YI, CULTURE OF

The Yi total nearly 7 million people who live mainly in Yunnan, Sichuan and Guizhou provinces; some are in Guangxi. Other than farming, animal rearing is also important. They have made great achievements in agriculture, astronomy, the calendar, meteorology and medicine, e.g. the renowned ‘Yunnan White Medicine’, which stops bleeding and reduces inflammation, is produced according to an ancient Yi recipe. Among the Yi living in Liangshan prefecture, Sichuan, the old custom of ‘snatching the bride’ is still common. Before a wedding, the bridegroom’s villagers go to meet the bride. The bride’s family members pour water on them to prevent them from entering, but the men press on. Once they have touched her clothes, her family cannot resist any more. The bride, nonetheless, starts ‘wailing’ to show her reluctance to leave her parents. The Yi have their own spoken and written languages, and have produced important historical and literary works, e.g.

the epic Ashima is popular in Yunnan and known all over China thanks to the film of the same name. The Torch Festival is the most widespread holiday, usually on 24 or 25 June, celebrated with song and dance, horse-racing and wrestling competitions. Songs such as ‘Guest from Afar, Please Stay’ and ‘Axi Dancing under the Moon’ are known and loved by all Chinese. In October 2002, the expansion of the Liangshan Slave Society Museum was completed, exhibiting over 2,000 cultural relics and artifacts.

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——(1995). ‘A History of the History of the Yi’. In idem (ed.), Cultural Encounters on China’s Ethnic Frontiers. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 63–91.

Teng, Xing (2001). Wenhua Biangian yü Shuangyu Jiaoyu: Liangshan Yizu Shequ Jiaoyu Renleixue de Tianye Gongguo yü Wenben Zhuanshu [Cultural Change and Bilingual Education: Field Work and Text Writing on Anthropology of Education in the Yi Ethnic Community in Liangshan]. Beijing: Education and Science Press.

Yagare,Wei Pengfei, Qi, Chonghai et al. (2000). One Country Many Peoples: 56 Nationalities of China (with VCDs, bilingual). Beijing: Minzu chubanshe.