Lisu

see also: Etymology of Lisu

The people Lisu are a Ethnicity which resides in China, with the Myanmar (Burma), in Thailand, and in the Indian state of the Arunachal Pradesh. Their origin is probably the oriental party of the Tibet.

Lisu are one of the 56 ethnicities officially recognized by the Popular republic of China. In China they are listed with the number of: 634912 and the majority of them live in the counties of Bijiang, Fugong, Gongshan and Lushui in the autonomous Préfecture lisu of Nujiang in the North-West of the province of the Yunnan. The others are dispersed in the prefectures of Lijiang, Baoshan, Diqing, Dehong, Dali, Chuxiong in Yunnan like in the counties of Xichang and Yanbian in the province of the Sichuan, alive in small communities in the middle of the ethnos groups Han, Bai, Yi and Naxi.

One counts: 30000 Lisus in Thailand, where they belong to the “tribes of the hills”: 250000 with the Myanmar.

History

According to testimonys and legends the ancestors of the Lisu people lived along banks of the Jinsha river and were subjected to the two powerful tribes “Wuden” and to the “Lianglin”. After the 12th century, the Lisu people passed under the prefectoral administration of Lijiang of the dynasty Yuan, then of the Dynastie Ming.

During the Years 1820, the government Qing sent emissary to Lijiang, Yongsheng and Huaping, where Lisus lived in important communities, to replace the hereditary chiefs Naxi and Bai. That transformed the feudal system seigneurial and allowed a better control of the court of Qing on Lisu and the other ethnic minorities.

For a long time Lisus were oppressed and had miserable living conditions, which led them to carry out many fights against their oppressors.

Lisus started to emigrate out of China at the 20th century.

Habits

The Lisu villages are in general established close to the rivers, water having particular capacities. They have two types of houses: Some with a timber structure, the four sides being made of pieces of wood of 12 feet length, the roof being made boards, resemble boxes; others have a structure of bamboo, supported by 20 or 30 piles with a wooden or thatched roof. In the center of the house it there with the hearth.

Traditionally Lisus live agriculture, cultivating rice, fruits and vegetables. Apart from China they also cultivated the poppy to produce Opium, although this practice tends to disappear because of the international pressures. In spite of that a small proportion of Lisu is doped with opium.

Slavery existed in the area of the Nujiang river between the 16th century and the 20th century. The slaves were regarded as adopted family members or “children”. They lived, ate and worked with their Masters and could repurchase their freedom. The Masters could buy or to sell slaves but did not have the right of life or of died on them.

In general the women carry coloured tunics which fall to them to the knees with a black belt, and blue, black or green pants. The handles and the wrists are embroidered blue, green and yellow bands narrow. The men carry full pants, often in conspicuous colors, and rather Western shirts.

Language

The language of Lisu belongs to the group known as " milk-Burmese " branch tibéto-Burmese of the Languages sino-Tibetans. In China, a written form was built in 1957.

Lisu of Thailand have their own language which developed since decades and which adopted words of the languages of their country of adoption. That makes difficult the communication between Lisu of adjoining countries. Lisu of Thailand not having a written language, they from generation to generation do without their history in the form a song. Today, the song is so long that it can take more than one week to be sung.

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