Where did the ancestors of the Yi nationality come from?

The ancestors of the Yi nationality came from the ancient Qiang nationality.

From the 2nd century BC to the beginning of A.D., the activities of Yi ancestors concentrated in Dianchi Lake and Du Qiong (now southeast of Xichang, Sichuan). In these areas, there are tribes engaged in agriculture or nomadism, such as Du Qiong, Kunming, Laojin, Mimo and Yunnan. According to the historical legends of the Yi people, their ancestors lived in Qiongzhi Road in ancient times, and then went south to Yinuo and Quyi (namely Jinsha River and Anning River basins).

After the 3rd century A.D., the ancestors of Yi people gradually expanded from Anning Valley, Jinsha River, Dianchi Lake and Ailao Mountain in Yunnan to northeast Yunnan, south Yunnan, northwest Guizhou and northwest Guangxi. Since the ancestors of the Yi people settled in the southwest, they have been merging with other ethnic groups. For example, many descendants of Pu people in ancient south have become Yi people today. There are many records about "Pubian Yi" in the ancient Yi language book Southwest Zhiyi in Guizhou. At the same time, there are many other Yi tribes in the areas where the ancient Yi people lived.

Festival custom

The Year of the Yi Nationality is a grand traditional festival of the Yi nationality in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places, which is called "Kush" in Yi language. October to the middle and late November of the lunar calendar is a good day to celebrate the China New Year. Torch Festival is a traditional festival of Yi people. The date is June 24th of the lunar calendar every year, lasting for three days.

During the festival, people dressed in costumes gather on the flat dam or gentle slope near the village, singing, dancing, horse racing, bullfighting, sheep shooting, wrestling, beauty contests and so on. The activities are colorful and lively. In the morning, people will kill animals to worship their ancestors. At night, they will hold torches around crops, which means burning pests and praying for a bumper harvest. In addition, the Yi people in western Guizhou and eastern Yunnan celebrate the festival of offering sacrifices to mountains on the third day of the third lunar month.

Reference to the above content: Baidu Encyclopedia-Yi people