Chamu
01 · Historical Records
In the Yi language Zham means great and origin, generally rendered as the origin of all things. Zham records in the manner of myth and legend the origin and development of man and all things, transmitted by the bimo, the Yi priests, who know the Yi script, recording it in Yi writing on slips; its structure is complex and its mythological colour strong. Its upper part includes the splitting of heaven and earth, the great flood, the origin of man and the origin of all things; its lower part includes astronomy and geography, divination and calendrical calculation and poetry and literature, a veritable Yi encyclopaedia called by the Yi the root genealogy. Zham is a creation epic of the Yi current in the Yi areas of Damaidi town and Anlongbao township in Shuangbai county, Yunnan, with a long history.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Zham is a folk creation epic of the Yi current in the Yi areas of Damaidi town and Anlongbao township in Shuangbai county, Yunnan, with a long history. Zham is basically a mythical epic, but behind its myth and legend there lies a naive materialist view of nature and naive factors of historical evolution. It recounts the three stages of human development and puts forward the naive view that monkeys became men, and is important material for studying the history of Yi social development.
The Upper Part (the Splitting of Heaven and Earth, etc.)
Including the splitting of heaven and earth, the great flood, the origin of man and the origin of all things.
The Lower Part (Astronomy and Geography, etc.)
Including astronomy and geography, divination and calendrical calculation and poetry and literature.
Transmission through the Bimo Yi Manuscript
The mode of transmission in which the bimo who know the Yi script record and hand it down in Yi writing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
According to the Yi scripture the Bimo Canon the earliest Zham had more than a hundred and twenty zha, divided into an upper and a lower part. Zham is transmitted from generation to generation in the Yi areas of Damaidi town and Anlongbao township in Shuangbai county, by the bimo through both Yi-language manuscript and oral telling.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Zham recounts the three stages of human development and puts forward the naive view that monkeys became men, with very high value for studying the history of Yi social development and the history of national formation. Along with the process of modernisation fewer and fewer people understand the Yi script and the transmission of Zham has fallen into crisis, so that protection brooks no delay.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Fang Guisheng 04-1499
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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