Yi Syllable Lu

It represents the Liangshan Yi syllable spelled lu.

Yi is written one syllable sign at a time. Lu is the standard Liangshan spelling for this syllable, a guide to its pronunciation rather than an English translation. Tone is a syllable’s pitch pattern: final t marks a high-level tone, x a secondary high tone, and p a low-falling tone; no final letter marks the midlevel tone.

Traditional Yi writing was known as Cuan or Wei and varied by region. Its older signs were ideographs—signs associated with words or meanings—while this standard uses one sign per syllable. Those older signs appear not to derive from Han characters. The earliest dated surviving example is an inscription on a bronze bell from 1485. One origin story credits Aki with creating the script during the Tang dynasty, but that remains a tradition, not proof of a single inventor.

What was Yi script used for?

It held rituals, remedies, family histories, and legends.

Local priestly lineages passed down manuscripts for scripture, magic, medicine, astrology, genealogy, and legend. They wrote on paper, cloth, bamboo or wood strips, animal bones or horns, and rocks.

The standardized Liangshan syllabary was devised in 1974 and officially promulgated in 1980; a Latin-letter spelling system for the dialect had been introduced in 1956. The standard aimed to improve literacy and was later used in schools, textbooks, newspapers, and editions of older works. It represents Liangshan Yi, not every Yi language.