Today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms will be presented in Chinese, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

The cuckoo sings in March. All flowers blossom around Lisu’s mountain cottages. How cheerful the Lisu children are! How joyful the Lisu ladies are! How happy the Lisu people are! How prosperous the Lisu mountain households are!

Hallo, angelic viewers, and welcome to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms on Supreme Master Television. In yesterday’s program, we visited Lijiang, a well-preserved ancient town of Yunnan, China, and explored her natural and architectural wonders. Today, in the second part of this two-part series, please meet the friendly residents of this beautiful city.

Lijiang is home to 12 of the 55 ethnic minority groups of China, who account for approximately 60% of the city’s total population. In particular, Lijiang is the cultural capital of the Naxi people. The gentle Naxi people originated in Tibet and settled in the current area over 1400 years ago with agriculture as their main means of livelihood. Traditionally, they are a matriarchal society. Women play central roles in family and tribal affairs. They are also the main laborers and heirs through a maternal lineage.

The native tongue of the Naxi people is the world’s only remaining pictographic language. It is written in Dongba script or Geba script.

There are more than 1,400 individual characters in use. The word “Dongba” means “knowledgeable Naxi elders.” These respected members of the community are proficient in astronomy, geography, agriculture, handicrafts, as well as herbal medicine. Since the beginning of the Dongba language more than 1000 years ago, a rich repertoire of Naxi literature has been generated, recording Naxi civilization advances in religion, folklore, science, and arts.

The Naxi’s classical music, Dongjing, is a form of Taoist ritual music and uses traditional Chinese instruments. The melodies are said to be relaxing to the mind and cleansing to the soul. Naxi folk singing and dancing are impromptu and widely performed. They express the Naxi people’s love and appreciation of their simple life. Let’s enjoy a group dance called “Let’s Dance Happily.”

Let’s dance happily, let’s dance happily!

Let’s dance happily!

Let’s dance happily, let’s dance happily!

Today is auspicious!

Today is auspicious, today is auspicious!

Let’s share today’s blessings!

Let’s share today’s blessings, let’s share today’s blessings!

A mountain spring flows behind our house.

A mountain spring flows behind our house; a mountain spring flows behind our house.

We feel as excited as the spring!

We happily gather together, we happily gather together.

Naxi women’s traditional costume includes a wide-sleeved loose gown over pants, topped with a waistcoat and an apron. Floral embroidery is common, highlighting collars, sleeves, the front, and shoes.

Naxi women use a large backpack basket. It is not uncommon to see them with a basket of freshly harvested vegetables to sell on the streets. Lisu is another agricultural ethnicity with a significant presence in Lijiang. They also originated in the eastern Tibetan Highlands and are known for their openness, honesty, and independence. Lisu tribes follow a patrilineal system with each tribe adopting a last name after a plant or an animal. Traditional Lisu costumes are among the most colorful in the region.

We belong to the Lisu tribe in the Laojun Mountain area. The person next to me is wearing the traditional costume of the Lisu tribe in this area. This is a whole set of our summer clothing. This jacket is light. This hat is very unique. The flowers on the hats for the ladies are embroidered by hand. The flowers represent young ladies. The beads in the back also have symbolic meanings.

There are five beads on this hat. And a ten-bead hat symbolizes the four principles and five virtues of a woman. Look at the bead pendant in the front; it is made with Lisu tribe’s special stones. The Lisu ladies adore this decoration. Now look at the bag she wears; it is purely handmade. If a Lisu lady is in love with a gentleman, she will send such a bag to him. Now look at this skirt.

Most skirts are pleated skirts in black, white or red flowery ones. We mostly wear black tops with the skirts. The most popular clothing worn by Lisu gentlemen is made of flax – top and gown – which symbolizes their hard work, bravery, and kindness. Now look at this bag. A bag with this color is called “octagonal flower.” If a gentleman is in love with a lady, he will send such a bag to the lady.

For the lower part of the body now look at some trousers. Mostly they are black and white – or all black. This one is more unique; it is made with folk-style strips. Generally, four colors are used to match with one another. We of the Lisu tribe have long been called “the sun-chasing tribe” and the ancient migration was always to the west. Therefore, at the sleeve openings of the gentlemen a sun symbol is always embroidered, and the moon pattern in the middle represents ladies. Our tribe values women the same as men.

Like the Naxi people, Lisus are lovers of music and dance. They have invented amazing folk instruments such as the gourd sheng, the oval lute, and the two-string lute.

The musical instrument in my hand is a Hulu Sheng, a free-reed wind instrument similar to the Sheng. This is a traditional Lisu instrument. Now I will play a song for you.

This is a unique musical instrument of the Lisu tribe called the Oval Pipa. In the Lisu language it is called a “Qi-Me.” It can be played by both men and women.

This is a unique Lisu musical instrument called “Chi-Che” or two-string violin.

Brothers, sisters, we finally have met each other today. We finally have met each other now. Our affinity has brought us together. We gather together happily; we will stay with each other, just like bees and flowers do. How happy! How happy! How happy!

For the romantic Lisus, even a piece of leaf can be used to play love songs.

My beloved girl, why are you blowing the leaves?

I miss only you, my beloved boy. I miss only you, my beloved boy.

The tranquil life of Naxi, Lisu and other native peoples of Lijiang is connected to their respect to nature.

The core message of the Dongba Sutra is nature worship and preservation of the environment. It is forbidden to fell a tree or kill an animal.

We wish all people good health, all good luck and longevity. We promote a vegetarian diet without animal products.

May world peace come and may the planet be protected.

We Lisu people adore the mountains and forests. We love this place. We are very happy and in high spirits. May our mountains and forests be better and better preserved!

Please try your best to keep a plant-based diet when you come to our beautiful land. Please protect animals and stop eating meat.

We thank our wonderful Naxi and Lisu hosts for kindly sharing your marvelous life-honoring culture with us. May your beautiful example inspire many to rediscover their original God-like purity.

Contented viewers, thank you for your presence on today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms on Supreme Master Television. Up next is Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living, following Noteworthy News. Let us pray that a peaceful vegan world will soon grace our planet.