Bringing about change

While relocation and industrial development can reduce material poverty, many areas in Liangshan face a deeper level of poverty—an outdated mindset.

Bajiu Tie'er is the head of Xiaoshan, a village in the prefecture. His father passed away five years ago and according to the custom of the Yi people, he was expected to host a lavish funeral to show respect, no matter that the lavish display was likely to leave him and his sisters bankrupt.

A traditional Yi funeral would start with relatives and friends arriving and setting off fireworks to signal their arrival. Then the host has to set off fireworks too, to tell them they are aware of that. As soon as the guests arrive, cattle have to be slaughtered in a gesture to thank them for coming.

"For us Yi's, the more cattle and sheep a family slaughters during funerals, the more it is respected," Bajiu said. "I heard that in neighboring counties, some people even butchered 50 cattle, fell into bankruptcy and had to sell their house and land just for a funeral. And most of the meat, instead of being eaten, went to waste."

So he was determined to take the lead and change such an extravagant practice. He suggested to his sisters that they dispense with the fireworks and not slaughter so many cattle. The sisters were hesitant at first, fearing it would be construed as disrespect for the departed and they would become an object of derision among villagers. However, he continued with his persuasion and finally, they agreed to have a simple funeral.

"After that, other people in the village followed suit. No extravagance and waste at funerals in our village," he said with pride.

Many other Yi families would have also preferred not to throw a luxurious banquet but were worried the villagers would mock them and were forced to host an extravagant and wasteful display. So some villages and counties began to issue regulations to ban such ostentation. For example, Ahou, a village in the prefecture, has council regulations for weddings and funerals, advocating frugality and avoiding extravagance. Villagers who do not comply may have their public welfare benefits suspended.

"Now in our village, rather than comparing the number of cattle killed in weddings and funerals, people have begun to compare the academic performance of their children," Bajiu said. "This is the kind of comparison we want."