Yi creation myths in China do not exist solely as written texts or oral narratives. Their production, transmission, and reception have long depended on the combined agency of chant, rhythm, musical instruments, bodily movement, and ritual space. Representative Yi creation epics, including Meige, Cham, Axi de Xianji, Le’e Te’yi, and Song of Heaven, Earth, and the Ancestors, demonstrate that music both organizes narrative structure and brings myth into social practices that can be heard, witnessed, and collectively enacted. Taking the question of how sound makes myth a living tradition as its point of departure, this article examines the narrative functions of mythical music, the cultural representations of traditional instruments, the relation between sound and the body in ritual, and the role of music in sustaining cultural memory. It argues that the poetics of Yi creation myths cannot be understood through textual analysis alone. Repetition, rhythm, melody, singing, and ritual action jointly constitute the production of meaning. Music thereby mediates among mythical narrative, communal experience, and intergenerational transmission, allowing creation narratives to acquire renewed social significance through repeated performance.

Zhuoran Du. The Poetics of Sound and Ritual: Music, Performance, and Cultural Memory in Yi Creation Myths. Frontiers in Art Research (2026), Vol. 8, Issue 3: 31-36. https://doi.org/10.25236/FAR.2026.080305.

[1] Bamo Qubumo.(2004). Narrative Contexts and Performance Arenas: A Case Study of Oral Disputation and Epic Traditions among the Nuosu Yi. Literary Review (01),147–155.

[2] Bender, Mark.(2019). Co-creations, Master Texts, and Monuments: Long Narrative Poems of Ethnic Minority Groups in China. CHINOPERL: Journal of Chinese Oral and Performing Literature 38(2),65–90.

[3] Bai Xingfa, editor.(2022). Ancient Yi Texts and the Ancient History of the Yi. Yunnan People’s Publishing House, p. 12.

[4] Yunnan Provincial Office for the Planning, Collation, and Publication of Ethnic Minority Ancient Texts, editor.(2009). Meige. Yunnan People’s Publishing House.

[5] China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network and China Intangible Cultural Heritage Digital Museum.(2008). Meige. Representative National Intangible Cultural Heritage Project Information.

[6] Ouyang Yuanxiang.(2008). In Search of Meige: The Yi Epic Meige and Its Music. Ethnic Music (05),33–36.

[7] Chen Yongxiang, Ma Honghui, Li Demei.(2012). A Brief Discussion of Epic Performance by Yi Bimo and Singers: Focusing on Meige and Cham. Qinghai Social Sciences (05),210–213,218.

[8] Lord, Albert Bates.(2004). The Singer of Tales. Translated by Yin Hubiao. Zhonghua Book Company.

[9] Li Kunsheng.(2001). A History of Art in Yunnan. Yunnan Education Press.

[10] Deng Jun.(2006). An Ethnomusicological Analysis of the Hulusheng’s Symbolic Meaning and Cultural Origins. Chinese Music (04),56–60.

[11] Xiao Mei.(2007). Trance in Ritual: A Study of Ritual Music in Chinese Folk Belief. Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press.

[12] Seeger, Anthony.(2019). Why Suyá Sing: A Musical Anthropology of an Amazonian People. Translated by Li Xiujian. Culture and Art Publishing House.