THE YI PEOPLE OF SOUTHWEST CHINA

     The largest Yi community in China  (over three million) is located in theYunnan Province, just northwest of Xishangbanna in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture.

     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.  Often the Yi areas are rich in natural resources with ample water ower, coal, iron, and non-ferrous metals.  There are also vast forests of pine, dragon spruce, lacquer, tea, camphor, kapok, and other trees.

     The Yi language belongs to the Tibetan-Myanmese Language Group of the Chinese-Tibetan Language Family, and the Yis speak six dialects.  They used to have a syllabic script called the old Yi language which was formed in the 13th century.

     There are historical records that show that activities of the ancient centered around Dianchi in Yunnan between the 2nd century B.C. and the early Christian era.  Ancient records show that they went through a matriarchal age in ancient times and that the Yi people only knew mothers and not fathers and that women ruled for six generations in a row.  Patriarchy came into being at least 200 years ago.

     Each Yi belongs to a different caste, which up until the 1950s was the basis of a slave society.  The Black Yi, the aristocrats and landowners, made up 7% of the population and owned 80% of the land.  The White Yi made up around 50% of the population and had no freedom of movement.  A Black Yi who committed murder could offer a White Yi as compensation to the family of the deceased.  The White Yi also had too offer a fixed amount of time each year working in the Black Yi's fields.  The lowest of the two classes, the Ajia (33%) and Gazi(10%) were freely bought and sold as slaves and had no rights.

     The Yi's were famous for their slave-raiding tripsinto Han territory.  Han traders only dared enter the Lliangshan Shan under the protection of a local chief.  Thering the Naionalist era, several powerful Sichuan warlords were of Yi descent.  Slave society existed in the Llanghshan region until 1959, when the communists forced the transition to a socialist society.

     Yi costume is great in variety, with different designs for different places.  Women wear laced or embroidered jackets and pleated long skirts hemmed with colorful multi-layer laces.  Black Yi women used to wear long skirts reaching to the ground, and women of other social ranks wore skirts only reaching to the knee.  Some women wear black turbans, while middle aged and young women prefer embroidered square kerchiefs with the front covering the forehead like a rim.