Yi folk song Duoluohe and the sense of community for the Chinese nation

Duoluohe, a Yi folk song sung at Liangshan’s Torch Festival, often appears in heritage debates, but its role in linking minority cultural practice with Chinese national belonging remains underexamined. This article argues that Duoluohe links local Yi belonging with national identification through cultural practice. Evidence from ethnographic fieldwork in Liangshan in August 2024 shows how collective singing, embodied movement and ritual repetition reproduce ethnic memory and reinforce Yi identity. Cross-ethnic interaction, artistic modernisation, heritage institutionalisation and digital dissemination recast Duoluohe’s symbols as common cultural resources and carry its emotional resonance beyond Liangshan. Within the Chinese framework of ‘pluralistic unity’, ritual performance, heritage institutionalisation and digital dissemination create a pathway through which minority cultural practices connect local ethnic attachment with a broader sense of belonging to the Chinese national community. These findings clarify cultural mechanisms that connect ethnic identity with national belonging.