Liangshan (Chinese: 凉山彝族自治州; pinyin: Liángshān Yízú Zìzhìzhōu; Yi: ꆃꎭ Niep Sha, pronounced ), officially the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in Sichuan, south central China whose capital is Xichang. Liangshan has an area of 60,423 km² and over 4.5 million inhabitants (2010). It is also has the largest population of ethnic Yi people in China.
Yi people came into Chinese and western history books as 罗罗 (Lolo) and 夷 in the beginning. After the Chinese Communist Party came into power in mainland China, the government changed the name from 罗罗 to 彝 since the old name was widely regarded as derogatory.
The appellations of Lolo, Lolopu, etc. are related to the Yi people’s worship of the tiger, as “lo” in their dialects means "tiger". "Lo" is also the basis for the Chinese exonym Luóluó 猓猓, 倮倮, or 罗罗. The original character 猓, with the "dog radical" 犭and a guǒ 果 phonetic, was considered condescending, comparable to the Chinese name guǒran 猓然 "a long-tailed ape".
Languages reforms in the People’s Republic of China replaced the 猓 character in Luóluó twice: first by Luó 倮, with the "human radical" 亻and the same phonetic, but that was a graphic variant for luǒ 裸 "naked"; and later by Luó 罗 "net for catching birds". However, the stigma remained and resulted in negative remarks when people of the prefecture visited other cities. So the government changed the name of the prefecture.
Read more about Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture: Terrain and Climate, Subdivisions, Ethnic Groups in Liangshan, 2010 Census
Famous quotes containing the word autonomous:
“There is a totalitarian regime inside every one of us. We are ruled by a ruthless politburo which sets ours norms and drives us from one five-year plan to another. The autonomous individual who has to justify his existence by his own efforts is in eternal bondage to himself.”
—Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)