Introduction

According to data from the sixth census of China in 2010, the total population of the Yi people reached 8,714,393. They are mainly distributed in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou Provinces as well as Guangxi ZhuangAutonomous Region. The population ofthe Yi People in Yunnan totally gets to 5.028 million; they are mainly distributed in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Honghe Hani & Yi Autonomous Prefecture and Shilin YiAutonomous County. The Yi people are the sixth largest ethnic group and one of the oldest groups in China, speaking the Yi language. From the perspective ofthe Chinese literal meaning, “Yi” means solemnity or a good harvest. Long is the history ofthe culture and arts ofthe Yi people; there are a host ofvaluable documents among the works ofhistory, literature, medicine and calendar recorded in Yi language. In Yunnan, the Yi language by far is spoken by some ofthe Yi people and the official Yi characters are standardized for writing.

The Yi people’s religion is highly featured by primeval faith, and the Yi people are polytheists, placing emphasis on animism and ancestor worship. When it comes to the Yi people’s animism, spirits and souls are regarded as the theme. For this group, spirits and souls are thought of as the protectors ofthe families and livestock. In accordance with their culture, the Spirit “Jier”^[23] ofthe Yi people is seen as a ubiquitous existence.

Not only do the Yi people are adept with both the pen and the sword, but they are of decorum. On the one hand, speaking of kinship appellations, the Yi people have responsibility for knowing how to call elders’ appellations properly. They create many appellations on the basis of both ages and paternal and maternal genealogies, thus, it is an ignominious behaviour for a person to call elders’ appellations improperly. Seating arrangements for some public events such as banquets and meeting also should be made according to ages or seniority ofthe participants. In many occasions, others are not allowed to speak firstly at the presence of elders. On the other hand, an old saying echoes down the years among the Yi people, that is, “guests are three hundred years older than the host”,since the older a person is, the more respected he or she can be in the Yi cultures. So, the host must kill some animals for treating guests when they visit the home. Cattle, sheep, pigs or chickens are respectively offered to different guests according to their position in society and relations with the host. The chosen animals can be butchered after guests take a look at them, which shows the host’s sincere respect for visitors. The host who is economically disadvantaged should at least treat guests with tobacco and tea. And in addition to this,wine is the gift of first meeting: as long as the guests come into the room, the host must immediately serve the guests with wine before cooking meals.

The most popular festivals of the Yi people include “the Torch Festival”^[24] and “the New Year of the Yi People”, among them “the Torch Festival” is the most ceremonious traditional festival.