Yi Culture

The Yi people are good at singing and dancing. The Yi people have a variety of traditional tunes, such as climbing the mountain, entering the door, welcoming guests, eating wine, marrying relatives, mourning, etc. Some tunes have fixed words, some do not. Some tunes have fixed words, while others do not, and are improvised. Mountain songs are divided into male and female voices, and each region has its own unique style of mountain songs. Yi musical instruments include the gourd sheng, mabu, bawu, mouth string, moon zither, flute, three strings, chimes, copper drums, big flat drums and so on. The Yi dances are also quite distinctive, divided into two categories: group dances and solo dances, most of which are group dances, such as "Jumping Songs", "Jumping Music", "Jumping Moon", "Playing Songs and Dances" and "Songs and Dances". There are two types of dances, most of which are group dances, such as "Jumping Song", "Jumping Music", "Jumping Moon", "Playing Song and Dance" and "Pot Zhuang Dance". These dances are characterized by cheerful movements and a strong sense of rhythm, and are usually accompanied by the flute, the moon lute and the three-stringed musical instrument.

Yi people: a people who can sing and dance

Liangshan is the home of songs and dances, and the Yi people are a people who can sing and dance well.

Liangshan Yi music style is simple and ancient, with many varieties and distinctive and strong national characteristics. Folk music in the folk songs and folk literature are closely related, many universally circulated long lyric poems, such as "Amo Nijar", "Ai A Gluttony", "Ajar Nun", "Ace Niu Niu" and so on. All of them were sung in the form of songs. In addition to narrative songs, there are songs sung at the time of marriage, such as the "Jatak", torch festival songs such as "all fire", songs sung at the time of labor, such as "ploughing song", "pastoral song" and so on. In addition, there are mountain songs, such as Butuan Gosheng mountain songs, children's songs and so on.

Yi folk songs vary in style depending on the region. The folk songs in the southern part of Liangshan Mountain are high-pitched and exciting, those in the central and western part are soft and graceful, and those in the eastern part of Enuo are thick and simple. In the past, the Yi folk songs, in general, gave people a sense of depression, but its simple and beautiful ethnic and regional flavor is very distinct. Folk instrumental music is not for accompaniment, but developed independently and formed its own system. The striking thing is that it shows a great span of history and space. The common ones are mouth string, moon zither, mabu, gourd sheng, huqin, yi xiao, harp flute, suona and so on. In addition, wood leaf blowing, i.e. playing music with a leaf, is also a favorite folk music of the Yi people. Harmonious strings and moon zither are so common that almost all women, young and old, have a pair of strings hanging in front of their lapels, ready to be played at any time. Mouthstrings are a unique and simple musical instrument, consisting of several thin reeds about seven or eight centimeters long, bamboo and copper two kinds of pieces, the least two pieces, the most up to five or six pieces. Bamboo tone deep, low. Copper tone crisp, beautiful. Blowing with a finger to flick the yellow piece, the use of the mouth **** sound changes in tone. Reeds in addition to the sound, but also issued a very beautiful overtone, constituting a wider range of musical tunes. Yueqin for young and middle-aged men love, there are many outstanding folk Yueqin player. 50's, Liangshan Yi girl Shama Wuzhi in Moscow World Youth Festival played the Yueqin. It was warmly praised.

Liangshan Yi folk dance is often inseparable from singing and instrumental music. One type of folk dance is produced in the production of labor dance such as buckwheat dance, bunting dance, felt weaving dance, etc., most of the simulation of labor action and performance of the production process. Another category is in the festivals or in the marriage of the joy of the scene in the common dance such as jumping pot Zhuang, jumping "all fire", the foot dance, was felt dance, reed to dance. Some of them show the hard work of farming and herding. The joy of the harvest, some show the bravery of the war, the pursuit of love.

There are three colorful areas in the folk music of the Yi people: Liangshan Mountain in Sichuan Province and the big and small Liangshan Mountain in Ninglang, Yunnan Province, the middle, south and north of Yunnan Province, and Liupanshui area and Bijie area in Guizhou Province. The mountain songs of the Liangshan Yi are called "Ya" or "Yahe", and are sung exclusively in falsetto or in small voices with high voices, and the tuning often alternates or wanders. Due to the low productivity of the local area and the hardship of the people, there are a lot of "Sajuhe" (Songs of Complaints and Sufferings), which are about the miserable life and the longing for freedom. In addition, the narrative songs of the Liangshan Yi, the "Daughter-in-Law Harmony Niqi" (marriage songs), and the "Guzhuho" (love songs), in which "A Rannyu" serves as the characteristic song leader, are also found in the area. These songs are also very representative of the genre. Among them, "Amo Rija", which means "mother's daughter", and "Leru Tei", an epic poem about the creation of the world, are also masterpieces of Yi folk literature.

The clans of the Yi in Yunnan are very complex, and their music has its own characteristics. The "Four Great Cavities" (Hai Cai Cavity, Yam Cavity, Wushan Cavity and Four Cavities) circulating in the Red River area is a kind of large-scale multi-part suite of songs favored by the local people and sung by both men and women in the customary activities of socializing such as "Eating Fireweed and Smoke". Its lyrics are in Chinese, and its length, complex structure and various singing forms make it very rare among the folk songs in China. Among them, the Hai Cai Cavity, which has a long history, beautiful melody and unique singing style, is well known at home and abroad, and was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage protection object in 2006. As for the Yi folk songs in Guizhou, which are in various forms and with regional characteristics, they are often divided into two categories according to the concepts of big and small classification: those sung in the mountains and those sung at home; the former mainly include the "Qugu" which is sung in pairs or solo according to a certain program at the song meetings and festivals, and "Sharp Forks" which is used to sing Yi songs in Chinese; the latter includes the wedding ceremonies. The latter includes the "scolding No", "rubbing fruit park", "RuGuoPu" of the bridesmaids questioning their relatives in each link of the wedding, and the "LuWai" of the guests and hosts wishing each other well. "Luwai", wedding songs such as "Qujie" before the bride gets married, as well as funeral songs that are collectively known as "laughing out loud", and folk tales and historical myths and legends that are narrated and sung. The "Goeguk" and other songs