They mainly live in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, with a few scattered in nearby counties and cities such as Yanyuan, Yanbian and Muli in Sichuan Province.
Lisu language is used, belonging to Yi branch of Tibeto-Burman language family of Sino-Tibetan language family. Three scripts have been used successively, one is phonography created by western missionaries, the other is syllable script created by Lisu people in Weixi county, and the other is Latin alphabet script created after the founding of New China, which has been implemented among Lisu people.
Lisu people used to believe in primitive religions. After western missionaries entered in the early 20th century, a few people believed in Christianity or Catholicism.
The Lisu nationality is an ancient nationality, whose name was first seen in the Tang Dynasty and is still in use today. Lisu people are closely related to Yi and Naxi people, and originated from "Wuman" in the Tang Dynasty. In the 8th century, Lisu ancestors lived on both sides of Jinsha River. /kloc-In the mid-6th century, a large number of Lisu people moved to Nujiang area under the leadership of Toulon for the purpose of opposing plunder, oppression and avoiding war. Lisu people live in remote mountainous areas with low productivity, and live by slash-and-burn primitive agriculture and hunting. By the 1950s, there were still obvious remnants of clan society. There are 18 clan names such as tiger, bear, monkey, snake, sheep, chicken, bird, fish, mouse, bee, buckwheat, bamboo, vegetable, hemp, teak, plow, frost, fire, etc. These names are the objects of their respective worship-totem. After the founding of New China, Lisu people were reborn. Especially with the development of transportation, Lisu people have stepped out of the closed mountains and their economy and culture have developed rapidly.
Lisu
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