Up to now, there are still different opinions about the ethnic origin of the Yi people, and there is no conclusion. Up to now, the ethnic origin of Yi people mainly includes the theory of aboriginality and the theory of frontier strength. There are two kinds of aborigines: southwest aborigines and Yunnan aborigines. According to the theory of southwest aborigines, the Yi people have lived in the southwest of the motherland since ancient times, and after different stages of human development, they have become the Yi people today. This claim is based not only on China literature, but also on ancient Yi literature, myths and legends. According to the theory of Yunnan aborigines, Yunnan is the origin of Yi people.

Bian Qiang said that the ancient Qiang people who lived in Qinghai, northwest of China, began to develop in all directions six or seven thousand years ago, and one of them swam to the southwest of the motherland. The early southern branch of the ancient Qiang people merged with the local indigenous peoples, and later Qiongfan in Xichang and Fan Dian in Yunnan were the ancestors of the Yi people.

In addition, there is the "Western Alien Ethnology". In the late Qing Dynasty, westerners came to Yi areas with anthropological vision. The result of the investigation is: "From the physical characteristics of Yi people, such as tall figure, high nose and deep eyes, bronzed skin color, it is considered that the blood of Yi people should have the blood characteristics of western Aryans or Caucasians. Especially at that time, Xiaoliangshan was still in a hierarchical slave society, and its members were similar to the Indian caste system (Aryan invasion brought India). Based on this, it is considered that Yi people are westerners or at least descendants of western Aryans.