Miao Nationality - Introduction
The Miao Nationality mainly live in the southeastern part of Guizhou Province, Damiao Mountain in Guangxi, Hainan Island and the junction of Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi and other provinces. Zone, population: 970,000. The Miao people have a long history. In ancient Chinese classics, there are records about the Miao ancestors more than 5,000 years ago. These are the clans and tribes known as "Southern Barbarians" from the Yellow River Basin to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The Miao people have no written language, and the Miao language belongs to the Miao branch of the Miao-Yao group of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The Miao people live in high mountain areas and mainly focus on agriculture, and their crops include upland rice. They include cereals, buckwheat, potatoes and beans, and the cash crop is hemp. They usually grow hemp themselves and spin it themselves. The Miao people have rich folk oral literature, such as ancient songs, poems, love songs, etc. The Miao people are also good at dancing, and Lusheng dance is the most popular.
The Miao people have their own language. The Miao language is divided into three major dialects: Xiangxi, Eastern Guizhou and Sichuan-Guizhou-Dian. After 1956, a text scheme in the form of Latin letters was designed. Due to the long-term exchanges between the Miao people and the Han people, a large part of the Miao people are proficient in Chinese and use Chinese.
The Miao area is mainly based on agriculture, supplemented by hunting. The Miao people's arts and crafts such as cross-stitching, embroidery, brocade, batik, paper-cutting, and jewelry making are magnificent and colorful and well-known at home and abroad. Among them, the batik craft of the Miao people has a history of thousands of years. There are more than 130 kinds of Miao costumes, which can be compared with the costumes of any ethnic group in the world. The Miao people are good at singing and dancing, and are particularly famous for their love songs and drinking songs. Lusheng is the most representative musical instrument of the Miao people.
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Miao Nationality--History
The Miao Nationality has a long history, and its ancestors may have been part of the ancient Sannan. One theory is that it originated from the "Zong" people in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, they mainly lived in the areas of western Hunan and eastern Guizhou, and were included in the names of "Changsha and Wulingbian" or "Wuxi Barbarians". Later, they gradually migrated and were scattered in mountainous areas in the southwest. There are also people who are believed to be related to the ancient "Jiuli" "Related. The Miao people in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Hunan still regard Chi You as their ancestor. Legend has it that Chi You was the king of "Jiuli". 5,000 years ago, the Jiuli tribe clashed with the Huangdi tribe and was defeated and withdrew from the lower reaches of the Yellow River and occupied the middle of the Yangtze River. , downstream. After the 2nd century BC, most of the Miao ancestors had moved to Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places. The Miao people in Hainan were soldiers who came from Guangxi in the 16th century. >
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Miao people--Etiquette
The Miao people attach great importance to etiquette. When guests come to visit, they will kill chickens and ducks to entertain them warmly. Horn wine. When eating chicken, the chicken head should be given to the elder among the guests, and the chicken legs should be given to the youngest guest. In some places, there is a custom of dividing the chicken heart or duck with chopsticks. The chicken hearts are given to the guests, but the guests cannot eat them themselves. They must share the chicken hearts equally with the elderly people present. If the guest is a light drinker and does not like to eat fat meat, you can explain the situation. If the host does not force it, but does not eat and drink enough, it will be regarded as a waste. To look down on the host.
The Miao people pay attention to sincerity and are very enthusiastic. They avoid glitz and hypocrisy. The host will not take the first step when meeting guests. They will not take the lead in greeting guests. Wear festive clothes; serve wine outside the village to greet distinguished guests; when guests arrive at the door, the male host should call the door and inform the hostess at home, and the hostess should sing and open the door to welcome guests; in front of guests, the hostess should not climb upstairs; banquets Chickens and ducks are served as delicacies to guests, especially the heart and liver, which are the most precious. They should be given to the guests or elders first, and the guests should share them with others. The order is that the guests should not call the host "seedling". Hi calls himself "Meng"
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Miao Nationality--Festivals
Traveling on Huashan Mountain is a grand traditional festival for the Miao people in the territory. It is usually held on the first day of the first lunar month and the first day of the first lunar month every year. On the third and sixth day of the lunar month, all counties where the Miao people live will set up flower poles and hold grand flower-stepping activities. This is not only a good time for Miao young men and women to fall in love, but also a cultural and sports event for the Miao people. An important place for entertainment activities.
Men, women and children of the Miao family, dressed in gold and silver, came from all directions to the foot of the flower pole to play reeds, play jingle, jump on tripods, play machetes, bullfight, wrestle, fight thrushes, and climb flower poles.
The Beating Back Festival is popular in some areas of Funing County. It is held every year from the third to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. It is a festival for young men and women of the Miao ethnic group. During the festival, young men and women gather happily on a beautiful hillside. When the spanking begins, the men rush out in large numbers and rush to the girl they have chosen. One hand holds the girl's neck and the other hand covers the girl's eyes. The other boys go Hit her back. Not to be outdone, the girl laughed and struggled. When he breaks free, he catches the young man and treats him in his own way. Throughout the venue, men chased women and danced happily. When they are tired of playing, both men and women will find a place to make a local phone call (that is, use two bamboo tubes with a long line in the middle, and you can hear each other talking or singing into the bamboo tube on one side), pouring out sweet words to each other, and forming a bond. companion. After you are in love, tell your parents and choose an auspicious day to get married.
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Miao people - marriage customs
The Miao people are monogamous, and young men and women have traditional social activities before marriage. For example, "Meeting Girls" is a way for Miao young people to fall in love freely. The traditional festival of the Miao people is the annual Huashan Festival (held on the fifth day of the first lunar month, also known as "Stepping on the Huashan"). This is the most popular festival for the Miao people. During the festival, young men and women dressed in festive costumes gather to sing antiphons and perform steps. Drums, lion dance and Lusheng dance are very lively.
Glutinous rice is also an indispensable food in the marriage process of young men and women. The Miao people in Chengbu, Hunan, give each other glutinous rice cakes with pictures of mandarin ducks as tokens. During a wedding, the bride and groom drink cups of wine, and the officiant invites the bride and groom to eat glutinous rice cakes with pictures of dragons, phoenixes and dolls.
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Miao Nationality - Clothing
It is the nature of Miao girls to like to wear silver jewelry. They put their hair in a bun on the top of their head and wear it about 20 centimeters high. They are beautifully made. A silver corolla with six uneven silver wings inserted in the front, mostly with the pattern of two dragons playing with beads. In some areas, in addition to silver pieces, silver horns about 1 meter high are also inserted into the silver crowns, with colorful ribbons on the tips, making it even more noble and gorgeous. On the lower edge of the silver crown, a silver flower belt hangs, and a row of small silver flower pendants hangs down. There are several layers of silver necklaces worn around the neck, mostly made of silver flowers and small silver rings. He wears a silver lock and a silver collar on his chest, a silver cloak on his chest and back, and many small silver bells hanging down. Earrings and bracelets are all made of silver. Only two sleeves show embroidery with fiery red as the main tone, but the cuffs are also inlaid with a wider circle of silver ornaments. The costumes worn by Miao girls often weigh several kilograms, and some of them are accumulated and inherited by generations of people. It is known as the "fairy in colorful and silver clothing". The craftsmanship of Miao silver jewelry is gorgeous, sophisticated and ingenious, fully demonstrating the wisdom and talent of the Miao people. Miao costumes vary from place to place. Men mostly use cloth to wrap their heads and wear shorts and shorts. However, Miao women are generally more particular about their clothing, especially their costumes, which are extremely exquisite and have many floral decorations. Some skirts have more than forty layers, hence the name "Miao". Pleated Skirt.” The various patterns embroidered on the clothes are antique and colorful. Women are good at textiles, embroidery, and batik, and their craftsmanship is very exquisite.
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Miao Nationality--Food
The Miao people in most areas have rice as their staple food for three meals a day. Fried food is the most common fried food. If you add some fresh meat and sauerkraut as filling, the taste will be more delicious.
Most of the meat comes from livestock and poultry breeding. The Miao people in Sichuan, Yunnan and other places like to eat dog meat. There is a saying that "the dogs of the Miao people are the wine of the Yi people". In addition to animal oil, the edible oils of the Miao family are mostly camellia oil and vegetable oil.
Chili pepper is the main condiment. In some areas, there is even a saying that "no dish can be made without spicy food". The Miao people have a wide variety of dishes. Common vegetables include beans, melons, green vegetables, and radishes. Most of the Miao people are good at making soy products.
The Miao people in various places generally like to eat sour dishes, and sour soup is a must-have for every household. Sour soup is made from rice soup or tofu water. After fermentation in an earthen pot for 3-5 days, it can be used to cook meat, fish, and vegetables.
The Miao people generally use the pickling method to preserve food. Vegetables, chickens, ducks, fish, and meat all like to be pickled to make them sour. Almost every household of the Miao people has a jar for pickling food, collectively called a sour jar.
The Miao people have a long history of brewing wine and have a complete set of techniques from making koji, fermentation, distillation, blending and cellaring. Camellia oleifera is the most common daily beverage. The Miao people in western Hunan also make a special kind of Wanhua tea. Sour soup is also a common drink.
Typical foods mainly include: blood soup, chili bone, Miaoxiang turtle and phoenix soup, cotton cake, insect tea, ten thousand flower tea, pounded fish, fish in sour soup, etc.
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Miao Nationality - Architecture
Due to long-term scattered living, different regions have formed their own characteristics. Most of the houses are wooden structures, made of tiles, cedar bark or thatch. When the roof is covered, thin stone slabs are used to cover the roof in central or western Guizhou. In mountainous areas, there are mostly stilted buildings; in places such as Hainan Island and Zhaotong, Yunnan, people live in long thatched houses or "fork houses" made of crossed tree trunks; in the area in western Hunan, they live in stone houses.
The Miao people mostly live in mountainous areas. Their houses mostly use tree fences as walls, peeled bark as walls, and weaving as tiles. They may also use people to build walls and use bamboo or wood chips to make tiles, which are divided into bedrooms and kitchens. and stables, furnished simply. Some Miao people live in the dam area, and their houses also have tile-roofed houses with a water and soil structure. They are divided into three rooms. The left and right rooms are each equipped with a door on one side, and the middle room is equipped with a main door, which is the main entrance. Among some Miao people, the main entrance is generally not allowed to be entered or exited casually. Only when there are weddings, funerals, or sacrificial events at home, can the main entrance be used.
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Miao Nationality--Taboos
When visiting a Miao family, remember not to eat chicken heads. Guests are generally not allowed to serve chicken livers, offal, and drumsticks. Chicken gallbladders and offal are reserved for elderly women, while chicken drumsticks are reserved for children. When you leave the Miao host's home, be sure to say "Wow Zhou" politely, which means "thank you" to thank the Miao family for their hospitality.
In some Miao areas, it is forbidden to wash drinking pots, rice bags, and rice bowls at any time. They can only wash them when eating new rice, as a sign of getting rid of the old rice and welcoming the new rice. Washing at any time will wash away the wealth of the family, and there will not be enough food to eat. When drinking raw water on the mountain, avoid drinking it directly. You must first put a grass mark on it to show that you will kill the sick and ghosts. Avoid touching other people's clothes left on the roadside to avoid spreading leprosy. It is forbidden for children to play with small bows and arrows at home, for fear of hitting their ancestors. Avoid crossing the child's head, otherwise the child will not grow taller. It is forbidden for women to sit on the same bench as their elders.
It is forbidden to kill dogs, beat them, or eat dog meat; you cannot sit on the place where the ancestors of the Miao family sit, and you cannot step on the tripod on the fire bed; you are not allowed to whistle at home or at night; you are not allowed to eat ashes from the fire. Roast glutinous rice cakes; do not use straps to tie up seedlings and family members when playing; do not enter the house when there are straw hats or branches hanging on the door or on weddings and funerals; do not pass through the newlyweds when you meet them on the road, etc.
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Miao Nationality--Religion
The religious beliefs of the Miao Nationality are mainly primitive religions. They attach great importance to worshiping the gods of mountains, trees, hunting, rain, fire and other natural phenomena. For God's blessing, if there is a storm, you have to burn yellow wax to offer sacrifices to ghosts; if a child is sick, you have to offer a stone to the god; if an adult is sick, you have to kill a pig to offer sacrifice to the well god and take "spiritual water" to cure the disease; if the family is unfortunate, you have to "make a cow" "Ghost", that is, "push the cow to fulfill the wish" and pray for the blessing of the gods. Believe in the God of Wealth, and there is a "wealth gate sacrifice", in which a square foot of red cloth is nailed to the door, the devil curses, and a chicken is killed as a sacrifice to show that he wants wealth. Ancestor worship is also very popular among the Miao people. The biggest ancestor worship festival is the "Xisong" festival every autumn. When family members encounter something that they think is unlucky or have nightmares, they have to kill chickens to worship their ancestors and invite the devil. The choking curse conveys the prayers of descendants to the ancestors and gods. Some Miao people also believe in Taoism. It worships gods such as Guanyin, Guandi, Heavenly King Bodhisattva and Panlaiao. Some Miao people call wizards "White Horse", some call them "Ang", some call them "Wan Neng", and some Miao people in Zhaotong call them "Bomo". "Bomo" once had scriptures written in Chinese and read in Shiyin.
In the past hundred years, Christianity and Catholicism have spread to the Miao areas of Yunnan, and branches of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (in Fumin), the Christian Evangelistic Association (in Lufeng), and the Southwest Christian Association (in Lufeng) have been established in Zhaotong, Chuxiong, Qujing and other places. Yuanmou), the Inland Mission of the Western Missionary Society (in Wuding), and church organizations such as Shimenkan Church, led some Miao people to believe in Christianity and Catholicism.
The Miao people used to believe in animism, worship nature, and worship their ancestors. The "Drum Sacrifice Festival" is the largest sacrificial activity among the Miao people. Generally, there is a small sacrifice every seven years and a big sacrifice every thirteen years. It is held on Yihai day from October to November of the lunar calendar. At that time, a Guzi ox will be killed, the Lusheng dance will be performed, and the ancestors will be paid homage to. Invite relatives and friends to gather together during meals in order to enhance feelings and family harmony.
The current population of the Miao ethnic group is 7,398,035 (1990), mainly distributed in Guizhou (accounting for about 50% of the total Miao population), Hunan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan and other provinces (regions). Among them, the Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture is the largest inhabited area of ??the Miao people. The Miao people have their own language, which belongs to the Miao-Yao branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Originally there was no ethnic script, but in the late 1950s a Latinized pinyin script was created. Most people today speak Chinese.
The Miao people have a long history. The ancestors of the Miao people can be traced back to the Chiyou tribe that was active in the Central Plains during the primitive society. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the Miao ancestors began to establish the "Three Miao Kingdoms" in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River to engage in rice farming. The Miao people have migrated many times in history, and the general route is from the Yellow River Basin to Hunan (Hunan), to Guizhou (Guizhou), and to Yunnan (Yunnan). Some historians once believed that the "Miao people" tribe headed by "Chiyou" in "The Time of the Yellow Emperor" in "Shangshu Lu Xing" and the "Three Miao" in "Historical Records: Chronicles of the Five Emperors" were the ancestors of the Miao people; Some people also believe that the Miao people are closely related to the "fashionable" people of the Yin and Zhou dynasties in "Shang Shu·Mu Shi"; some believe that the Miao people are descended from the legendary "Panlao" system purchasing tribe. Many scholars believe that around the time of the Qin and Han dynasties in my country, the Miao ancestors were already living in the Wuxi area in present-day western Hunan and other places, and were part of the "Wuxi Barbarians" or "Wuling Barbarians" and "Changsha Barbarians" in history.
The Miao people call themselves "Mu", "Meng", "Mo" and "Mao". In some areas, they call themselves "Ga Nao", "Guoxiong", "Dai", "Daji", etc. He called "long skirt seedlings", "red seedlings", "green seedlings", "flower seedlings", etc. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, they were collectively called the Miao people.
The Miao costumes not only come in a wide variety of styles, they are also items that best represent the characteristics of the ethnic group. The narrative clothing patterns of the Miao people are not only long-lasting, but also very rich and developed. They can be said to have reached the status of reproducing history through clothing and have become the "wordless history books" of the Miao people. No other ethnic group has used clothing patterns as history books to express history in such a profound way as the Miao people.
The Miao people have many festivals, and the more solemn ones include the "Miao Year", "April Eighth", and the "Dragon Boat" Festival.
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