Yi people's rotating wine

Yi people's rotating wine

　　Yi people's rotating wine

　　The Yi people are fond of drinking, and everyone, regardless of age or gender, can drink alcohol. They prize strong liquor. For the Yi, “having liquor is having a feast,” while they pay little attention to the side dishes. When offering drinks, the host must be served with both hands. Even if the guest just takes a sip, the host will smile with satisfaction. When drinking, it’s common to pour the liquor into a large bowl, where you take a sip and pass it to me, I take a sip and pass it to him—everyone takes turns drinking from the same bowl. Thus, this way of drinking among the Yi people is called “rotating wine.” There is also a touching folk legend about the “rotating wine.”

　　Long ago, in the mountains, there lived three ethnic groups—the Han, the Tibetans, and the Yi—who lived in harmony and became sworn brothers. One year, the Yi brother had a bumper harvest of oats and invited his Han and Tibetan brothers to dine with him. However, too many oats were cooked, and not all were eaten on the first day. On the second day, when they reheated the oatmeal, it turned into a richly aromatic, strong liquor. They scooped it into a large bowl but kept modestly offering it to one another, so the bowl of liquor went back and forth among the three of them without much being drunk. Suddenly, an immortal flew down from the sky and said to them, “Drink up. As long as you work hard and farm diligently, more liquor will appear once this is gone.” Hearing this, the three brothers cheerfully drank their fill. Strangely enough, even after they had all gotten drunk, the bowl of liquor remained full. From then on, the Yi people developed the custom of drinking “rotating wine.”