Yi
From Freepedia
- For other uses, see Yi (disambiguation).
The Yi people (own name in the Cool Mountain dialect: ꆈꌠ, official transcription: Nuosu, IPA: [nɔ̄sū]; Chinese: 彝族, Pinyin: Yìzú) are a modern ethnic group in China. Numbering 6.6 million, they are the seventh largest of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They live primarily in rural areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi, usually in mountainous regions. The Yi speak Yi, a Tibeto-Burman language closely related to Burmese.
History
Legend has it that the Yi are descended from the ancient Qiang (古羌) people of Western China, who are also said to be the ancestors of the Tibetan, Naxi (纳西) and Qiang (羌) peoples. They migrated from Southeastern Tibet through Sichuan and into Yunnan Province, where their largest populations can be found today.
They practice a form of animism, led by a shaman priest known as the Bimaw. They still retain a few ancient religious texts written in their unique pictographic script. Their religion also contains many elements of Daoism and Buddhism.
Many of the Yi in northwestern Yunnan practiced a complicated form of slavery. People were split into the Black Yi (nobles) and White Yi (commoners). White Yi and other ethnic groups were held as slaves, but the higher slaves were allowed to farm their own land, hold their own slaves and eventually buy their freedom.
See also
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Chinese ethnic groups (classification by PRC government) |
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Achang - Bai - Blang - Bonan - Buyei - Chosen - Dai - Daur - De'ang - Derung - Dong - Dongxiang - Ewenki - Gaoshan - Gelao - Gin - Han - Hani - Hezhen - Hui - Jingpo - Jino - Kazak - Kirgiz - Lahu - Lhoba - Li - Lisu - Man - Maonan - Miao - Monba - Mongol - Mulao - Naxi - Nu - Oroqen - Pumi - Qiang - Russ - Salar - She - Shui - Tajik - Tatar - Tibetan - Tu - Tujia - Uygur - Uzbek - Va - Xibe - Yao - Yi - Yugur - Zhuang - Undistinguished nationalities |
