| Liangshan 凉山 ꆃꎭ |
|
|---|---|
| — Autonomous prefectures — | |
| Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture 凉山彝族自治州 ꆃꎭꆈꌠꊨꏦꏱꅉꍏ |
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| Yi transcription(s) | |
| • Yi script | ꆃꎭꆈꌠꊨꏦꏱꅉꍏ |
| • Yi romanisation | niep sha nuo su zyt jie jux dde zho |
| Location of Liangshan Prefecture (yellow) within Sichuan | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | China |
| Province | Sichuan |
| Prefecture seat | Xichang |
| Area | |
| • Total | 60,423 km2 (23,329.5 sq mi) |
| Population (2009) | |
| • Total | 4,532,809 |
| • Density | 75/km2 (194.3/sq mi) |
| Time zone | China Standard (UTC+8) |
| Website | http://www.lsz.gov.cn/ |
| Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 凉山彝族自治州 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 涼山彝族自治州 | ||||||
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| Commonly abbreviated as "Liangshan Prefecture" | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 凉山州 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 涼山州 | ||||||
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Liangshan (Chinese: 凉山彝族自治州; pinyin: Liángshān Yízú Zìzhìzhōu; Yi: ꆃꎭ Niep Sha, pronounced [nɛ̀ʂā]), 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,[1] 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.
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The Anling River, which runs into the Jinsha River (Yangtze River headwaters), is the main river in the area.
Owing to its low latitude and high elevation, Liangshan has a mild climate. Under the Köppen system, the prefecture belongs to the humid subtropical zone (Köppen Cwa). Winters feature mild days and cool nights, while summers are very warm and humid. Monthly daily mean temperatures range from 9.6 °C (49.3 °F) in January to 22.3 °C (72.1 °F) in July. Unlike much of the province, which lies in the Sichuan Basin, humidity levels in winter are rather low, but like the rest of the province, rainfall is concentrated in the months of June through September, and the prefecture is virtually rainless in winter.
Liangshan directly controls one county-level city, 15 counties, and 1 autonomous county.
| Map | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Yi | Population (2004 est.) |
Area (km²) | Density (/km²) |
| 1 | Xichang City | 西昌市 | Xīchāng Shì | ꀒꎂꏃ | 580,000 | 2,655 | 218 |
| 2 | Yanyuan County | 盐源县 | Yányuán Xiàn | ꋂꂿꑤ | 330,000 | 8,388 | 39 |
| 3 | Dechang County | 德昌县 | Déchāng Xiàn | ꄓꍣꑤ | 190,000 | 2,284 | 83 |
| 4 | Huili County | 会理县 | Huìlǐ Xiàn | ꑌꄷꑤ | 440,000 | 4,527 | 97 |
| 5 | Huidong County | 会东县 | Huìdōng Xiàn | ꉼꄏꑤ | 370,000 | 3,227 | 115 |
| 6 | Ningnan County | 宁南县 | Níngnán Xiàn | ꆀꆆꑤ | 180,000 | 1,667 | 108 |
| 7 | Puge County | 普格县 | Pǔgé Xiàn | ꁌꐭꑤ | 140,000 | 1,905 | 73 |
| 8 | Butuo County | 布拖县 | Bùtuō Xiàn | ꀭꄮꑤ | 140,000 | 1,685 | 83 |
| 9 | Jinyang County | 金阳县 | Jīnyáng Xiàn | ꏁꇉꑤ | 150,000 | 1,587 | 95 |
| 10 | Zhaojue County | 昭觉县 | Zhāojué Xiàn | ꏪꐦꑤ | 230,000 | 2,699 | 85 |
| 11 | Xide County | 喜德县 | Xǐdé Xiàn | ꑝꅇꑤ | 150,000 | 2,206 | 68 |
| 12 | Mianning County | 冕宁县 | Miǎnníng Xiàn | ꍿꆈꑤ | 340,000 | 4,423 | 77 |
| 13 | Yuexi County | 越西县 | Yuèxī Xiàn | ꃺꄧꑤ | 270,000 | 2,257 | 120 |
| 14 | Ganluo County | 甘洛县 | Gānluò Xiàn | ꇤꇉꑤ | 190,000 | 2,156 | 88 |
| 15 | Meigu County | 美姑县 | Měigū Xiàn | ꂿꈬꑤ | 190,000 | 2,573 | 74 |
| 16 | Leibo County | 雷波县 | Léibō Xiàn | ꃀꁧꑤ | 240,000 | 2,932 | 82 |
| 17 | Muli Tibetan Autonomous County | 木里藏族 自治县 |
Mùlǐ Zàngzú Zìzhìxiàn |
ꃆꆹꀒꋤꊨꏦꏱꅉꑤ | 130,000 | 13,252 | 10 |
| Nationality | Population | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Yi people | 2,226,755 | 49.13% |
| Han Chinese | 2,155,357 | 47.55% |
| Tibetan | 60,679 (2000) | 1.49% (2000) |
| Mongols | 27,277 (2000) | 0.67% (2000) |
| Muslim Chinese | 18,385 (2000) | 0.45% (2000) |
| Miao | 11,912 (2000) | 0.29% |
| Lisu | 9,121 (2000) | 0.22% (2000) |
| Buyei | 5,459 (2000) | 0.13% (2000) |
| Nakhi | 5,199 (2000) | 0.13% (2000) |
| Others | 8,751 | 0.22% |