Abstract: Using the methods of field survey, logical induction, documentation and ritual symbol theory, this present paper interprets the origin, symbolic connotation, and ritual structure of "Doloho" - the original ecological ritual dance of the Yi people in Liangshan from the sports anthropological perspective, and discusses its function and meaning in the Yi ethical cultural system.The study suggests that the original ecological ritual dance "Doloho" of the Yi people in Liangshan, as a ritual folk sports activity originated in the matriarchal era of group marriage system and closely related to the "fire worship" ofthe Yi ancestors, is the physical expression of Yi females'primitive totem consciousness of seeking blessings from ancestral spirits and their simple farming consciousness of longing for abundance and happiness. In physical practice, the dancing pattern of "stamping the ground with feet, dancing and singing with arms connected with one another, rotating around the fire, and clockwise rotating marching" reveals the ethnic group's cognitive logic and cultural memory; in ritual symbol, the dance reveals the hidden changes in Yi females' social role and their transcendence of ego. The performance process is not only Yi females'"transition"over timeand their"passage" in space, but also their expression mode of ethnic culture practiced in between religious and mortal worlds. This paper interprets the social structure and symbolic meaning embedded in the "Doloho" metaphor by analyzing its physical practice, and it is hoped that this case study can provide some enlightenment and reference for the cross-cultural understanding and studies of minority ethnic people's body culture.

Key words: Sports Anthropology, the Yi People, Doloho, ritual dance, physicalpractice