On Luoluo
Yi ethnic group is one of the branches of Tibetan-Burmese ethnic groups. It is the result of long-term integration of Diqiang Clan and other clans in Southwest China. In the Han, Tang and Song Dynasties, Yi people were called Sou people, Cuan people and Wuman respectively. Since the Yuan Dynasty, Yi ethnic group has been called Yi people or Luoluo. At the time, such ethnic groups as Hani, Bai, Lisu and Achang were also called Luoluo. Luoluo, the self-assumed name started in the Yuan Dynasty and ended in the initial post-liberation period. The leaders of the party and state attached great importance to the identification of ethnic groups in the initial post-liberation period. The State Council, before the 1st National People’s Congress in 1954, started to identify the official names of the ethnic groups in a systematic way. Before the congress, Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai invited influential Yi representatives to Zhongnanhai for suggestions. Zhang Chong, former vice governor of Yunnan Province and vice chairman of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, who was representing Yunnan Province attended the meeting. With regard to the various names of Yi people, participants believed that it was wrong to call Yi ethnic group as “夷人”(Yi people) in the old days. It was an insulting name to Yi ethnic group. Each ethnic group, big or small, is a member of Chinese people. The names of ethnic groups should be conducive to national unity. Following the comments from Yi leaders, Chairman Mao suggested that character “Yi” (夷)be changed into character “Yi”(彝). He thought Dingyi were precious sacrificial vessels in ancient times. In the character彝 (Yi), there are “米”(rice) and “系”(clothing). In other words, with preferential ethnic policies and under the leadership of the CPC, Luoluo would lead a happy life in which people have solved the problem of food, clothing and dwelling. Therefore, the ethnic groups except for Hani, Bai, Lisu and Achang, that called themselves Luoluo had been called Yi ethnic group.
According to An Analytical Dictionary of Chinese Characters, 倮(luo) equals to 裸(luo). 倮(luo) has the meaning of frank, enthusiastic or honest. In Yi, Luo in low-pitched voice means dragon whereas in high-pitched voice means tiger. Luoluo means dragon and tiger. In the ancient times, the ancestors of Luoluo regarded themselves as the offspring of dragon and tiger. They boast the king of beasts standing brave and powerful between the heaven and the earth. They are people of vitality. Luoluo should be the best name for themselves. However in the past thousands of years until liberation, Luoluo and the Han people had been in the state of mutual exclusion for land or forests. Many land and forest disputes between Luoluo and Han people would result in fights with weapons. As a result of each fight, the Han people, with the advanced productive forces and production technology, would drive Luoluo into higher mountains and denser forests. Luoluo’s land and forests were constantly occupied by the Han people who would squeeze out and look down upon Luoluo. In turn, Luoluo would be hostile to the Han people. Luoluo, with low productive forces, would seclude themselves from the Han people so as to protect themselves. As a result, the Han people had no access to Luoluo’s life, history and culture. Therefore, the Han people wrongly regarded the word Luoluo as something backward or barbarian. This is the cognitive limitation in the course of history.
Should we clarify the real meaning of Luoluo or let it be what it was under the context in which society is getting more harmonious and ethnic groups tend to merge each other? I think we who have a good command of the aboriginal culture are obligated to clarify the real meaning of “Luoluo” on the stance of Yi culture. We members of the Yi ethnic group who know the ethnic psychology and culture thoroughly and have been speaking the language of Luoluo are getting increasingly unfamiliar with the culture with which we are familiar when many famous Han scholars are arguing over whether there are direct relations between the Yi ethnic group in China and Luoluo in Vietnam and Myanmar. Personally, I think it is a mistake. At the moment, as a person who is engaged in culture, I feel obligated to say something or do something to “Luoluo” so as to let the Han people and Yi people who do not know the meaning of “Luoluo” know its real meaning. In fact, no matter from the interpretation in Chinese or that of in Yi, the word Luoluo best represents the character of Yi people.
英语翻译：毕晓红（云南省商务厅）
