Xiaoliangshan Yi Villages

With the Naxi settling in the valleys and lower slopes of the mountains, and the Tibetans occupying the high plateau, it is the Yi who live in the areas between them. Those who live in Zhongdian and Lijiang Counties are part of the same branch of the Yi who are the majority of the inhabitants of Ninglang Yi Autonomous County. Northeast of Lijiang, this highland territory is part of the range called Xiaoliangshan, the Lesser Cool Mountains, as distinguished from Daliangshan, the Greater Cool Mountains, to the east in Sichuan. Ninglang's Yi migrated from Daliangshan a few centuries ago and their language, traditions and costumes are very similar. They both call themselves Nosu, or Nusu (depending on dialect differences).

Rising shortly after Yongsheng, a bustling Han city in a rich valley, the road climbs into the mountains, crossing ever higher ranges, then descends into the long plain at Ninglang, the county seat. The city lies along one main avenue, flanked on the east by a narrow, flat strip of farmland to the river and on the left by high hills. The population is mostly Yi, the market active every day. A new museum above the western side of the main road displays handicrafts, Yi alphabet manuscripts and other items of local cultural interest.

After passing a Mosuo village just north of the city, the road ascends again, crossing two more valleys, before making the last climb over the last high pass before the descent to Lugu Lake and Yongning district. Mountains rise on both sides and Yi villages are sited both high and low. Mosuo and Pumi villages lie at lower elevations, mostly near Ninglang and Xinyingpan, while the villages in the last valley south of Lugu Lake have mixed populations-Yi, Mosuo and Pumi.

Log cabins, with roofs of shingles held down by stones, characterise the traditional Yi village architecture. But in some of the wealthier areas the Yi have switched to typical Yunnanese rural houses of brick or rammed earth as the main building material. Houses are usually surrounded by a fenced yard and lie a bit more apart from each other than in Naxi or Tibetan villages. Jinzigou, in the central part of the county, is the largest settlement, with over a hundred houses. But usually Yi villages are less than half that size. Some Yi families live practically alone in their areas, like the yak herders on top of Yaoshan (Medicine Mountain), a day's hike uphill north of Jinzigou, and the site of several small lakes.

Except in the lower valleys, where rice can be cultivated, the Yi raise potatoes, buckwheat, peppercorn, maize and a few vegetables. Buckwheat bread is often the main filler at a meal. Semi-pastoral, the highland Yi tend flocks of goats and sheep and shear the latter for their wool, which they turn into the felted or woven long capes both sexes wear in the cold weather. A couple of luckier villages in the eastern mountains derive an income from gold or silver mines. And in recent years an apple business has brought new income to Yi around Xinyingpan.

Xiaoliangshan Yi are one of the proudest and most conservative branches of the Yi nationality. Every sizable village has a resident bimaw, or ritual specialist, who conducts rites, divination and fortune-telling with the aid of ancient books inscribed in the Yi language. Domestic relationships are carried out strictly according to custom.

Most females don the traditional garments. These comprise a long, pleated skirt in three or four wide, brightly coloured sections, a black velvet vest over a long-sleeved blouse, a sash belt with a long fringed end dangling in front and a triangular purse with long tails attached to the belt. Unmarried girls wear an embroidered flat cap, held in place by her braids, or a large, rounded black one with bright trimming. Married women's hats are bigger, plain black, with right-angled corners. Men's traditional clothing consists of wide- legged trousers, plain jacket, black turban and the cape, which, like the women, they fasten around the neck.