Chinese Nation – Lisu nationality

Lisu ethnic group originates from the ancient Diqiang ethnic group and has a close relationship with Yi ethnic group. It is mainly distributed in the Nujiang River, Enmeikai River (the tributary of Irrawaddy River), which is the border area of Yunnan, Tibet, and Myanmar. The rest of the Lisu ethnic group lives in other areas of Yunnan, India, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Lisu People generally believe in primitive religion, which takes the nature worship and soul concept as the basic content, and the sacrifice activities in case of disease and disaster as its main form, and exists in Lisu area. Since modern times, Christianity and Catholicism have been introduced into the Nujiang area, and some Lisu People have turned to Christianity, while a few of them are Catholic.

The Lisu People are popular in the worship of nature. In their concept, mountains, rivers, sun and moon, stars, animals, and plants are dominated by “gods” or “ghosts”. As a result, they believed in and worshipped almost all natural phenomena, such as mountain spirits, tree ghosts, and water gods. They divided ghosts into several categories. The main ghosts are Yuanba ghost (“ushani”), Jiagui (“haiquani”), Shangui (“mishni”), Shuigui (“edusni”), menggui (“Migani”), Xuegui (“chani”), lugui (“jiaguni”), devil (“nipaimuni”) and tiger clan ghost (“wudouni”). All of these are the false reactions of the external forces that dominate people in their daily life. It is also a kind of weakness of Lisu ancestors in the struggle with nature and society in the historical period.

Before the founding of new China, most Lisu men and women in the Nujiang area wore self-made linen clothes, and only a few wealthy families and upper-class people wore cotton clothes. The tools for weaving hemp are very simple. The frame is made up of four sticks in two horizontal and two straight directions. Some of them are inserted into the ground with four wooden pillars, and two sticks are tied at the top, which is called “textile machine”. A skillful woman can weave 5-inch-wide linen 6 feet a day.

There are two styles of clothing for Lisu women: one is wearing a short shirt and the other is wearing it under.

Skirt, skirt length and ankle, skirt fold a lot; another kind of short shirt, trousers, trousers outside front and back apron. Women’s blouses are waist-length, double-breasted, full round and flat collar, no buttons, and plain lapels are open. In cold weather, they are covered with hands or pressed with beads, shellfish, mussels, and other accessories. Some with black cloth edge, clothing for the white, black and white match is very beautiful. Due to the differences in the color of linen worn in different places, it can be divided into black, white, and flower Lisu. White and black Lisu women living in the Nujiang area generally wear the right Lapel top and linen long skirt; married women wear big copper rings in their ears, shoulder-length and coral and beads on their heads. Young girls like to wear red braids with small white shells. Some women also like to wear a string of agate, seashells, or silver coins on their chests. Lisu people call this kind of chest ornament “lability”. The “black Lisu” women in Lushui do not wear long skirts. They wear the right lapels on their coats, a small apron around their waist, trousers, blue cloth Baotou and small coral ornaments on their ears.

The costumes of Hualisu in Yongsheng and Dehong are bright and beautiful. Women like to embroider a lot of lace on their coats and long skirts. Their heads are covered with flowery cloth, headscarves, earrings, big copper rings, or silver rings. Their skirts are as long as the ground. They are swaying and swaying when walking. Women in the Dechang area of Sichuan Province had three pointed hair on their heads when they were young. Since then, the number has increased year by year and reached the age of 15. The top of the head is made of a wool band, which is called “Wudi” in the Lisu language. The two braided rings are well tied under the “Wudi”; the left and right ears are pierced with a hole respectively. When they get married, they each wear silver earrings. The top is made of self-woven dyed cloth, with 7-20 collar flowers; Under the skirt, a white cloth is glued inside, 5 inches wide, 6 circles of the pattern are pricked out with flower thread outside, and the waist is a red and black belt made of wool.

Before the founding of the people’s Republic of China, Lisu men’s clothes were linen long or short shirts, with trousers reaching to the knees. Some of them wrapped their heads with blue cloth, and some of them wrapped their hair in braids. The leader or individual rich man wears a string of red coral in his left ear to show his social status. All adult men like to wear a machete on their left waist and an arrow bag on their right waist. Most arrow bags are made of bearskin and monkey skin. The Lisu man in Dechang has a small bundle of hair on his head, which is unlucky for others. The clothes are made of linen. After the founding of the people’s Republic of China, especially since the reform and opening up, Lisu clothing materials have undergone fundamental changes, linen has almost disappeared.

Lisu People call the annual festival “Kushi”. Before the founding of the people’s Republic of China, the Lisu People in the Nujiang area mainly decided the time of the new year by observing the phenology, so there was no unified and definite date, but it was generally in the period from the fifth day of December to the tenth day of the first month of the next year, that is, the cherry blossom season. During the festival, it is customary to pound Indica rice cake and waxy corn cake and brew mellow water wine. To pray for good weather and a good grain harvest in the coming year, every family should put a little of the rice cake pounded from the first mortar on the peach, pear, and other fruit trees.

In some places, a small bowl of rice cake is put for the dog to eat before eating, which is said to be in return for the grain that the dog has brought to the world. On the first day of the new year’s festival, young men and women from all over the world should dress up and gather in the public places of their villages, such as fighting, shooting crossbows, dancing, and singing. This is a good time for young men and women to confide in each other’s love and make friends. Young men often win the love of girls with their superb archery skills, while some young men and women express their love with beautiful dancing and melodious singing. Once they love each other, they should give each other gifts. It is through this activity that many young men and women set their life.