Lolo People

Lolo is a branch of Yi ethnic people from China. The appellations of Lolo, Lolopu, etc. are related to the Yi people’s worship of the tiger, as “lo” in their dialects means “tiger”. “Lo” is also the basis for the Chinese exonym Luóluó 猓猓, 倮倮 or 罗罗. The original character 猓, with the “dog radical” 犭and a guǒ 果 phonetic, was a graphic pejorative,[5] comparable to the Chinese name guǒran 猓然, “a long-tailed ape”. Languages reforms in the PRC replaced the 猓 character in Luóluó twice. First by Luó 倮, with the “human radical” 亻and the same phonetic, but that was a graphic variant for luǒ 裸, “naked” and later by Luó 罗, “net for catching birds”. Paul K. Benedict noted, “a leading Chinese linguist, has remarked that the name ‘Lolo’ is offensive only when written with the ‘dog’ radical.

The Lolo is the smallest minority in Laos, having migrated from southern China. Their language is considered a mix of ancient Lolo and Chinese. Lolo are known as farmers and traders, who use horses to transport goods over the mountains. They practice animism with elements of ancestor worship. The Lolo were the dominant power in southern China in the 8th and 9th centuries, when they migrated to Southeast Asia.