BimoismPan Jiao, 2011 (, Yi: ) is the indigenous religion of the

Yi people The Yi or Nuosu people,; zh, c=彝族, p=Yízú, l=Yi ethnicity historically known as the Lolo,; vi, Lô Lô; th, โล-โล, Lo-Lo are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Numbering nine million people, they are the sev ...

, the largest ethnic group in

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

after the

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...

. It takes its name from the ''bimo'',

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

s who are also masters of

Yi language Nuosu or Nosu (, transcribed as ), also known as Northern Yi, Liangshan Yi, and Sichuan Yi, is the prestige language of the Yi people; it has been chosen by the Chinese government as the standard Yi language () and, as such, is the only one tau ...

and scriptures, wearing distinctive black robes and large hats.

Bimo

''Bimo'', which means 'master of scriptures', who officiate at births, funerals, weddings and holidays. One can become bimo by patrilinial descent after a time of apprenticeship or formally acknowledging an old ''bimo'' as the teacher. A lesser priest known as ''suni'' is elected, but ''bimo'' are more revered and can read Yi scripts while ''suni'' cannot. Both can perform rituals, but only ''bimo'' can perform rituals linked to death. For most cases, ''suni'' only perform some exorcism to cure diseases. Generally, ''suni'' can only be from humble civil birth while ''bimo'' can be of both aristocratic and humble families. The Yi worshiped and deified their ancestors similar to the

Chinese folk religion Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...

, and also worshiped gods of nature: fire, hills, trees, rocks, water, earth, sky, wind and forests. Bimoists also worship dragons, believed to be protectors from bad spirits that cause illness, poor harvests and other misfortunes. Bimoists believe in multiple souls. At death, one soul remains to watch the grave while the other is eventually reincarnated into some living form. After someone dies they sacrifice a pig or sheep at the doorway to maintain relationship with the deceased spirit. The ''bimo'', once considered by the Chinese government to be promoting a "backwards religion", are now being promoted as ambassadors of Yi culture. They organise large-scale rituals for the yearly Torch Festival. Since the 1980s, with the loosening of religion restrictions in China, Bimoism has undergone a revitalisation. In 1996, the Bimo Culture Research Center was founded. In the early 2010s, the government of China has helped the revival of the Bimoist faith through the construction of large temples and ceremonial complexes.

Folklore

The most famous hero in Yi mythology is Zhyge Alu. He was the son of a dragon and an eagle who possessed supernatural strength, anti-magic, and anti-ghost powers. He rode a nine-winged flying horse called "long heavenly wings." He also had the help of a magical peacock and python. The magical peacock was called Shuotnyie Voplie and could deafen the ears of those who heard its cry, but if invited into one's house, would consume evil and expel leprosy. The python, called Bbahxa Ayuosse, was defeated by Zhyge Alu, who wrestled with it in the ocean after transforming into a dragon. It was said to be able to detect leprosy, cure tuberculosis, and eradicate epidemics. Like the Chinese mythological archer,

Hou Yi Hou Yi () is a mythological Chinese archer. He was also known as Shen Yi and simply as Yi (). He is also typically given the title of "Lord Archer". He is sometimes portrayed as a god of archery descended from heaven to aid mankind. Other times, ...

, Zhyge Alu shoots down the suns to save the people. In the Yi religion Bimoism, Zhyge Alu aids the bimo priests in curing leprosy and fighting ghosts. Jiegujienuo was a ghost that caused dizziness, slowness in action, dementia and anxiety. The ghost was blamed for ailments and exorcism rituals were conducted to combat the ghost. The bimo erected small sticks considered to be sacred, the kiemobbur, at the ritual site in preparation.

Torch Festival

The Torch Festival is one of the Yi people's main holidays. According to Yi legend, there were once two men of great strength, Sireabi and Atilaba. Sireabi lived in heaven while Atilaba on earth. When Sireabi heard of Atilaba's strength, he challenged Atilaba to a wrestling match. After suffering two defeats, Sireabi was killed in a bout, which greatly angered the

bodhisattava In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards Enlightenment in Buddhism, bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood. In ...

s, who sent a plague of locusts to punish the earth. On the 24th day of the 6th month of the

lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, t ...

, Atilaba cut down many pine trees and used them as torches to kill the locusts, protecting the crops from destruction. The Torch Festival is thus held in his honor.

Bibliography

* Pan Jiao, Institute of Anthropology, Minzu University of China. ''The State’s Presence in the Religious Revival in the Liangshan Yi Ethnic Area''. In:
Religious Revival in Ethnic Areas of China
'. Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, 2011. * Olivia Kraef, Institute of Sinology, Free University of Berlin. ''Mapping Li(a)ngshan – The Changing Implications of Yi (Nuosu) Bimo Culture''. In:
Religious Revival in Ethnic Areas of China
'. Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, 2011.

References

External links

* ttp://www.yizuren.com/ Yizuren(Yi people's website)
Bimo and suni: Yi religious priests
{{Religion topics East Asian religions Shamanism in China Yi people