Many Local Worlds Within Yi Culture

A 2011 Chuxiong Prefecture Cultural Centre study records a broad range of local names and histories under the administrative name Yi. It links Meige to Yao’an, Dayao and Mouding, and Chamu to Shuangbai. The place names keep these literary traditions from collapsing into one undifferentiated prefectural culture.

The same account describes Yi writing and collected manuscripts and printed books as part of the region’s cultural record. Its overview is dated and institutional; it does not provide a survey of present-day literacy or every local language variety.

A 2019 report describes the Bimo cultural learning centre at Bandengshan in Zixi town, established in connection with Torch Festival practice. Participants came from several local dialect areas. Alongside the literary traditions named in the 2011 study, this later example shows distinct forms of written and ritual knowledge attached to specific places and institutions.