Study On The Livelihood Of The Ethnic Groups Involved In Illustrated Book Of Yi People In Dian Province Collection By The Italian Geographic Society

Illustrated Book of Yi People in Dian Province(also known as Yunnan Province)is an important graphic document for studying the culture and history of various ethnic groups in Yunnan Province in the Qing Dynasty.It was completed in the 23 rd year of Jiaqing(1818),and was compiled by the then Governor of Yungui,Huxihali Bolin.Hence it is also called Illustrated book by Bolin.There are several kinds of transcripts or copybooks of the book,which are collected in libraries or museums all over the world.Illustrated Book of Yi People in Dian Province collected by Societa Geografica Italiana is donated by Giuseppe Rose,who has ever been a translator in China.According to the electronic documents available,the book was relatively intact,consisting of a total of106 frames.Previous research on Illustrated Book of Yi People in Dian Province mainly concentrates on Illustrated Book of Yi People in Dian Province-Illustrated Book of Dian Province collected in the library of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,Illustrated Book of Yuzhi Waimiao(upper and lower volumes)collected in the Rare Books of the library of the Central University of Nationalities and Assembly of the Situation of Yi People in Dian Province treasured in the National Museum of China.The previous research mainly covers the following three aspects: investigating the authors and creative backgrounds of Illustrated Book of Yi People in Dian Province,exploring the cultural customs of various ethnic groups in Yunnan according to the illustrations in Illustrated Book of Yi People in Dian Province,digging into the cultural connotations of the various nationalities in Illustrated Book of Yi People in Dian Province from the perspective of national history.There are four main functions of Bo Lin's Illustrated Book of Yi People in Dian Province: reporting the provincial situation,introducing the situation in Yunnan to demonstrate their political achievements,recording the glory contribution,and create works for appreciation.However,the compilers knew little about what the ecological environment is and what a livelihood is.They simply presented the patterns of the ethnic groups observed directly in the atlas.Because the ecological problem during the period described in book was not prominent,few scholars explored the co-evolution of Yunnan's various national cultures and their ecological environment from the perspective of livelihood.The ecological environment does exist there.As long as people live,the way of livelihood is supposed to be omnipresent.Although the compilers might not be intentional,there're also a large number of depictions of the livelihoods of the various ethnic groups in Illustrated Book of Yi People in Dian Province.For ecological ethnology scholars,these ecological issues must be taken seriously.The Italian collection of Illustrated Book of Yi People in Dian Province is acopybook of that in the Republican China.It was compiled by Ding Wenjiang.Ding Wenjiang was deeply influenced by ethnology.This copy was redrawn by him after field work of Ethnology in Yunnan.Compared with other versions,the Italian Tibetan version is more accurate in time and space.The cultural life of the various ethnic groups in Yunnan described in the book not only incorporates the original version but also adds to the content of the ecological environment and life of the various ethnic groups in Yunnan in the early 20 th century.It is not difficult to see that this Tibetan book already has a certain ethnological discipline concept,and the redrawing can be closer to the requirements of Ethnology discipline,which is the unique feature of the Italian Tibetan book.Although a hundred years has passed,the ecosystems of Yunnan's various ethnic groups,including geological,climatic,and precipitation,remains almost the same because the characteristics of the ecological environment is not easy to change.Moreover,because the time reflected in book is closer to the present,the livelihoods of the ethnic groups shown in it are adapted to their ecological environment.There're successful and unsuccessful cases.These successful cases should be used for reference while the failures can be used as warnings.Therefore,the study of the book from the perspective of the relationship between national culture and its habitat is undoubtedly more practical and instructive for the construction of ecological civilization in China today.