Though not so numerous, the Lisu could never be accounted least, for they strive hard, doing things their way, to outdo each other and everyone else. In hunting, they reval the Lahu, in poppy growing, they reval the Hmong, inthe monies expended on marriage, they rival the Iu Mien, and incolor and opulence, their dress rivals any in the hills. With each individual convinced of and unabashedly voicing the merits of his or her own cause, Lis communities do experience certain tensions. On the other hand, a personal pride steels the will inthe day-to-day struggle to make a mountain yield a living, and a shared pride in Lisu coustoms keeps all the individuals coursing along in the same steeplechase.

Name and Language
     Lisu call themselves Lisu. The meaning of the name is not known. The Thai call them Lisaw. The language is classified in the Central division of the Lolo(Yi) branch of the Tibeto-Burman family. The dialect spoken in Thailand is divergent, understood with difficalty by Lisu elsewhere. Men are often able to speak Yunnanese, Shan of Northern Thai, and Lahu, which is closely related to Lisu.
     Most Lisu in Thailand are of the sub-group called sometimes Variegated, or Flowery, Lisu, because of the colorful dress of the womenfolk, and sometimes Chinese Lisu, Because of their esteem for Chinese culture and because of intermarriage with Yunnanese. For centuries, Yunnanese, members of a Muslim minority of Yunnan called Hui by the Chinese and Haw by the Thai, ran caravans through the mountains, trading with hightlanders and lowlanders alike and calling regularly at Chiang Mai. Considerable numbers fled Yunnan after the panthay, or Muslim, rebellion (1853-1873) was crushed, and perhaps some found refuge among the Lisu, thus initiating the cordial relations between the tow peoples. Yunnanese refugees have entered Thailand play and important role in trade in the hills.
     The Lisu are divided into clans, some having Lisu names, some having Chinese names, and each having customs which distinguish it from others. Calnsmen are expected to assist, support, visit and receive one another but are not to marry within the clan, though some clans are more rigorous than others in observing this prohibition.

Migration
     The Lisu probably originated in Tibet, but the center of population is now northern Yunnan west, of the Salween River, where from time to time over the past 500 years, they came into conflict with the Chinese. They have spread west into Burma's Kachin State, east into Sichuan, and south through the mountains along the Salween, first entering Thailand in Chiang Mai Province in perhaps the last quarter of the 19th century. Settlement has spread into Chiang Mai, where now the largest number of Lisu live, Mae Hong Son, and other provinces. There are about 20,000 in Thailand

Attire
     Women dress in a loose, smock-like, double-breasted robe which extends to the knees in front and to the calves in back and has wide sleeves reaching to the forearm. Favorite color are bright blues and greens. Circling the neck is a black yoke, and this in turn is surrounded by many narrow strips of cloth in contrasting colors. The upper sleeves are also covered with colored strips while the lower sleeves are bright re. Below the robe, ample black trousers reach to the knees, and the calves are encased in re puttees.
     On special occasions to the back of the sash are fastened two large multicolored tassels, a pompom at the end of each strand. A tight-fitting black velvet vest studded with silver buttons is worn over the smock. The front of the vest is covered with a breastplate fashioned of small silver gloves and over this cascades tier after tier of silver pyramids making up the massive necklace. upon the head sits a broad, flattened black turban, wreathed with strings of beads and with hanks of yam of many colors, whose free ends fall to the shoulders.
     Men wear black puttees, bright blue trousers whose wide legs reach to below the knee, and a black jacket. A young man also wears tassels at the waist, but hanging in front, and on the head, a towel formed into a high, cylindrical turban.