The population is about 8.714 million. The Yi people are distributed in four provinces, namely Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Guangxi. The Yi language is used, which belongs to the Yi branch of the Tibeto-Burman languages of the Sino-Tibetan language family. There are six dialects. The Yi people who live or have more contact with the Han people can speak Chinese. The Yi people are mainly engaged in agricultural production. The main crops are corn, buckwheat, potatoes, wheat, rice, barley, oats and so on. The Yi ethnic group has a long history and developed culture. Music, songs and dance, arts and crafts of their culture are beautiful and rich in ethnical characteristics. Polytheism is popular among the Yi people. Their main festivals include "Torch Festival", "Yi New Year", "New Rice Festival", "Flower Arrangement Festival", "Bullfighting Festival", "Saizhuang Festival” and so on. The “Torch Festival” is the most common and grand traditional festival in the Yi area. It is usually held on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth of the sixth month in the lunar calendar. During every "Torch Festival", men and women, young and old of the Yi ethnic group dress up, offer livestock sacrifices, and enjoy dancing, singing, horse racing and wrestling. At night, they hold the torches and walk around the houses and the fields, and then gather together to make a bonfire and dance.