(1) Central and eastern Yunnan, the birthplace of Yunnan culture.

In the middle of Yunnan Plateau, there is a lake called 500-mile water body, which is Dianchi Lake, the pearl of the plateau. "Huayang national ambition. "Nanzhongzhi" said: "There is Shui Ze (Dianchi Lake), with a Zhou Su of more than 200 miles, which is deep and wide, and the downstream is as narrow as backflow, hence the name Dianchi Lake." Dianchi Lake got its name because of its unique geographical landscape, or because a tribe named Dian lived here a long time ago. "Dian" has become the abbreviation of today's Yunnan Province, but the so-called "Dian" and "Dian Kingdom" in ancient times did not represent the whole Yunnan Province for a long time, mainly referring to the central Yunnan region centered on Dianchi Lake Basin, which is the birthplace of Yunnan culture.

East Yunnan, east of Dianchi Lake, is an area where Yunnan culture is widely spread. Through this area, Yunnan people had contacts with Ba, Shu, Qian and Chu very early. Yunnan is located between Bashu and Indo-China Peninsula, and it is the hub connecting the Central Plains Cultural Zone with the marine cultural zones in Southeast Asia and South Asia. More than 2,000 years ago, in the Han Dynasty, Dianchi Lake was already the intersection of the southern edge of Chinese mainland's Central Plains culture and the marine culture of Southeast Asia and South Asia. In the later dynasties, Yunnan's traffic, whether going north to the Central Plains, east to Huguang, west to India and south to Indochina Peninsula, all met here. Therefore, Dianchi Lake area has been an important transportation place in Yunnan since ancient times. For a long time, it has been able to absorb the essence of the Central Plains culture, suck the nectar of Indian marine culture, and blend into the local simple and heavy national culture, thus becoming the center of Yunnan culture.

(2) Hengduan Mountain area where Yunnan culture rises.

The middle section of Hengduan Mountain, centered on Erhai Lake and Lijiang in western Yunnan, is an earlier developed area in Yunnan, and Neolithic sites have been discovered in Erhai Lake and Lijiang.

The superior natural environment makes this area another birthplace of Yunnan cloud culture and the development center of Yunnan culture, with rich and unique local ethnic characteristics. As a place name, "Yunnan" originally refers to this area. According to legend, there was a colorful Yunnan during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In the Han Dynasty, Yunnan County was set up in the place where colorful clouds appeared, which governed Xiangyun and Yunnan began to be used as a place name (Xie's Yunnan). During the Three Kingdoms period, after Zhuge Liang's southern expedition, "Jianning and Yongchang counties were divided into Yunnan counties." (History of the Three Kingdoms, History of Shu, Biography) basically covers Dali and Lijiang. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Nanzhao and Dali appeared in Yunnan. The ruler of Nanzhao was named "King of Yunnan" by the Tang Dynasty. In the eyes of the feudal central dynasty, the area where Nanzhao was divided was Yunnan. The area called Yunnan expanded with the expansion of Nanzhao separatist forces. When the Yuan Dynasty established the province, the political, economic and cultural center of Yunnan moved eastward to Dianchi Lake, and the name of Yunnan expanded to cover the whole territory of Yunnan.

Erhai Lake area occupies an important position in the traffic history of Yunnan. During the Han and Jin Dynasties, the transportation extending in all directions made Erhai area not only influenced by the inland advanced Central Plains culture for a long time, but also influenced by Indian marine culture. Tibetan culture infiltrated southward and merged with local national culture, forming a unique Yunnan culture. During Nanzhao period, Yunnan culture gradually developed. The upper rulers of Nanzhao praised the culture of the Central Plains, appointed Zheng Hui, a Confucian scholar in Sichuan and Sichuan, as the Qingping Palace, assisted in the administration of state affairs, taught Confucianism to their children, and sent their children to Sichuan and Sichuan to study Confucianism many times (New Tang Book Nanzhao Biography). Chinese is popular in Dali, and it has become a common practice for officials and businessmen to learn Chinese, which is called "Buddhism". In Song Dynasty, Dali bought Confucian classics, textbooks for boys and girls, and various literature and classics from Ma Shi. The rulers of Nanzhao Dali attached importance to and absorbed the advanced Central Plains culture and promoted the development of their own culture. Nanzhao Dehua Monument shows a high cultural accomplishment, which represents the cultural development level of Yunnan in this period to a certain extent. Religion, in addition to the ancestor of local national beliefs, is also deeply influenced by foreign religions, especially Buddhism, which has already penetrated into Dali from India and other places. "The citizens are not far from Tianzhu, the customs are still floating, and there is no home for the rich and the poor. People, old and young, will never let go of their pearls. When I was one year old, I fasted for more than half and never drank alcohol. Until the end of the fast, there were many temples on the hillside and many people worshiped Buddha. " Therefore, the ancients regarded Dali as a Buddhist country in western Yunnan, and Dali is still a very popular area of Buddhism. Because Lijiang is close to Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism prevails and is still a popular area of Tibetan Buddhism.

(3) Yongchang area with rich cloud culture in Yunnan.

From Erhai area to the west, it is today's Baoshan area, the land of ancient Yongchang, located at the southern end of the longitudinal valley in western Yunnan of Hengduan Mountains. This is the place where ancient undertaker ruled. "Huayang national ambition. "Nanzhonglu" said: "Yongchang County is an ancient mourning country." The territory of the ancient Ailao Kingdom extends to India in the west, Vietnam in the south, Lancang River in the east, Batkaijiang River on the India-Myanmar border in the west, Myanmar-Tibet border in the north and Xishuangbanna in the south.

Since ancient times, Ailao has a complex ethnic group and a large population. Today, ethnic minorities such as Yi, Bai, Dai, Lisu, Hui, Wa, Miao, Achang, De 'ang and Jingpo still live here.

In the development and management of Yongchang land, the central dynasty first valued its strategic position in transportation. The importance of military and political traffic location makes Yongchang area develop earlier and faster. Yongchang is another central area of Yunnan cloud culture development. With the convenience of developed transportation and trade, Yongchang's commodity economy is developed and people have a strong commercial atmosphere. Culture spread rapidly, and the Chinese people gathered.

Another important town in Yongchang is Tengchong, which is located in the west pole of Yunnan and the gateway to the Southern Silk Road. More than 2,000 years ago, it was an international mall on the Southern Silk Road. Prosperous commerce and convenient transportation provide conditions for the spread of advanced culture in Tengchong. Chinese and Indian cultures meet here, especially the advanced Central Plains culture. With the arrival of mainland businessmen and envoys, it has infiltrated and integrated into the local national culture. After the Ming Dynasty, a large number of Han people moved in, and the influence of Han culture and Confucianism deepened, making Yunnan one of the most developed areas of cloud culture. Strong Confucian culture has been handed down from generation to generation here. Up to now, Tengchong still maintains the earliest rural library with the largest collection in China. Tengchong has outstanding people, many heroes and many Chinese, which is inseparable from the strong cultural atmosphere of Chinese studies here.