A Narrative Study of Yi Dance in Yunnan from the Perspective of Bodily Semiotics 身体符号视域下云南彝族舞蹈叙事研究

Abstract

As a living medium of cultural interaction in China’s southwestern frontier, Yi dance in Yunnan encodes both historical and contemporary processes of interethnic contact, communication, and integration into perceptible bodily movements, spatial formations, and ritual performances. Drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of bodily semiotics and dance imagery narrative, this study examines three representative forms—Yanhewu (烟盒舞, Cigarette Box Dance), Axi Tiaoyue (阿细跳月, Axi Moon Dance), and Zuojiao Wu (左脚舞, Left-Foot Dance)—based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in southern and central Yunnan. This article analyzes how bodily symbols in Yi dance construct a three-layered narrative structure: the spatial organization of interaction, the kinetic translation of communication, and the ritualized reconstruction of identity. The findings suggest that Yi dance establishes an embodied pathway of meaning-making through the spatial syntax of “dancing within a shared circle,” the lexical fusion of inter-embedded movements, and the cultural regeneration achieved through ritual sharing. This narrative mechanism not only sustains the internal diversity of Yi sub-ethnic traditions but also, through a “body-first” mode of practice, contributes to the consolidation of a shared sense of the Chinese national community. By foregrounding the body as a semiotic medium, this study proposes a theoretical paradigm for understanding ethnic dance as an embodied narrative of social integration and offers practical implications for cultural transmission and cross-cultural communication in multiethnic regions.