| People | Yi · 彝族 Yízú |
| Region | Yunnan and Sichuan: Chuxiong, Nanjian and Wuliangshan, Ailaoshan, Liangshan |
| Role | tea growers |
Tea
罐罐烤茶 guànguàn kǎochá — a small clay pot is heated over coals, the leaves are roasted until smoky and then doused with boiling water, often with salt; tea villages of Nanjian and Wuliangshan
Growth on the crown
A closed ring of leaf: the leaf, curled in the pot over itself into a full ring, stands on the crown as a torus with a through hole, its surface finely crazed by heat. It differs from Yanka’s hook in that the ring is CLOSED and the background is visible through it
Headwear
A black folded cloth panel: a working 头帕, laid into a rectangular slab on the crown with square corners and a short forward overhang above the brow, with a slot for the ring cut in the centre of the slab. At 6 mm it is the only RECTANGULAR contour next to the nine — their headpieces are round, triangular, or ragged. No studs, no embroidery, no pendants
Clothing
察尔瓦 chá’ěrwǎ — a felted wool cape with long fringe along the hem, bell-shaped, widening toward the bottom: this is the second, physical trait of the character and the strongest silhouette in the set. Under the cape, wide trousers and leg wraps, a leather salt pouch on the belt. In the hands, a small clay pot on a stick over embers
Palette
Black, red, and yellow — the canonical tricolor, each in three tones; the wool of the cape is deeply matte with visible nap, the brass buckle is a single point. Green does not go on the headwear — the slab is black
Why this is not a caricature
The 英雄结 is removed: the hero’s knot wraps around the sacred lock 天菩萨, which strangers must not touch, and marks male honor — on our crown grows a tea growth, and the pair would read as a literal depiction of the lock. The 鸡冠帽 is also removed: its comb runs exactly along the sagittal line, that is, it structurally conflicts with the growth, and it is a girl’s headpiece. What remains is the felted cape — an item for work and cold, with a visible function. The cloth panel is left plain and unadorned, and differences in headwear by marital status are not reproduced on the figure and are not mentioned on the card; the panel variant is confirmed by a bearer from a specific locality before the shape is cut