Yi people are distributed in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Yi language belongs to the Yi branch of Tibeto-Burman language family of Sino-Tibetan language family, and there are six dialects.
It has its own script, which is the earliest syllabic script in China, among which there are more than 1000 commonly used scripts. 1957 adopted the Yi language standardization scheme, identified 8 19 standardized Yi languages, and started the trial.
Folk people have the habit of "beating sheep" and "beating cattle" to welcome guests. If there are visitors, they must be killed first and then treated. According to the identity and closeness of the visitors, they are treated as cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens respectively. Before killing animals, bring live animals to guests, ask them to have a look, and then kill them to show respect.
Wine is a welcome gift for guests. In Liangshan, as long as guests come into the house, the host must entertain them with wine first, and then cook various dishes.
The fat pig is the most decent meal for the guests. In the middle of eating, housewives should always pay attention to the food in the guest's bowl, and replenish what they can't finish at any time to show their sincerity in hospitality. When eating, the elders sit on it, and the younger generation sits on both sides and below in turn, adding meals, serving dishes and soaking for the elders.
After the young men and women are engaged, they should make preparations for the wedding reception. Pigs and chickens are often used at wedding banquets, but mutton is generally not used (mutton is used for funerals). The Shiping Yi people in southern Yunnan have the habit of inviting men and women to eat and drink before marriage. Yi people in western Yunnan, who have married their daughters, want to build a shed with branches on the courtyard towel or dam for guests to drink, smoke, eat and sit around. People call this temporary shed made of branches a "green shed".
Marriage and love of Yi people are strange and interesting. The most interesting thing is that only girls who have held a "dressing ceremony" can have sex with their sweetheart and act as matchmakers in the "theater". Traditional wedding customs, such as drinking and betrothal, starving the bride, crying all night, throwing water at wedding guests, robbing the bride, fighting in the bridal chamber, etc.
Girls change nepotism?
When Yi girls come of age (generally 15 years old), they will hold a grand "dressing ceremony" according to the custom. At the ceremony of changing skirts, the girl asked her sisters to change her original single braid into double braids and put them on her head. It is also necessary to tear off the original white pendant or old earring line and replace it with coral beads or silver earrings such as red agate to show good luck.
Finally, the girl took off the original red and white children's skirt and put on a blouse embroidered with lace and a colorful pleated mop-up dress in black, blue, yellow and white. After putting on new clothes, the girl can go to the "playground" to dance and sing, participate in social activities and start looking for her sweetheart.
Back bride
According to Yi custom, when the bride leaves the house, her feet can't touch the ground, otherwise there is a danger that her children are not sweet. The young man who takes care of the bride must carry her and help her get on the horse. There are also various rules on the way home: if the mountain is too high and the road is too narrow to ride a horse, the young man who takes care of the bride must take turns carrying the bride; Crossing the river and wading, it is even more necessary for people to carry water across the river. The bride's embroidered shoes must not get wet. ?
Splash water on relatives.
Yi people believe that clear water can drive away evil spirits and bring happiness. Therefore, Yi people must splash water when they get married. In order to withstand this test, men should be strong and nimble when greeting their relatives, so as to cope with the cold caused by splashing water and complete the arduous task of "grabbing" the bride. They often review the candidates repeatedly and select the best candidates, and some of them will travel long distances to select talents. ?
The wedding ceremony of the Yi people was completed by "grabbing". On the first night of "robbing the bride", the girls launched a fierce water war against the young man. The girls attacked the young man violently in various ways, such as splashing, splashing and patting. This makes it difficult for young people who come to "grab relatives" to parry. So, the clever young man found a place to store water before dark, and quietly dumped some of it to alleviate the attack of "flood".
After splashing water all night, it was dawn, and "robbing relatives" began. At this time, girls hug the bride and boys "fight for it". Girls are well-defended, while boys are smart and changeable. They took advantage of the loopholes that appeared in an instant, grabbed the bride and ran away. They ran straight out of the mountain road for a mile or two before walking. It can be seen that it is not easy to "grab" the bride to her husband's house! However, the Yi people believe that this kind of splashing and robbing in the wedding will drive away evil spirits and ensure that their future life will not be disturbed.
Fight in the bridal chamber
"According to Yi custom, if the bride doesn't resist and struggle on her wedding night, she will be laughed at:" This is a woman who won't resist! "It is said that the children they will give birth to in the future will not be recognized by their ancestors, and they will not be able to enter the underworld after death! So the banquet guests dispersed, and a couple in the bridal chamber still fought. They were banging, tearing their clothes and scratching their faces, and the banging from the bridal chamber shocked the neighbors.