Abstract:With accelerating reform and opening-up and continuous pushing of the national policy of targeted poverty alleviation in recent years, great changes have taken place in Liangshan ethnic Yi regions. Being no longer a self-enclosed society, ethnic Yi group has more and more frequent exchanges and integrations with the outside world, and Yi people’s views and values also changed to some extent. Nonetheless, problems still exist in the social development in Yi regions. When dealing with these problems, Yi people in their centrally populated and multi-ethnic areas still depend to a certain extent on their traditional customs and practices. Based on my field survey, I make an analysis of the existing problems and investigate into the role and function of Degu on the social development of Yi people from the perspective of anthropology.