One Body Two Gods: A Visual Ethnographic Case Study of Ritual Roles in Southwest China

Abstract

This field report documents the dual ritual identity of a Yi practitioner in Southwest China who performs both as Lamplighter during the Taiping Lantern Festival and as Bimo in ancestral and funerary ceremonies. Drawing on visual ethnographic fieldwork undertaken between 2017 and 2024, the study incorporates participant observation, interviews, and visual recordings through photography and video. Particular attention is given to how rituals are enacted through bodily practice, symbolic gestures, spatial arrangements, and community reflection during the viewing of images. Visual ethnography is treated not only as a means of documentation but also as a collaborative process in which participants evaluate and reinterpret their own performances. The account shows how ritual authority is sustained through community recognition, generational perceptions, and symbolic consistency, while also adapting to the influence of contemporary media practices. The case demonstrates the value of visual ethnography in understanding how sacred authority is practised, negotiated, and remembered within local cultural settings.