History of the Yi People: Volume 1 and Volume 2

Author: Yi Mouyuan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-05-01
Features: National-funded Key Research Project of the Social Sciences of China, "Essentials of the Yi History" by Yi Mouyuan, a researcher at the Institute of History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The book is approximately 500,000 words in total. The content is divided into thirteen chapters:
Chapter 1: "Geography of the Yi People";
Chapter 2: "Stone Age Culture and Legendary Primitive Society of the Yi People in the Western Plateau of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan";
Chapter 3: "The Origin of the Yi People";
Chapter 4: "The Origin of the Yi Civilization";
Chapter 5: "The Wulo Zhuo (suspected to be) Branch of the Wupo System among the Early Yi Ancestors";
Chapter 6: "Dumu (suspected to be) and the Slave-State Shu He Established";
Chapter 7: "The Migration and Development of the Six Ancestors' Branches of the Yi People to Southwest Regions";
Chapter 8: "The 'Divine Guardian—Ghost Ruler' System";
Chapter 9: "The Uneven Development of Yi Society";
Chapter 10: "The Continuation of the Slave System in Liangshan Yi";
Chapter 11: "Clan (Jiazhi) System";
Chapter 12: "Primitive Religion and Bimo";
Chapter 13: "Traditional Calendar".
The book presents nine new interpretations different from previous studies:
1. The main origin of the Yi people is the early Shu people with the Yellow Emperor as their ancestor, and another source of the Yi people's pluralistic origin is the maternal lineage of Kunyi, tracing back to the ancient Dongyi tribe;
2. The collective name of the Yi people, "Ni", is an ancient form of the character "Yi", meaning the ancient Dongyi tribe's "Yi", which is homonymous with "Yi", becoming the modern term;
3. The tribal ancestor of the Yi people who entered the civilized era, Wulo Zhuo, is suspected to be the Shu King;
4. The tribal rebirth ancestor of the Yi people in the mid-Spring and Autumn period after the Shu's primordial chaos, Dumu, is suspected to be the Shu Emperor;
5. The ancestor of the Yi people's calendar, Eisu, is suspected to be Zuan Rui;
6. The "Ghost Ruler" in Yi history should be interpreted as "Divine Guardian", and "Ghost Country" should be interpreted as "Divine Guardian's Country";
7. "Clan" is "Lineage";
8. The majority of people (approximately 50% of the total population of Liangshan Yi) in the "Qunuo" class system of Liangshan Yi are classified as "Slave-owning People";
9. The traditional calendar of the Yi people is nearly a lunar-solar calendar similar to the "Zuan Rui Calendar".
The book was written before the founding of the People's Republic of China.