Abstract:The word " root" originally refers to the root of a tree with an implication of basis and foundation. This word is an important image in the ancient Yi poetic theory. Since the Wei, Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Yi poetry theorists often used the concept of " root" to express their poetic ideas. Amani was a great Bimo and poetess in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and one of the founders of Yi ancient poetics. In her book On the Poetic Laws of Yi Language, she used the image of " root" to construct the aesthetic system and express her poetic ideas. The purpose of this paper is to explore the function and significance of the " root" image in Yi language poetry proposed by Yi literary theorist Amani through the method of image criticism.