The Lisu first lived in the Jinsha River basin on the border between Sichuan and Yunnan, and then gradually moved to the Nujiang River area in western Yunnan. The Lisu are a unique ethnic group in Yunnan, living mainly in the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture and the Wisi Lisu Autonomous County in Yunnan Province, with the rest of the Lisu scattered in the states and counties of Lijiang, Baoshan, Diqing, Dehong, Dali and Chuxiong in Yunnan, and in the counties of Xichang, Yanyuan, Muli and Dechang in Sichuan. Lisu for the descendants of the Qiang, that is, one of the Tibetan-Burmese language group, Lisu have their own language, the language belongs to the Tibetan-Burmese language group of the Sino-Tibetan language Yi language branch. The original script is very imperfect, and in 1957 a new script based on the Latin alphabet was created. Lisu folklore is rich and colorful. Myths and legends such as "Genesis" and "Our Ancestors" are invaluable materials for the study of the ancient history of the Lisu people, and are also treasures in the treasure trove of Chinese folklore. Its poetry is more concerned with rhyme and rhythm and neat battle. In some of the puns, the poems often cleverly contain fresh metaphors, which is the most prominent feature of Lisu poetry. The Lisu are mainly engaged in agriculture. Their marriage is monogamous. Lisu clothing is very characteristic, women wear embroidered blouse, linen skirt, like to wear red and white material beads, coral, shells and other ornaments; men wear short clothes, outside the linen coat, the left waist knife, the right waist hanging arrows packet, the Lisu people can sing and dance, every harvest, marriage. The Lisu people can sing and dance well, every harvest, marriage, hunting and cover the house and other seasons, they have to sing and dance to their heart's content. Lisu believe that everything has a spirit, worship ancestral light. Traditional festivals are Kuoshi Festival (New Year's Day), Knife Pole Festival, Harvest Festival and so on.
The Lisu people are very fond of singing to the tune of ? Salt, do not eat not; song, do not sing not? The saying that. Folk songs are simple and touching, rich in tunes, the traditional dance is mostly a collective dance, there are imitation animal animals, but also the performance of production life. Traditional musical instruments include the pipa, the mouth string, the four strings and the lusheng.
The Lisu people are mainly engaged in agriculture, planting corn, rice, buckwheat and so on. The Lisu people believe in primitive religion and worship nature. Some also believe in Christianity and Catholicism.