Shuichao Village Yao (Landian) Ethnic Culture Protection Area in Yaoshan Town of Hekou County, Honghe

The Shuichao Village Yao (Landian) Ethnic Culture Protection Area is located in Yaoshan Town, Hekou County, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture. It consists of Upper Shuichao Village and Lower Shuichao Village, nestled on the fringe of Daweishan Nature Reserve. With a total of 136 households and a population of 673 people, the Yao ethnic group migrated to Yaoshan in 1861, and it is likely that Shuichao Village was established around that time. The villagers here mainly engage in farming, supplemented by gathering and hunting.

Distinctive Cultural Features

Ethnic Costumes: The costumes of Yao women are delicate, neat, beautiful, and simple. The main color is blue, with other ornaments serving as complementary colors, thus they are called Landian Yao. These women are highly skilled in cross – stitch embroidery. They use four – colored embroidery threads to inlay and embroider various patterns on the collars, fronts, cuffs, shoulder pads, trouser legs, aprons, and other parts of their clothing. These patterns are exquisite and unique in style.

Religious Beliefs: The Yao people believe in a large number of deities. These include ancestor gods of humanity such as Panhu, King Pan, Fuxi, and Shennong; nature gods like the Thunder King, the Soul of Grain, and the Five Thunders; protective gods such as the Kitchen God, the Civil Official, and the Community Emperor; and patriarch gods such as Taiqing, Yuqing, Shangqing, and the Three Yuan. The sacred portraits of Taiqing, Yuqing, and Shangqing used in Yao rituals like the initiation ceremony, as well as the patterns embroidered on the Taoist robes worn by the shigong (ritual masters), are precious traditional artworks.

Folk Festivals: On the third day of the third lunar month each year, they make colored glutinous rice. Wild plants are used to dye the glutinous rice into three colors: red, yellow, and blue. Mixed together, they represent the Red Dragon, the Yellow Dragon, and the Blue Dragon, which are used to “install the dragon” at ancestral graves, praying for family peace.

Traditional Architecture: The residential houses are mainly of a civil – structure type with earthen walls and red – tile roofs. Houses with earthen walls and thatched roofs also account for about a quarter. Traditional house – building customs are still well – preserved, covering aspects such as material selection, site selection, choosing an auspicious day to level the foundation, raising the beam, and celebrating the new house.

Folk Literature: The folk songs in Shuichao Village are rich and diverse, including lyric songs, narrative songs, life songs, and custom songs.

 

Protection and Development

Protection Measures: In 2006, it was listed in the first batch of traditional cultural protection areas of intangible cultural heritage in Yunnan Province. The local government has been taking various measures to protect and inherit the traditional culture of the Yao people in Shuichao Village, such as training inheritors of intangible cultural heritage, holding folk activities, and strengthening cultural publicity.

Development Status: With the advancement of modernization, while protecting the traditional culture, the local area is actively promoting the integrated development of culture and tourism. Relying on the traditional festivals of various ethnic groups, it develops sightseeing and experiential products integrating ethnic culture and tourism, presenting the mysterious ethnic culture and exquisite handicrafts of the Yao people to Chinese and foreign tourists, which promotes local economic development and cultural inheritance.

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