Jingdong County Culture
Jingdong Yi Autonomous County (景东彝族自治县; pinyin: Jǐngdōng yízú Zìzhìxiàn) is an autonomous county under the jurisdiction of Pu’er Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. The general layout is on a symmetric basis. Woods in the Confucian temple are serene and majestic, just like those in the hometown of Mr. Confucius. The architectures in the temple include Panchi Pool (Panchi, a pool in front of a school in ancient China, thus Panchi refers to school of Confucianism in ancient times), Bell Tower, Lingxing Gate, Dachen Gate and Dachen Hall, all artistic, exquisite and classic.
The Yi or Lolo people are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Numbering 8 million, they are the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People’s Republic of China. They live primarily in rural areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi, usually in mountainous regions. As of 1999, there were 3,300 “Lô Lô” people living in Hà Giang, Cao Bằng, and Lào Cai provinces in northeastern Vietnam. The Yi speak various Loloish languages, Sino-Tibetan languages closely related to Burmese. The prestige variety is Nuosu, which is written in the Yi script.
The Culture of Yi People
The Yi play a number of traditional musical instruments, including large plucked and bowed string instruments, as well as wind instruments called bawu (巴乌) and mabu (马布). The Yi also play the hulu sheng, though unlike other minority groups in Yunnan, the Yi do not play the hulu sheng for courtship or love songs (aiqing). The kouxian, a small four-pronged instrument similar to the Jew’s harp, is another commonly found instrument among the Liangshan Yi. Kouxian songs are most often improvised and are supposed to reflect the mood of the player or the surrounding environment. Kouxian songs can also occasionally function in the aiqing form. Yi dance is perhaps the most commonly recognized form of musical performance, as it is often performed during publicly sponsored holidays and/or festival events. Yi people’s son’s given name is patronymic, based on the last one or two syllable of father’s name.
