Chuxiong History

With an area of 29,258 square kilometers and a population of 2,6 millions, the 600.000 Yi living in Chuxiong Prefecture belong to 13 different branches. Most of Chuxiong Prefecture is mountainous terrain with only a ten percent of its surface considered flat lands. The mountains are well forested, according to official statistics a 60% of the prefecture is covered by forest. Chuxiong is famous in China as was the home of the oldest hominid discovered in China, the Yuanmou Man that must have living there about 1,7 millions of years ago.

In historic times it was the home of some famous Yi kingdoms, that felt in the political orbit of Nanzhao kingdom first and Dali Kingdom later. With the immigration of Han people to Chuxiong during the Ming and Qiang dynasties, the Yi cultures were transformed, adapting themselves to the influences of Han culture. Only in the more inaccessible mountains the Yi culture has been preserved until the present.

As one of the cradle land of human beings, Chuxiong Prefecture has profound history and brilliant culture. From 1960s to 1980s, the fossils of the Ramapithecus which lived eight million years ago were discovered in Lufeng County; the fossils of man apes that lived three million years ago were unearthed in Yuanmou County.

In 1965, the Homo erectus yuanmouensis fossils, the stoneware as well as the traces of using fire were discovered in Yuanmou County. In 1975, the earliest bronze drums of the world, which indicates that the ancient ancestors of Chuxiong created the 'Bronze Culture' in 2,500 years ago.