A 2011 article from the Chuxiong Prefecture Cultural Centre describes Yi writing as syllabic and discusses manuscripts and printed books collected in the region. Its account is a record of what the cultural institution documented at that time. It places written materials within a literary world that also includes performance and oral memory, rather than treating a script as a decorative mark detached from language.
From the journal
Yi Writing and Epic Traditions in Chuxiong
A Chuxiong cultural record places Yi writing, manuscript collections and named regional epics in a shared literary landscape.
Yi Writing and Epic Traditions in Chuxiong
Meige, Chamu and the collected page
The article names traditions by place. Meige is associated with Yao’an, Dayao and Mouding; Chamu is linked to Shuangbai. These geographical associations matter: the titles do not form a single undifferentiated “Yi epic,” but point toward regional traditions with their own histories and settings. A map of the named counties gives readers a first sense of how literary material moves across the Chuxiong area.
The 2011 account places collected Yi manuscripts and printed books alongside the regional traditions it names: Meige in Yao’an, Dayao and Mouding, and Chamu in Shuangbai. It offers a dated institutional view of these materials, not a description of a particular manuscript’s maker or use.