The Lisu, with a population of about 700,000, mainly live in concentrated
communities in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan Province.
There are also small groups scattered in Lijiang, Dali, Diqing,
Chuxiong, and other counties in Yunnan and Yanyuan, Yanbian and
Muli counties of Sichuan Province.
According to historical records, the ancestors of the Lisu once
lived along the banks of Jinsha River and Yalu River. Between the
15th and 19th century, they gradually migrated into the drainage
areas of the Nu and Lancang Rivers.
The Lisu people mainly engage in agriculture and the chief products
are maize, paddy and buckwheat. Hunting also plays an important
role in their life and the man who wins in a toxophily match will
be greatly respected by the people.
The Lisu people take three meals a day. Their diet includes pork,
beef, mutton, chicken, fish, rabbit and muntjak.
The Lisu people believe that everything in the world has its god,
and they worship nature. Necromancers host the sacrifice offering
ceremonies.
Lisu women often wear an embroidered jacket, flax skirt and various
ornaments such as shells, coral, beads, silver coins, and agate,
with white cloth around the head, big copper loops and silver loops
on ears. Men normally wear a jacket with a flax gown outside. Some
wear a black turban with a knife hanging on his left waist, and
an arrow on his right.
The Lisu people are adept at singing and dancing. They sing and
dance at weddings, while hunting, building houses and when they
celebrate harvests.
The Knife-Pole Festival on Feb 8 in the Chinese lunar calendar
aims to memorialize a Han hero who taught the Lisu people how to
make a knife and is the exclusive and traditional festival of the
Lisu ethnic group. On that day, various activities including "Climb
Knife Pole" and "Dive into Fire Sea" will be held.
The Knife-Pole Festival absorbs the spirits of the Lisu people,
and is a royal and luxuriant celebration.
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