Imagine that you're a young Hua Lisu man in western Yunnan in the isolated mountains of Tengchong, Lianghe and Yingjiang Counties, who wants to powerfully impress a certain eligible young Lisu lady. Like her mother and sisters she is a very old-fashioned Lisu and prefers the colorful traditional costume of a long-tailed blue jacket, with extra flaps around the shoulders and trimmings in red, yellow, white and green. (The eye-catching jacket alone justifies their name, for Hua Lisu means Flowery Lisu in Chinese.) This she wears over trousers that fall just past the knees and bright puttees wrapped in lacquered black rattan rings. She looks especially charming when she puts on her collar-ring with silver pendants dangling from it down her chest, and dons the round turban embellished with white discs cut from shells. She is certainly worth impressing and in traditional Hua Lisu culture there's a sure way for you to gain prestige, in her eyes and in the eyes of your rivals, a way to win a reputation as one of the boldest, most outstanding young men in the village—up the sword ladder.
Or picture yourself as an older, middle-aged man, raising a family, with teenaged children inclined to challenge your authority on the broader issues of life. You need to enhance your prestige so they will heed your guidelines on proper Lisu behavior. You also must participate in discussions with other household heads over issues like contracts with the logging companies,