Luoma, Yi Tiger Festival
Item
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Title
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Luoma, Yi Tiger Festival
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Description
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Yi people worship the tiger as their grandest totem. As the ancestor of humans, the Tiger is the creator of heaven, earth, and all creatures. Upon a Yi person's last breath their soul transforms into a tiger. The Yi people from Southeast Chuxiong (a Yi Autonomous Prefecture) believe that they once lived in a mystical forest disturbed by serpents and wild beasts. Annually, under the direction of the black Tiger King, they offer sacrifices and dance to reflect the journey and way of life of the Yi people. Yi men dress up in felted tiger costumes and visit each house to guard the village from evils. They dance - mimicking surveying, plowing, harrowing, sowing, and weeding - all steps of the rice-growing cycle, to ensure a healthy crop and long life for all. Thus ‘Luoma’, the Tiger Festival, was created to protect the village and display the Yi people's tiger-like strength and valor. -- Artist's statement.
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Creator
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Fu, Collette
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Date
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2019
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Rights
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All rights reserved.
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Subject
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Yi (Chinese people) -- Pictorial works
Festivals -- China -- Yunnan Sheng -- Pictorial works
Yunnan Sheng (China) -- Pictorial works
Pop-up books
Artists' books
Fu-luoma.jpg