Jierabu
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Jierabu, Male, Yi, from Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Yi New Year (Ⅹ-129). The tradition is documented in Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yi New Year in Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan: Distributed across the vast Yi regions of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. Within Liangshan Prefecture, the scope of observance takes Butuo, Meigu, Zhaojue, Ganluo, Xide, and 17 counties and cities as one region, among which the New Year customs of Zhaojue, Meigu, Butuo, and Xide are the most complete: day selection, ancestor sacrifice, wine rites, songs and poems, horse racing, and wrestling are all present, and the forms of costume and sacrificial vessels each have their own style. The Yi regions of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi share the same customs with slight variants, each naming and performing the rites according to the local Yi language branch. The Xinghui Festival poem composed by Piaoxin of the Nanzhao period and the old custom of the 16th day of the twelfth month recorded in the Five Dynasties work Yuxi Bian Shi are precisely the old foundation for today's practice of setting the festival at the end of the twelfth month. The Yi New Year originated in the sacrificial activities of the ancient Yi ancestors. The earliest record of the Yi New Year in Chinese-language documents is from the Tang dynasty.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
The bearer record for Jierabu is anchored in the documented technical standards of Yi New Year in Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan. Within the documented technical tradition of Yi New Year in Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan: The Yi New Year, called 'Kurshi' in the Yi language, is a sacrificial and celebratory folk festival integrating many folk elements such as ancestor sacrifice, games and athletics, dining and entertainment, and dress regulations. It is held on an auspicious day chosen around November 20 each year. The Liangshan Yi New Year prevails mainly in 17 counties (and county-level cities) including Butuo, Meigu, Zhaojue, Ganluo, and Xide, among which the Yi New Year of Zhaojue, Meigu, Butuo, Xide, and other counties is the most representative and most richly colored. The Nanzhao-period poem 'Xinghui Jie' (Festival of the Returning Stars) by the ruler Piaoxin contains the lines: 'Unaware that the year is drawing to its end, I am moved to the depths by the Xinghui Festival; Yuanchang is of one heart with me, and descendants may worthily pass it on.' The Five Dynasties work Yuxi Bian Shi also records: 'The Nanzhao took the 16th day of the twelfth month as the Xinghui Festival.' The Yi New Year is a living witness to the ancient civilization of the Yi people and to ancestor worship, displaying the Yi people's reverence for their ancestors. The ideas of abundant harvests, thriving livestock and poultry, peace and safety for the people, respect for the elderly and care for the young, and joy and auspiciousness are fully embodied in the festival. The rich and complex folk phenomena of the Yi New Year reflect many cultural contents of Yi history and culture, economic life, ethical norms, customs and ritual institutions, folk costume, aesthetic taste, and taboos. The date of the Liangshan Yi New Year is set around November 20 of the Gregorian calendar with an auspicious day chosen, offsetting the Han New Year by an entire season; the year festival thus interlocks with the slack farming season and the time for slaughtering the New Year pig, and no separate holiday is needed. The Yi word 'Kurshi' is connected in its original meaning with sacrifice, and the day's program is arranged accordingly: ancestor sacrifice comes first, games and athletics follow, and wine, food, song, and dance come last, while at dispersal the elders of the clan still urge wine and see off guests in a tone of respect for the elderly. The dress regulations, taboos, and ethical norms within the year festival all appear in the same lively scene; to see it merely as a celebration would be to miss more than half of its content. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Fixing an auspicious day for the festival": The festival is not fixed to a solar date: an auspicious day is chosen around the twentieth of November, and that choice orders every other date in the season. "Ancestor worship and offerings": Known in Yi as Kush, the festival opens with sacrifice; only after the offerings may the games, the feasting and the singing begin. "Games and contests": Racing, wrestling and horn-bending are interspersed through the festival, the one time in the year the young men show their mettle. "The customs of ritual wine": Slaughtering the new-year pig, brewing and pouring ritual wine and honouring the elders all fall inside the festival; the order of precedence matters more than the play.
Fixing an auspicious day for the festival
The festival is not fixed to a solar date: an auspicious day is chosen around the twentieth of November, and that choice orders every other date in the season.
Ancestor worship and offerings
Known in Yi as Kush, the festival opens with sacrifice; only after the offerings may the games, the feasting and the singing begin.
Games and contests
Racing, wrestling and horn-bending are interspersed through the festival, the one time in the year the young men show their mettle.
The customs of ritual wine
Slaughtering the new-year pig, brewing and pouring ritual wine and honouring the elders all fall inside the festival; the order of precedence matters more than the play.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
In 2025, Jierabu was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Yi New Year, with Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Yi New Year in Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2011 (batch 3), with Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan as its declared area, and Liangshan 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
The Yi New Year originated in the sacrificial activities of the ancient Yi ancestors. The earliest record of the Yi New Year in Chinese-language documents is from the Tang dynasty.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jierabu | Liangshanyizuzizhi, Sichuan | — | 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。