1. Festivals: Festivals are the concentrated expression of the lifestyle and customs of the Yi people in various places. The two most solemn festivals are as follows:
(1) Year of the Yi people: The Year of the Yi people is a grand traditional festival of the Yi people in Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, which is called "Kushi" in Yi language. Chinese New Year is celebrated on auspicious days from October to the middle and late November of the lunar calendar.
(2) Torch Festival: a traditional festival of the Yi people, which falls on June 24th of the lunar calendar every year and lasts for three days. During the festival, people dressed in costumes gathered on the flat dam or gentle slope near the village, singing, dancing, horse racing, bullfighting, sheep fighting, wrestling, beauty pageant and so on. The activities were colorful and lively.
2. Marriage and love: The marriage of the Yi nationality is characterized by internal marriage within the same clan, external marriage supported by the family, internal marriage within ranks, preferential marriage between aunts and uncles, and prohibition of marriage between aunts and uncles. This feature is most prominent in Liangshan Yi area. Before the founding of New China, if people of different races intermarry, they will be executed or expelled from the family according to the common law.
It is forbidden to marry within the family. Marriage of the same clan and surname is regarded as incest, and offenders are sentenced to death. Strict implementation of hierarchical marriage, between Zimo and Nuohe of the ruling class and Qunuo, Aga and Xiaxi of the ruled class, marriage is prohibited, and extramarital sexual relations are also prohibited, and offenders will be put to death.
3. Funeral: In most areas, the Yi people are buried in the ground, while the Yi people in Liangshan are cremated. After burial, the ashes are dug on the spot and covered tightly with stones, or put into bags and hidden in rock caves with horses. After that, a "AnLing" ceremony will be held for the deceased, with about one inch of bamboo wrapped with white wool, wrapped in red thread, put into a wooden stick with a slot that is five inches long, wrapped with hemp skin, sharpened at both ends of the wooden stick, and hung on a bamboo basket, and the spirit tablet will be made, which is called "Madu" in Yi language.
"Madu" is placed on the throne below and above the indoor beam. The shrine is the most sacred place in the family and must not be defiled.
Extended information:
The staple foods of the Yi people are potatoes, corn, buckwheat and rice. Non-staple foods include meat, beans, vegetables, spices and drinks. Carnivores are mainly cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens, and it is necessary to kill animals when entertaining guests. Killing cattle is the most expensive, followed by sheep and pigs. Beans are mostly soybeans, beans, peas, etc. One method of eating soybeans is called "Dulaba" by the Yi people, that is, grinding soybeans into pulp and cooking them with sauerkraut.
Yi villages generally live in groups, and most of them are located on the hillside which is close to mountains and waters, sheltered from the wind from the sun, with lush trees, fertile land and open terrain, which is conducive to farming and grazing and military defense. Scattered in high mountains, concentrated in mid-levels and river valleys. A blood family lived together to form a natural village, ranging from a few households to dozens of households, and the branches with close blood ties were scattered and adjacent.
In Yi society, monogamy, which is adapted to the patriarchal family, is the dominant marriage form. In the past, in Liangshan, except for some children of Xiaxi and Aga, when men and women were children or young, their fathers chose matches for them, sought matchmaking, predicted marriage and hired them for engagement. The wedding will be held after a certain period of time.
Reference: Yi-Baidu Encyclopedia