The ancestors of the Yi people lived in Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangxi and other provinces (regions) in China as early as the 2nd century BC. There are many branches of the Yi nationality with complicated appellations, most of which call themselves Nuo Su Po, Yusupo, Xia Supo, Ni Su Po and Na Su Po. The current population is 7,762,286 (2000 statistics). Yi language belongs to the Yi branch of Tibeto-Burman language family of Sino-Tibetan language family, which is generally divided into 6 dialect areas, 3 sub-dialect areas and 25 dialects. Yi people believe in polytheism. Literature and art are vast. There are many branches of Yi nationality, which are widely distributed. Folk music in various places is rich and colorful, including folk songs, song and dance music, instrumental music, rap and drama, among which folk songs are the most abundant. Yi folk songs vary greatly from region to region. Generally speaking, it can be divided into Liangshan Autonomous Prefecture in southwest Sichuan, Ninglang in northeast Yunnan, Bijie and Liupanshui in northwest Guizhou. In fact, the Yi people in Yunnan Province also include many different branches, and their music has its own characteristics. Yi folk songs can be roughly divided into eight categories: narrative songs, labor songs, hypnotic songs, folk songs, children's songs, love songs, folk songs and baby songs. Traditional lyrics are dominated by five or seven words, and most phrases are dominated by 1, 2,4. Rhyme is generally homophonic by borrowing words, and generally adopts pentatonic style; Dance music can be divided into two categories: singing and dancing, among which the singing and dancing part is the most important, among which the more famous ones are "Playing Song" and "Footing", most of which have bright rhythm and bright timbre. Music and dance parts often have their own characteristics because of different accompaniment instruments, among which the famous ones are Dance Hulusheng, Dance Music, Three Steps String and Miscellaneous String.

Up to now, the most popular dances are jumping on the moon, feet, cigarette cases, flowers, sheng, golden bamboo, bronze and music. Musical instruments mainly include Mabu, Kouxian, Yueqin, Hulusheng and Hu Rang. , Bawu, Suona, Little Finger, Bilu, Straight Flute, Transverse Flute, Xiao, Sanxian (large, medium and small in different shapes) and Sixian. Among them, the most famous ones are the tune of mouth string, the tune of Marco Polo, the tune of piccolo, the tune of Cowherd and the tune of Yueqin, the tune of Leibo.