According to her introduction, among the ethnic minorities in Fenghuang Ancient City, the Miao nationality accounts for 60%, and the Miao nationality has been a suffering nation since ancient times. Their viability is extremely strong. At the beginning, they were driven to the barren areas of western Hunan by Han tribes. Seeing that this place is not suitable for survival, they did not continue to be extinct and let them die here. Who knows, some of them actually settled down on the spot, gradually overcame the difficulties and obstacles of natural conditions, set up camp step by step and survived for generations. One of the most important factors for their survival is silver.
Almost everyone knows that Miao people love silver. They eat silver, wear silver and wear silver. Even when they get married, the bride price is given according to the weight of silver. To outsiders, their love for silver is almost fanatical. Perhaps, people who don't know will think that this is a kind of money worship. However, no, if you know the origin of the existence of Yin people and Miao people, you will find how wrong this idea is.
The ancestor of Miao nationality is Chiyou tribe, and the ancestor of Han nationality is Yanhuang tribe. Yan Di Shennong and Huangdi Xuanyuan joined forces to defeat Chiyou in the land of Zhuolu and seize Chiyou. Since then, it has occupied a vast area suitable for survival in the Yellow River Basin. Since then, the Miao people have started their migration and exile. This is why Miao is the only ethnic group in China that does not recognize itself as a descendant of the Chinese people. Because their ancestors were the tribal leader Chiyou who died in defeat. In Miao mythology, Chiyou is the embodiment of justice-although he was defeated, Yan Di and Huangdi played opposite roles, which is just the opposite of our Han mythology. These are right and wrong, all things happened too long ago, and it is unclear, so there is no need to delve into them.
There have been five great migrations in Miao history. Since Chiyou was defeated by Yanhuang, Miao people gradually migrated from the Yellow River basin to the south and west. On the way, some tribes stayed behind, and other tribes kept migrating, even some migrated to Southeast Asia and even traveled overseas, which led to the great dispersion of Miao people. During this period, the war between Miao and Han continued.
The tour guide said that the original south (such as Xiangxi) was a wild land. Apart from strong birds and beasts, there were poisonous insects and weeds everywhere, and the Miao people gradually survived after suffering and overcoming all kinds of hardships. In this process, silver has played an irreplaceable role in their lives. It is this kind of metal used as currency in China feudal society that saved the lives of Miao people again and again and gradually became an indispensable part of their lives.
Nowadays, people almost know that silver is a heavy metal, which can lead to poisoning if eaten directly. However, an important function of silver is to detect poisons. After the third great migration, some Miao people survived in Xiangxi and became stronger and stronger, which aroused the vigilance of Han tribes. In addition to the confrontation on the battlefield, the Han tribe also sent people to poison the river again and again, polluting their water sources and trying to drive them to more remote places. So Miao people use silver to test poison. This formed the Miao people's habit of "eating silver".
The so-called "eating silver" is not really "eating", but taking out the silverware for poison testing before eating food to ensure the safety of food. In addition, they boil silverware in water, or use silverware or put silverware in tea to kill viruses. This method is the silver ion disinfection method. Silver ion can kill more than 650 kinds of bacteria, even at present, it is the most effective anti-virus method. Miao people in China first used this anti-virus method, but the invention patent was in Germany.
Therefore, no matter where Miao people go, they can't do without silver. Silver seems to have become their national belief and totem. They make silver into jewelry or decorations and carry it with them so that they can carry it anytime and anywhere. The life of Miao people is inseparable from silver all the time, and gradually forms the scene we see now: wearing silver crowns and pins on their heads, exquisite silver ornaments on their clothes, heavy silver earrings on their ears, huge silver necklaces and collars around their necks, rows of silver bracelets on their wrists, and silverware used at home (such as silver pots, silver bowls, silver plates, etc. ) ... if you see this,
No nation has ever loved and worshipped silver as much as the Miao people, just because their lives have been full of poison. No one knows what they experienced in those years of migration, but their love for silver is imprinted in their lives like a scar, which gives us a glimpse of their past.
The tour guide said that we should thank the Miao people, not Yuan Longping, because the Miao people were the first people to grow rice. If Miao people didn't bring rice cultivation to this world, how could there be Yuan Longping, the "father of hybrid rice"?
Miao nationality has brought three intangible cultural heritages to the Chinese nation: rice planting, witch doctor (predecessor of traditional Chinese medicine) and metal smelting, among which the drawing process of silver is the most unique and outstanding. Food, medicine and ornaments, from the most basic survival skills to the pursuit of aesthetic spirit, condense the survival history and development history of a nation. They all contributed their survival skills forged in the hard survival process to the Chinese nation and the world.
The tour guide talked about Song Zu Ying's solo concert in the Vienna Golden Hall. "She is the only Miao and China singer to hold a solo concert in the Vienna Golden Hall. Do you know what she was wearing? It's not a dress, it's not a Hanfu, it's not a cheongsam, it's our Miao costume. This costume, which combines painstaking efforts and craftsmanship, was created by seven Miao masters, and the drawing process was brought to the extreme. Finally, this suit was taken away by the United States for 3.5 million yuan and kept in their museum. " The guide's face is full of pride.
Now it is not a primitive society, there is no war between tribes, there is no tit-for-tat between Han and Miao, and there is no need to argue about the right and wrong of history. After all, the past is long gone.
I looked at the jingling silver bracelet in the guide's hand and felt a little warm in my heart. Just for this moment, I can sit on this bus and listen to her. I should also thank this era.
Just like at the end of life, what we can leave is actually a little happy memories in life, not pain and hatred, and so is history. The ultimate significance of historical development is to make people live better.