On the eve of the first session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 1949, when Mao Zedong reviewed the registration form of the delegates to the conference, he found that a Yi representative named Zhang Chong had filled in the "Yi ethnic group" in the ethnic composition column, so he turned Zhang Chong over to find out the reason for this. Zhang Chong told Mao Zedong that the titles of the Yi people have always been inconsistent, and there are names everywhere, such as "Nuosu", "Nasu", and "Niesu" with a Su character, and there are also "Nipu" and "Pu Lapo" with Pu and the like, and even "Luo Wei", which is obviously a proud title, and "Luo Wei", which is obviously a proud title, and "倮倮" with contempt with contempt by outsiders.
After Zhang Chong's introduction, Mao Zedong put forward his own opinion: The word "Yi" is not suitable as a national title, under the leadership of the party, the entire unified Chinese nation has an equal status, and if there is any distinction between Yi and Yi, it is much better to change Yi to Yi, although it is just one word, but the meaning is completely different.
"Yi" is a vessel containing things, which is generally seen in the palace, and there is "rice" and "silk" on the glyph, which means to eat and wear, and the meaning of living a good life.
Zhang Chong was very happy after listening to it, and agreed with the chairman's meaning, and after the meeting, Zhang Chong brought the title of "Yi" back to Yunnan, that is, from then on, "Yi" became the unified name of all branches of the Yi.
First, the historical Yi people, and the origin of the Yi people
The Yi people, as a nation with a long history, their lineage can be traced back to ancient times, when the ancestors of the Yi people have already flourished in southwest China, and at the latest, 3,000 years ago, the ancestors of the Yi people have entered the era of civilization.
At the time of the Xia Shang, the ethnic groups of the Yi system already existed independently in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and created their own unique civilization, which was one of the protagonists of that era, and after that, with the passage of time, the original Yi system of ethnic groups also blended with other ethnic groups, forming the main ethnic group of the Yangtze River civilization based on the "four major civilizations and ancient countries" of the ancient Dian, ancient Shu, Guyelang, and Chu states.
Now, our perspective comes to the "Six Ancestors" of the Creation Myth of the Yi people, and together we see the location of the ancient Shu Kingdom, where there was a great water, and at the same time, a great migration. The story of the Six Ancestors is also a large-scale migration activity to avoid floods, and even because this action saved the lives of most people, the Yi people deeply remember this person, and Du Mu this person, in the hearts of the Yi people, is their three "ancestors".
The Yi people have three ancestors in mythology, a hero of the sun, Zhige Anu, which is what we call Houyi; a human father, Xi Mucha, who, like Adam in the West, is the ancestor of the whole human race in Yi mythology; the remaining one is The Dumu who led the tribesmen to escape the flood, he is the Noah of the East.
But myths are myths after all, so let's look back at the 800 years of that Chinese land.
In the whole Central Plains, the Chinese established the earliest city-state xia in this land, and in the northwest direction, there was already a group of people who quickly learned to livestock, in the south there was a group of outsiders who were about to reach the border of China, and there were people in the Tibetan plateau in the west who were slowly walking, and in chudi, east of the Yangtze River, a country stood majestically here.
Among them, those who have a deep relationship with the Yi people are the ancient Qiang people who have gone northwest and south.
2. Ancestors of the Yi people
At the time of the Shang Zhou Dynasty, this time was the time when the Central Plains was full of vitality and vigorous development, and although the ancient Qiang people at that time did not suffer so much on the road of development, their development at this time was indeed blocked by the mountains. Shang Zhou, these two giants are the mountains where the ancient Qiang people developed.
"Qiang, Xi rong shepherd also, from man from sheep." This is a summary of the life of the ancient Qiang people, they are a group of shepherds, and the Central Plains people are not only a group of people who can farm, but also a group of hunters, they are like fierce beasts for the ancient Qiang people, but this beast can sit down and communicate friendly, so the Qiang people chose the simplest way - to break the wealth and avoid disaster.
Politically, the ancient Qiang people submitted to the Shang and Zhou, and because of this submission, the ancient Qiang people began to intermarry with the Huaxia people, and at this time the political, economic, and cultural exchanges between the two sides began, and some of the ancient Qiang people finally integrated into the Zhou people.
There are also some ancient Qiang people who choose to go southwest.
This part of the ancient Qiang people was very lucky, and along the way did not encounter any confrontation between other clans that were more powerful than them, so this part of the ancient Qiang people developed to the end, dividing the ancient Qiang people's clans more, just like the Yi people in the early liberation period, and even the titles were different because of different places, although they were the same ancestor and the same lineage.
The one concerning the ancestors of the Yi people is called the genus of the Yue And Qiang.
3. Evidence on the deep ties between the ancient Qiang and the Yi people
Yue Wei Qiang, this is now the most agreeable about the ancestral origin of the Yi people, that is, from the northwest down the ancient Qiang people, of course, empty mouth, naturally there is some evidence to prove the origin between them.
During the Shu Han Dynasty, there was an army stationed in the place where the Yue and Qiang were concentrated, and the reason for sending the army was to prevent rebellion. Say one person, so that you can know why, people who have heard about the three kingdoms should know Meng Yue, he is the Yi people, that is, the YueWei Qiang people, for the entire Central Plains at that time, it is obvious that everyone in the "Southern Barbarians" was still martial, which required them to be on guard at all times to cause unnecessary trouble. The same is true of the Ming Dynasty, which had generals who were specially designed to quell the rebellion of the local Yi people in northeastern Yunnan and northwestern Qian, and these generals were called "Pingqiang" generals.
In terms of funerals, the ancient Qiang people also have quite a relationship with the Yi people, cremation is the traditional custom of the ancient Qiang people, they even have "all the ancient Qiang people, captured, not afraid of being killed, but afraid of not being cremated", although the Yi people do not have such a saying, but the Yi people are also generally cremation, and the ancient Qiang people cremation customs have been passed down to the present day, the main force, is also them.
In terms of naming customs, the ancient Qiang people also have many similarities with the former Yi people, and in terms of father and son names, the ancient Qiang people have the same phenomenon as the Yi people. If you go through the genealogy of a Yi people, you may find that the characters of their names will be passed down from generation to generation, such as the Nanzhao state regime established by the ancestors of the Yi people in the Tang Dynasty, and its royal lineage is: Xiannuluo - Luo Shengyan - Shengluopi - Piluoge... This is the tradition of the ancient Qiang people, and it is also the tradition of the later Yi people.
In fact, no matter how the Yi people come from, or how the name Yi people come from, in this era, each ethnic group has its own culture and characteristics, but in general, it is still in the same land, and it is also the same nationality.
Resources:
【1】Entry "Yi Nationality" on the website of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China
【2】Yi people network "Yi nationality name origin"