Then, let's look at the marriage customs of Yi people from the perspective of Yi culture.
Love in Yi Nationality's Marriage Custom
Yi people are relatively free in love, and they have a special place for love-girls' room. The girls' room is a place where young people fall in love. When girls reach the age of 16 or 17, they will leave their parents and move to the girls' room, go home to work during the day and work in the girls' room at night. When a young man comes to meet, sit down and chat with him.
Yi people think it is impolite to talk about love at home, and they must talk about it in the girl's room. Girls' rooms are generally public houses. In the girl's room, the girl can stay and meet her young men. They sleep in the same bed. Even if there are several young men and women at the same time, everyone is not surprised and unconstrained style. However, according to Yi rules, girls and boys share the same bed and can only talk, but not start work. If you deviate a little, you will attack them in groups.
Girls' rooms vary in size, big and small, and can accommodate a dozen to three or five people. They are usually built at the head or end of the village. One is to facilitate young people to know girls, and the other is to avoid affecting parents and elders in the village. The girls go home to work during the day and spin, weave and embroider in the girls' room at night. Some girls will also prepare some snacks such as cigarettes, candy and melon seeds, and when the boys come to meet, they will sit and chat together.
More and more lively young men come and go in the girl's room, which shows that this girl has a good popularity. The more people like this girl, the greater the charm, and the more glorious the parents' face. Yi women choose their love with this special place. They regard feelings as life, warm their families and leave joy for life. The girl's room witnessed their romantic love story.
Marriage in Yi Nationality's Marriage Custom
The marriage customs of Yi people generally include several procedures, such as falling in love, matchmaking, betrothal, wedding reception, and returning home. After the young men and women met and fell in love, the two sides hit it off. The man's parents invited Bimo to choose a date and, with the consent of the woman's parents, held a wedding for him.
Bimo is a Yi nationality engaged in primitive religious and cultural activities, equivalent to wizards, priests and teachers. "Bi" means the narrator, and "Mo" means greatness. Bimo people are literate and have knowledge of ancient Yi language, their own cultural customs, history and religion. He can preside over sacrificial activities in the village, such as offering sacrifices to Vulcan (Torch Festival) and mountain gods, and he can also treat diseases, conduct laboratory tests and hold weddings with ghosts. Bimo is the inheritor of Yi traditional culture. In the Yi people, Bimo is regarded as the messenger of God.