Li fan has been visiting Liang Shan on several photographic expeditions.
He wants to record the difficult survival conditions and the growing process of the children
of the Yi People.

The Yi People is an ethnic group that slowly evolved from the migration of the GuJia People from the northern part of China to the southern region.
Historically the most important characteristic of the Yi People is that slavery was enforced for an extended period of time. Other traditional folk customs and rituals are primitive but rich and varied with strong ethnic and regional heritage.
It is the only society in China that was born out of slavery and later directly became a socialist ethnic group. It is the largest Yi People kibbutz in China. In the early stages of establishing the new China, most of the Yi ethnic group in the Liang Shan region was still a slavery society. Its productivity level was low. The slavery and feudalistic policies were backwards and had strict social hierarchies.
The Yi people had large families and were fierce worriers who continuously entered into battles.
Liang Shan remained status quo as a closed off, ignorant and backward society for a long period of time. In 1950, it finally welcomed its liberation and in October 1952, the Liang Shan Yi Ethnic Group was declared as anautonomous region. Although China’s reformation and opening up to the out side world has begun more than 30 years ago, the poor resources due to geographic conditions still burden the people here. This has significant impact on the children’s survival and education. Since the Yi People mostly live in the deserted hinterlands of Da Liang Shan, transportation is difficult and education resources are far from being adequate. Additionally, the poverty places high demands on labor from each family member and there is still the belief that men are superior to women.
As a result, obtaining an education for the Yi children is an extremely difficult path to take.