Abstract: The compound economic way of crop cultivation and animal husbandry was the traditional lifestyle of the ople in the southwestern mountainous areas of our country.Many minority nationalities such as Yi,Tujia, Miao, Gelo,and even Han and Bouyei, once stuck to this life style, and some of them still cling to it to day. Research on this lifestyle, however, is not adequate and historical record is incomplete. This paper tries to probe into this particular lifestyle through interpretation of some geographical names in the Yi language so as to reveal its typical characteristics.

Key words: the compound lifestyle of crop cultivation and animal husbandry, geographical names in the Yi language, nominating orientation