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The Yi ethnic minority
 The Yi ethnic group, with a population of 6,578,500, is
mainly distributed over the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou,
and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. There are more than one
million Yis in Sichuan Province, and most of them live in an area
south of the Dadu River and along the Anning River. Traditionally,
this area is subdivided into the Greater Liangshan Mountain area,
which lies east of the Anning River and south of the Huangmao Dyke,
and the Lesser Liangshan Mountain area, which covers the Jinsha River
valley and the south bank of the Dadu River. There are over a million
Yis in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, which holds the single
largest Yi community in China. Yunnan Province has more than three
million Yis, most of whom are concentrated in an area hemmed in by the
Jinsha and Yuanjiang rivers, and the Ailao and Wuliang mountains.
 Huaping, Ninglang and Yongsheng in western Yunnan form what is known
as the Yunnan Lesser Liangshan Mountain area. In Guizhou, more than
half a million Yis live in compact communities in Anshun and Bijie.
Several thousand Yis live in Longlin and Mubian counties in the
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Most Yis are scattered in mountain areas, some in frigid mountain
areas at high altitudes, and a small number live on flat land or in
valleys. The altitudinal differences of the Yi areas directly affect
their climate and precipitation. Their striking differences have given
rise to the old saying that "the weather is different a few miles
away" in the Yi area. This is the primary reason why the Yis in
various areas are so different from one another in the ways they make
a living.
The Yi areas are rich in natural resources. The Jinsha River running
through Sichuan and Yunnan and its tributaries surging through the Yi
areas in northern and northeastern Yunnan are enormous sources of
water power. The Yi areas are not only rich in coal and iron, but are
also among China's major producers of non-ferrous metals. Gejiu,
China's famous tin center, reared the first generation of Yi
industrial workers. Various Yi areas in the Greater and Lesser
Liangshan Mountains, western Guizhou, and eastern and southern Yunnan
abound in dozens of mineral resources, including gold, silver,
aluminum, manganese, antimony
 and zinc. Vast forests stretch across
the Yi areas, where Yunnan pine, masson pine, dragon spruce, Chinese
pine and other timber trees, lacquer, tea, camphor, kapok and other
trees of economic value grow in great numbers. The forests teem with
wild animals and plants as well as pilose antler, musk, bear
gallbladders and medicinal herbs such as poris cocos and
pseudoginseng.
History The Yi language
belongs to the Tibetan-Myanmese Language Group of the Chinese-Tibetan
Language Family, and the Yis speak six dialects. Many Yis in Yunnan,
Guizhou and Guangxi know the Han (standard Chinese or Mandarin)
language. The Yis used to have a syllabic script called the old Yi
language, which was formed in the 13th century. It is estimated that
the extant old Yi script has about 10,000 words, of which 1,000 are
words of everyday use. A number of works of history, literature and
medicine as well as genealogies of the ruling families written in the
old Yi script are still seen in most Yi areas. Many stone tablets and
steles carved in the old Yi script remain intact. Since the old Yi
language is not consistent in word form and pronunciation, it was
reformed after liberation for use in books and newspapers.
 Historical records written in the Han and the old Yi languages show
that the ancestors of the Yi, Bai, Naxi, Lahu and Lisu ethnic groups
were closely related with ancient Di and Qiang people in west China.
In the period between the 2nd century B.C. and the early Christian
era, the activities of the ancient Yis centered around the areas of
Dianchi in Yunnan and Qiongdou in Sichuan. After the 3rd century, the
ancient Yis extended their activities from the Anning River valley,
the Jinsha River, the Dianchi Lake and the Ailao Mountains to
northeastern Yunnan, southern Yunnan, northwestern Guizhou and
northwestern Guangxi.
In the Eastern Han (25-220), Wei (220-265) and Jin (265-420)
dynasties, inhabitants in these areas came to be known as "Yi," the
character for which meant "barbarian." After the Jin Dynasty, the Yis
of the clan named Cuan became rulers of the Dianchi area, northeastern
Yunnan and the Honghe (Red) River area. Later those places were called
"Cuan areas" which fell into the east and west parts. The inhabitants
there belonged to tribes speaking the Yi language.
In the Tang and Song dynasties, the Yis living in "East Cuan" were
called "Wumans." In different historical periods, "Cuan" changed from
the surname of a clan to the name of a place, and further to the name
of a tribe. In the Yuan and Ming dynasties, "Cuan" was often used to
refer to the Yis. After the Yuan Dynasty, part of "Cuan" acquired the
name "Luoluo" (Ngolok), which probably originated from "Luluman," one
of the seven "Wuman" tribes in the Tang Dynasty. From that time on,
most Yis called themselves "Luoluo," although many different
appellations existed. This name lasted from the Ming and Qing
dynasties till liberation.
 Ancient Yis experienced a long primitive society in the Stone Age.
Legends and records written in the old Yi script show that the Yis
went through a matriarchal age in ancient times. Annals of the Yis in
the Southwest records that the Yi people in ancient times "only knew
mothers and not fathers," and that "women ruled for six generations in
a row." Patriarchy came into being at least 2,000 years ago.
Roughly in the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C., the Yis living around the
Dianchi Lake in Yunnan entered class society. In the early Han
Dynasty, prefectures were set up in this area, and the chief of the Yi
people was granted the title "King of Dian" with a seal. Around the
8th century, a slave state named "Nanzhao" was established in the
northern Ailao Mountain and the Erhai areas, with the Yis as the main
body and the Bai and Naxi nationalities included. The head of the
state was granted the title "King of Yunnan." In the same period,
"Luodian" and other groups of slave owners and regimes appeared in the
Yi areas in Guizhou. In 937, the state of "Dali" superseded "Nanzhao,"
when it collapsed under the blows of slave and peasant uprisings. From
then on, the slave system of the Yis in Yunnan gradually
disintegrated.
After the 13th century, "Dali" and "Luodian" were conquered one after
the other by the Yuan Dynasty, which set up regional, prefectural and
county governments and military and civil administrations in the Yi
areas in Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, appointing hereditary headmen to
rule the local inhabitants. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the feudal
economy of the Yi landlords in Yunnan had developed rapidly, but
remnants of the manorial economy and slavery still existed to varying
extents in the secluded areas. The Ming Dynasty used both
administrative officials from elsewhere and local hereditary headmen,
and some of the governments consisted of both types of administrators,
expanding the influence of the feudal landlord economy. The large
number of Han immigrants also promoted economic growth in the Li
areas. The Qing Dynasty abolished the system of appointing hereditary
headmen and confirmed the
 appointment of administrative officials.
This enhanced its direct rule over the Yi areas, hastened the
disintegration of the manorial economy and firmly established the
feudal landlord economy. |
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