Yiche December 19 •Kunming Location: Approximately Customs: Yiche houses are associated with the earth, 19,000 members of the two stories high and have water, and fire, as well as Yiche tribe inhabit isolated tiled roofs. The upper floor famous ancestors. It is YUNNAN villages in the Ailao serves as a storehouse and common for brothers of the •Zhenyuan •Mojiang Mountains. They are located the lower floor as the living same family to worship their •Yuanjiang •Yuanyang •Pu’er in parts of Chegu, Landi, quarters. Every year in the dead parents at the eldest 4 VIETNAM and Dayangjie townships. fifth lunar month the Yiche brother’s house.” On the Scale LAOS 0KM80 Honghe Prefecture is divided celebrate the Kuzhazha lunar New Year’s Eve, Yiche Population in China: by two large rivers: the Festival. “According to children hear stories about 15,000 (1987) Honghe (Red) River which traditional custom, every their ancestors and learn 19,460 (2000) flows south into Vietnam family must light pine their family genealogies. 23,900 (2010) Location: Yunnan and the Nanpanjiang River torches after sunset. Religion: Polytheism which is the upper section Burning torches in hand, Christianity: Some parts of Christians: 100 of the Pearl River. Banana, they walk around the house Honghe Prefecture pineapple, and pomegranate to perform a ‘mopping up’ experienced a mass people Overview of the Yiche are grown, while sugarcane, and then follow a forked movement to Christ in the peanuts, and tobacco are chestnut rod to the top of 1940s as a result of the Countries: China important cash crops. the road outside the hamlet labors of missionaries. Pronunciation: “Yee-cher” and place the torches During the Cultural Other Names: Yeche Identity: The Yiche are part beside the chestnut rod. Revolution great persecution Population Source: 15,000 (1987 Xie Shixun); of the Hani nationality in This drives evil away from broke out against the Out of a total Hani population of China. Yiche women are the house ensuring the church. Many fledgling 1,253,952 (1990 census) unique among all the coming year is filled with believers fell away, but Location: S Yunnan: Honghe peoples of China because peace and happiness.”3 others “conducted Sunday Prefecture: Chegu, Landi, and Dayangjie townships they wear shorts. They also services in cattle stables or 5 Status: wear conical hats, similar to Religion: The Yiche are on mountain peaks.” Officially included under Hani the Jino people, and short- polytheists. “Most of their Today most believers in the Language: Sino-Tibetan, sleeved blue blouses held villages have temples where area are Kado or Biyo, but Tibeto-Burman, Burmic, Burmese-Lolo, Lolo, together by five-colored a multitude of gods are there may be a few Yiche Southern Lolo, Akha girdles. “The clothes are worshipped. These gods are Christians. Dialects: 0 layered one on top of each Religion: Polytheism, Animism, other, numbering from six to Ancestor Worship, Christianity more than a dozen.… The Christians: 100 layers indicate a family’s Scripture: None financial standing. Women Jesus film: None wear black shorts with Gospel Recordings: None pleats at the legs.”1 Christian Broadcasting: None ROPAL code: None Language: Yiche is similar to other Hani languages in Status of Evangelization the area. The Yiche’s 76% knowledge of Mandarin is poor, especially among women and children. 23% History: Little is known 1% about the origins of the Yiche people, because they A B C have never possessed a A = Have never heard the gospel written script. Legends are B = Were evangelized but did not become Christians handed down orally from C = Are adherents to any form of generation to generation. Christianity The Yiche say they were once part of a tribe of 7,000 families, living “on a vast fertile plain away in the east where the sun rises.”2 Paul Hattaway 558 YICHE.