He Yinggui
01 · Lineage & Regional School
He Yinggui, Male, Yi, from Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Torch Festival (Ⅹ-10). The tradition is documented in Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Torch Festival in Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan: The Torch Festival of Chuxiong Prefecture centers on the Yi-populated counties of Chuxiong City, Lufeng, and Shuangbai. The villages around Lufeng have preserved to this day a branch of the great-sword dance: the dancers enter carrying great swords in time with the drumbeats, the blades of the swords sharing the ground with the torches, and once the sacrifice is finished the dance begins, firelight and sword-gleam shining in interplay. This aspect differs from the singing and dancing around the fire commonly seen in Liangshan, and serves as a marker for telling the Chuxiong Torch Festival apart from the Liangshan one. Some scholars believe that the origin of the Torch Festival is related to people's worship of fire, and that its purpose was to use fire to drive away pests and eliminate harm so as to protect the growth of crops. The Torch Festival fully embodies the Yi people's national character of reverence for fire and preserves ancient information about the origins and development of the Yi, giving it important historical and scientific value. It is one of the most iconic symbols of Yi traditional culture and a carrier of such cultural elements as traditional music, dance, poetry, food, costume, agriculture, astronomy, and veneration. It is of great significance for strengthening the Yi people's sense of ethnic self-identity and promoting social harmony; at the same time, as an occasion for the Yi people's exchanges with other ethnic groups, it plays a practical role in promoting ethnic unity.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for He Yinggui is anchored in the documented technical standards of Torch Festival in Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan. Within the documented technical tradition of Torch Festival in Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan: The Yi Torch Festival is a traditional festival of all Yi regions, celebrated in Yi areas such as Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan. The Bai, Naxi, Jino, Lahu, and other ethnic groups also celebrate this festival. The Torch Festival on the 24th day of the sixth lunar month is the most solemn, grandest, and most ethnically distinctive festival of Chuxiong and the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. In ancient times the Torch Festival was also known as the Xinghui Festival. Some scholars believe that this festival was originally a New Year festival in the Yi ten-month calendar. The Torch Festival is the New Year's Day of the first half of the year, and is therefore also called the Great New Year. During the festival, every village lashes together a great torch of dry pine wood and fatwood and stands it in the center of the village, while each household erects a small torch in front of its door; when night falls the torches are lit and the whole village is ablaze with light. At the same time, people carry small torches and walk once around the fields and houses, sticking torches and fatwood into the corners of the fields. Young men and women sing to instrumental accompaniment and dance around the great village torch, reveling all night without cease. During the festival there are also such recreational activities as horse racing, bullfighting, archery, wrestling, tug-of-war, and swinging, and trade fairs are opened. The four major categories of activities held during the Torch Festival — sacrificial rites, arts and sports, social intercourse, and the exchange of goods — are a concentrated expression of the rigor and completeness of the Yi cultural system. The Yi Torch Festival has a long history, a broad popular base, wide coverage, and far-reaching influence. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Bimo blessing of the fire": The rite that opens the festival, in which a ritual specialist recites prayers for the crops before the great torches are lit. "Great knife dance": A knife dance performed with drums and torches in the same scene, with each village keeping its own formations. "Drawing the god masks and images": Masks and god images made of carved wood covered in paper, distinguished by painted brows and teeth, prepared before the festival. "Taking torches around the fields": Torches are planted at the village gate and each home, then carried around the fields and set in the corners of the plots.
Bimo blessing of the fire
The rite that opens the festival, in which a ritual specialist recites prayers for the crops before the great torches are lit.
Great knife dance
A knife dance performed with drums and torches in the same scene, with each village keeping its own formations.
Drawing the god masks and images
Masks and god images made of carved wood covered in paper, distinguished by painted brows and teeth, prepared before the festival.
Taking torches around the fields
Torches are planted at the village gate and each home, then carried around the fields and set in the corners of the plots.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, He Yinggui was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Torch Festival, with Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Torch Festival in Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2006 (batch 1), with Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan as its declared area, and Chuxiong Intangible Cultural Heritage Safeguarding Center as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
Some scholars believe that the origin of the Torch Festival is related to people's worship of fire, and that its purpose was to use fire to drive away pests and eliminate harm so as to protect the growth of crops. The Torch Festival fully embodies the Yi people's national character of reverence for fire and preserves ancient information about the origins and development of the Yi, giving it important historical and scientific value. It is one of the most iconic symbols of Yi traditional culture and a carrier of such cultural elements as traditional music, dance, poetry, food, costume, agriculture, astronomy, and veneration. It is of great significance for strengthening the Yi people's sense of ethnic self-identity and promoting social harmony; at the same time, as an occasion for the Yi people's exchanges with other ethnic groups, it plays a practical role in promoting ethnic unity.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pushunfa | Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan | 04-1958 | Same declared area |
| Wang Xiuping | Hezhang, Guizhou | — | Other regional school |
| He Yinggui | Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan | — | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。