke orchid tobacco, while Yi people in other areas like to smoke leaf tobacco.

Many Yi areas have the habit of drinking tea. Tea is imported from the Han area, but some are self grown. For example, the Yi people in the Yushe area of Shuicheng, Guizhou are good at growing tea. Before drinking, the tea is roasted in a small pot, and then boiled with water. It is called "roasted tea".

Languages

language

Yi language belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibetan Burmese language family of the Sino Tibetan language family. There are 6 dialects in the north, East, South, Southeast, West and middle, including 5 sub dialects and 25 local languages.

The northern dialects are distributed in Sichuan and Ninglang counties in Yunnan, the eastern dialects are distributed in Guizhou and Northeast Yunnan, the southern dialects are distributed in Yunnan and Guangxi, and the other three dialects are distributed in Yunnan.

written words

Yi characters are ideographic characters, also known as syllable characters. In historical books, they are called "Cuan", "Weishu", or "Luoluo" and "Luowen", which are generally called old Yi characters. This character was formed in the 13th century. It is estimated that there are still more than 10000 old Yi characters, and more than 1000 are often used. Each glyph represents a meaning. There are no radicals and radicals. The same glyph has many different writing formats, mainly left to right straight book or horizontal book.

The bronze bell of the Ming Dynasty found in Dafang County, Guizhou Province was cast in the 21st year of Chenghua of the Ming Dynasty (1485). The Yi inscriptions engraved on the clock face are the earliest existing Yi inscriptions. Many Yi areas retain books copied in the old Yi language, such as leoteyi, mamuteyi, amnya, Qi shusu, etc. These books can be divided into nine categories, namely sacrificial scriptures, divination, calendar, genealogy, poetry, ethics, history, mythology and translation. Homophonic borrowed words are widely used in the old Yi language. Because the Yi language has six dialects, there are great differences in dialects around the country, and the characters of pronouns vary from place to place, the shape and pronunciation of the old Yi language are not unified.

In order to make the Yi language better serve the broad masses, in 1975, Sichuan Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture formulated the trial scheme for the standardization of Yi language in Sichuan with Xide pronunciation as the standard sound and "Shengzha" dialect as the basic dialect, determined 819 standard characters, and designed "Yi spelling symbols" to facilitate phonetic learning. In 1980, the State Council approved the plan. It has been popularized and used in Yi areas of Sichuan.

literature

Yi folk literature has various forms and rich contents, including poetry, myths, legends, fairy tales, fables, proverbs and riddles. Most of them are oral literature widely spread among the people.

Epic poems include leoteyi, mamuteyi, Axi's Xianji, southwest Yi records, haydiegu, Meige, Cham, etc.

The representative works of narrative and lyric poems include my youngest cousin Shu, mother's daughter, Ashima, a pair of rainbows, escaping to a sweet place, etc.

Folk stories and legends reflect the social content and different characteristics of a certain historical period. For example, the story of flood and the origin of everything in heaven and earth reflect the Yi People's understanding of the origin of mankind. "Pegasus" and "Luo Mu a Zhi" show the struggle between slaves and slave owners, and praise the wisdom of the working people. There are a lot of fairy tales in folk tales, such as king nine points, adagiru, the origin of cattle and so on. Fairy tales and fables have a wide range of themes, short and powerful, strange imagination and far-reaching implications, such as dumb water of God, Flute Boy and fish girl, wild goose girl, etc.

Yi proverb, called "erbirji", is a kind of oral literature loved by the Yi people. It is characterized by refined words and sentences, sonorous rhythm, rich imagination, neat names, easy to speak and memorize, and has a universal and profound mass foundation. "Erbirji" is the basis for people to deal with problems, an educational aphorism, plays the role of moral norms and customary law, and guides people's words and deeds.

calendar

"October solar calendar" is the traditional calendar of Yi nationality. It does not take the moon's profit and loss as the cycle, but takes the earth's circle around the sun as the cycle, so it is called "solar calendar".

There are two observation methods for the October solar calendar. One is to determine winter and summer by observing the solar movement, and the other is to determine the cold and heat according to the dipper handle direction of the Big Dipper. It takes a year as 10 months and a month as 36 days, and uses the cycle of twelve zodiac signs to record days. Due to the equal number of days per month, it is easy to use and remember. At the same time, because the Yi calendar determines winter and summer and Ming cold and summer according to the sun and Beidou, it can divide the seasons in a year very accurately. Therefore, folklore researchers praise the "October solar calendar" as "civilized October solar calendar".

The October solar calendar is a major contribution of the Yi nationality to the civilization of the Chinese nation.

festival

The festival is a concentrated expression of the lifestyle and customs of the Yi people everywhere. There are agricultural festivals focusing on agricultural production; There are sacrificial festivals focusing on sacrificing gods and ancestors; There are commemorative festivals focusing on Commemorating heroes and major events; There are festivals to celebrate harvest and victory; There are social entertainment festivals dominated by song, dance and opera activities. The main festivals are:

Yi year: Yi year is a grand traditional festival for Yi people in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. It is called "Kushi" in Yi language. The time of the Chinese New Year varies from place to place. Generally, the auspicious day is selected from October to mid and late November of the lunar calendar.

Torch Festival: it is a traditional festival of Yi nationality. The date is June 24 of the lunar calendar, which lasts for three days. During the festival, people dressed in costumes gathered on the flat dam or gentle slope near the village, singing, dancing, horse racing, bullfighting, sheep fighting, wrestling, beauty pageant, etc. the activities were colorful and lively. In the morning, people kill animals to worship their ancestors; At night, we should hold a torch to travel around the crop fields, which means burning pests and praying for a good harvest.

In addition, the Yi people in western Guizhou and eastern Yunnan celebrate the mountain Festival on the third March of the lunar calendar; The Yi people in Shiping, Yuanyang and Weishan, Yunnan, celebrate Dragon festivals twice a year. The first one falls on the dragon day in February of the summer calendar, and the second one is called "compensate the dragon" before the autumn harvest, which means to thank the Lord long for his rain and dew; The Yi people in Chuxiong, Yunnan province hold a flower arrangement Festival on the eighth day of the second lunar month every year to wish happiness, well-being, prosperity of six livestock and bumper harvests; The Yi people in Napo, Guangxi and Funing, Yunnan hold the bow jumping festival in April of the lunar calendar, and the Forest Protection Festival of the Yi people in Longlin, Guangxi is on March 3 of the lunar calendar.

marriage and love

The characteristics of Yi marriage are intra ethnic marriage, out of family marriage, hierarchical marriage, uncle table priority marriage and aunt table prohibition marriage. This feature is most prominent in the Liangshan Yi region. Before the founding of new China, if different nationalities intermarried, they should be executed or expelled from the family according to customary law. Marriage within a family is strictly prohibited. Intermarriage of the same clan and surname is regarded as incest. Violators shall be sentenced to death. Strictly enforce hierarchical marriage. Intermarriage is prohibited between Zimo and Nuohe of the ruling class and qunuo, AGA and Xiaxi of the ruled class. Extramarital sexual relations are also strictly prohibited. Violators shall be executed. Qunuo and AGA do not intermarry, but the restrictions are not as strict as the former. The main difference lies between Yi descendants and non Yi descendants. For example, if qunuo of Yi and non Yi descendants intermarry or have sexual relations, some areas will be executed, and most areas will be punished by reducing their grades. There is a custom of house transfer in the traditional marriage of the Yi nationality. After the death of a fertile woman's husband and her children are not yet adults, they must be transferred to the deceased's siblings or close relatives, uncles and nephews. If the Yi nationality has no children, the family branch has the right to distribute its property, which is called "eating Jue Ye". After the founding of new China, the restrictions on intra ethnic and hierarchical marriages have been broken. Young men and women of Yi nationality fall in love freely on the basis of emotion, and there have been cross ethnic, cross hierarchical and cross-border marriages.

Monogamy is the basic form of Yi marriage. Before the founding of new China, due to the uneven social development of the Yi people in various regions, there were also a few chieftains and Nuohe polygamy, and polygamy caused by the transfer of houses or concubinage without heirs in general families. In a very few areas, there were still remnants of husband brother marriage and wife sister marriage. The Yi family takes patriarchy as the core. In the Yi family, the father son joint name system and the principle of property patrilineal inheritance are implemented. After marriage, the son establishes another door, and only the young son lives with his parents after marriage. Women's status in the family is very low. They only have the right to dominate domestic affairs, have no right to participate in property distribution, and can't participate in important social activities. The man is the head of the family and has the right to decide family property and children's marriage. After the founding of new China, this phenomenon has changed, women's status has gradually improved, and the awareness of gender equality has penetrated into Yi families.

The wedding of the Yi nationality retains many ancient customs, such as splashing water, smearing black face, crying marriage, the bride's fasting before marriage, and "sitting at home" after marriage. Yi men and women should hold an engagement ceremony before marriage. When they are engaged, they should first take auspicious omen to get married. Both men and women kill a pig, take the bile and pancreas to watch. It is auspicious that the bile color is clear and yellow, the pancreas is large and straight, and fat. If the pancreas is curled, it is fierce, indicating that they can't match. The marriage date is selected according to the zodiac of the date of birth of both parties. It is generally held in the golden season after the autumn harvest from November to February of the next year. The best day is when six stars form a parallel line with the moon. The Yi people are called "Tabo". The best age for marriage is 17 or 19. If a woman is not married after the age of 17, she will hold another initiation ceremony.

funeral

The Yi people in most areas are buried in earth, and the Yi people in Liangshan are cremated. After burial, they dig earth and cover it with stones, or put the ashes into bags and hide them in rock caves on horses. After that, a "spirit calming" ceremony was held for the dead. About an inch of bamboo was wrapped with white wool, wrapped with red thread, put into a five inch long grooved wooden stick, wrapped with hemp skin, sharpened both ends of the wooden stick and hung on a bamboo strip fence. The spirit card was made, which is called "Madu" in Yi language. The "horse capital" is placed on the God's throne above the indoor beam.

The throne is the most sacred place in the family. Don't defile it. The "horse capital" of parents is generally enshrined in the young son's home. During the Spring Festival, the family should offer wine and meat to express their spiritual sustenance for the dead. Three years after the death of both parents, a grand spirit sending ceremony should be held on a certain day to send the "horse capital" to a rare cave. The Yi people in Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi are greatly influenced by the Han burial customs, and most of them are buried in earth.