Entering the customs of the Red Miao people

As the dust of history fades away, on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, there is a group of Red Miao people who follow the ancient customs of the Miao people. After the changes of the times, the etiquette has not changed so far. They are all struggling to pursue the souls of the dead to return to their hometown. -Miao Village, Jiangxi. Over the past thousands of years, the Hongmiao people who have gone through the smoke of war have all spent the great migration. Those old gengu who carried corpses on stretchers, the mystery of Nuo's willingness to worship ancestors, the evil spirit of marrying Huizuma, the weird mask art, and so-called superstitious activities such as walking yin, descending gods, chasing Nuo, and shouting souls are now impossible to make a reasonable analysis through science. In the eyes of outsiders, they are very crude, humble, rough, mysterious, and even unreasonable. It is the ethnic and religious phenomenon that the Hongmiao people have passed down to this day. It has been passed down orally and in behavior for thousands of years.

The root cause of the Hongmiao people lies in this village with more than 40 households and more than 200 people behind the slope. It is only 6 kilometers away from Huajia Township, Funing County. The villagers are all surnamed Ma and Long, and are all Red Miao. The stockade lies halfway behind the towering "Yunpanshan Mountain". The terrain is unique, the mountain roads are rugged and difficult, the grass is deep, the forests are dense, and the scenery is pleasant.

Behind the slope, most of the people in this village are descendants of the Red Miao people. Their old ancestors were from Jiangxi Province. They came to Huohongpan Sha County in Guizhou because they were guarding the border, which is now Pan County in Guizhou. In Hong Miao's Nuo vow "Journey Notes", there is a rough description of the image of the ancestors of the Red Miao people guarding the border. He was a general riding a tall horse. He described the states and counties he passed one by one. Later generations collated it through oral narratives from generations, and the Nuo god poems used for Nuo Yuan's opening the mountain were interpreted. This is also the only historical historical material of the Miao people's migration, but it is too vague, and the specific place names are not recorded and there is no way to verify it.

However, members of the Ma family were not allowed to eat dog meat, which was a long-standing fact. During the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the Ma family became Miao kings in Guizhou. Most of them opposed the Qing court and were not subject to control. The emperor issued an edict to exterminate them, but only one of the children of the nine clans escaped. When crossing the Panshui River, there were pursuers behind them. A big yellow dog closely behind him was scared by the pursuers 'formation and jumped into the river. The descendants of the Ma family had a quick idea and also jumped into the river. They grabbed the dog's tail tightly and crossed the river. So far, the Ma family has established a rule. The Ma family is not allowed to eat dog meat. The dog is the savior of the Ma family. When the Ma family's dog dies, it is buried in the ground. However, the Long family was one of the relatives who annihilated the nine ethnic groups in the battle to annihilate the Miao King. According to the old people, only a mother and son were left in the Long family. The mother used a piece of radish to carry sweet rice wine at one end and the Long family ancestors at the other end. He was still an infant at that time. He ate sweet wine while walking and kept running for his life to carry it to Funing, Yunnan. It is said that now the Long family always has sweet wine. The sweet wine is the life-saving food of the Long family. The local Long family calls sweet wine Tianliang.

The Hongmiao people have gone through this migration for hundreds of years, and there is no way to verify it. However, we can still find a clue from the genealogy of the Ma and Long surnames. The Ma family generation is: Yun Da Rongbang Qi, Chao Hong Wanshicheng, and the Long family generation is: Zhengyou Guoxing Jiaqing Road, and civil and military officials enter the court. It is not difficult to see from the genealogy of the two family names of Ma Long that the Hongmiao people all want to become emperors on their own. The era mentioned should have been during the Jiaqing Daoguang period, and now it is the only timetable that can be said.

The ancestral tablets of the Red Miao people are generally not worshiped in the main hall, but are served on the small Zongtai in front of the fire pit. The local name is also called "Gage Ban", which also means the ancestral ancestor in the Red Miao language. The old custom is to offer food every day, also called "thank rice" or "call for rice", which means inviting the ancestors to eat, regardless of the quality of the food, there is no exception.

Fire plays an extremely important role in the production and life of Hongmiao people. This was a rule passed down during the migration with the Red Miao people, the struggle against nature, and the hunting process. That is, the descendants of the Red Miao people should not jump from the middle of the fire hall at will, otherwise it will be regarded as disrespectful to the ancestors. Otherwise, they will be punished to kneel on the edge of the fire pit. The purpose is to apologize to the ancestors and pray for their forgiveness. In the homes of the Red Miao people, there is the custom of storing fire at all times. The fire pit in the home must never be cut off. This is the Red Miao people's instinctive reaction to the fire in the difficult natural survival. If the fire goes out and goes to other people's homes to ask for fire for the third time, they will not give it to them. They will be swept away after laughing twice and cursing three times. Now, with the development of modern technology, the fire is gradually fading in the Red Miao people's ideology. Only the elderly still engrave this ancient commandment.

The funeral of the Red Miao people has gradually receded from its original primitive behavior. Most of them have been assimilated by the Han people. Only some superficial funeral rituals have been retained. With the arrival of reform and opening up, the Red Miao people have also liberated their minds. The ancient behavior of carrying corpses on stretchers no longer exists. The funeral ceremony of the deceased remains, and the process is extremely complicated. Before and after burial, there are bathing, plastic surgery, dressing, announcing funeral, entering a funeral, keeping the spirit, going out, withdrawing the soul, burning ropes, restoring mountains, and offering sacrifices.

When the old man was critically ill and his life was on the verge of death, relatives carried him to a temporary bed next to the fire pit to sleep, and immediately sent someone to "rush out a letter" informing the old man's relatives and children to "wait on the queen" in the hall, which was to measure the old man's affairs. When he began to breathe, he placed a basin in front of the bed, burned gas paper coins, and burned three pillars of incense. The eldest son under his knees supported him to sit on the shop and helped him to breathe. This is also called "receiving the breath". When his son received the breath, he would have a successor, which means getting rich. After falling out of breath, the relatives began to cry, and the gunpowder gun sounded three times to announce the funeral. In order to make them rest in peace, they immediately pressed the eyelids of the deceased, clenched their hands into fists, straightened their feet, and went to the well to collect water to bathe the deceased. When taking water, he threw a few coins by the well, burned incense paper and took water to show that he would buy water with the money. Then the dutiful son washed the deceased. Pour water into a tripod jar, heat it, pour it into a basin, use a new white cloth as a handkerchief, wash the body very simply, mainly wash the face, and wipe the handkerchief on the body three times from the lower abdomen to the navel. The children kneel and call the old man to "wash the body and wipe the sweat." Some elders in the clan shouted that they would wash the poverty, two would wash the sleepiness and three would wash the disease. He put the white handkerchief into the basin and placed it at the foot of the bed. Then the dutiful son grabbed the deceased's chest three times and put it into his purse, meaning to capture the glory and wealth and not let the deceased take it away. If the deceased's teeth are complete, one tooth must be knocked off to show that the deceased is old. Folk customs are known as the "people who chisels teeth." The male deceased also needs to shave and shave. After taking a bath, the deceased is dressed for plastic surgery. The shroud is mostly made of cotton clothes or silk and carefully sewn into old clothes; the number of pieces worn is odd. The male deceased wears a long robe and a jacket, and the belt is placed on the waist without tying it. The clothes are closed without buckling, with the left flap down and the right flap up. Contrary to a living person, it is called "folding the clothes, but not twisting the knots". A 6-foot-long strip of cloth is used to wrap the head and wear shoes and socks. Wear a pleated skirt and an old shroud carefully sewn before death. The dress of the skirt is the same as that of men. Hold a towel in his left hand. You can wear silver jewelry and ban copper and iron. After putting on clothes, stop a foot in a bamboo mat bed with a length of 6 feet and a width of 2 feet. The mourning hall is set in the main room. The deceased's head faces the shrine and his feet face out. A vegetable oil lamp is lit next to the mourning bed at the head. It is called "Eternal Light". There are rice, food, wine and meat on the supply table. For a sacrifice to the deceased, the mourning bed was placed in front of the poor and used for burning paper and candles. The cloth sheets sent by the dutiful son and relatives were used as a ruler for the deceased. The dutiful son was placed on the face, the son-in-law was placed in the inside, and the relatives and friends were placed on the bottom. The cloth sheet for the dutiful son was 6 feet 2 inches, and the rest was 6 feet. Whenever the cloth sheet was sent, a small piece of cloth was torn and returned to the individual who sent the cloth and tied it on the belt. This was called "withdrawing the soul". The deceased did not cover the face. After the morgue was completed, the wizard was asked to choose an auspicious auspicious event and determine the burial time, and then sent someone to report the funeral to relatives and friends. The people who announced the funeral had two people on each journey, first closer and then farther away. Every time they arrived at a house, they had to drink a glass of water without eating before leaving. After relatives and friends heard this, they prepared sacrificial gifts and went to mourn. Most relatives and friends go to the funeral and invite seven or eight people to follow, bringing dozens of kilograms of rice, a single bed, a chicken and duck, several kilograms of wine, incense, paper, firecrackers, etc. The son-in-law must carry a fat pig, several buckets of rice, a piece of glutinous rice, bills, wine, firecrackers, fragrant paper, etc., and invite a suona to go to the funeral. The deceased was a woman, so her uncle's opinion was often sought when handling the funeral. To protect the dead and I as women, simple wooden benches were placed on the left and right sides of the coffin. The guests sat on the right and the main sat on the left. The inner wall on the right side was removed for the guests to sit on to keep the spirit. Three days after the funeral, guests with a different surname were asked to repair it. All women who come to mourn the funeral will lament as soon as they arrive at the mourning hall. Few men will cry. Women who do not cry are regarded as not grieving or cannot sing and cry. Crying songs have never been taught by teachers, and they are all composed temporarily and emotionally. The crying singer shed tears. The spouse complained about the hard work of dragging children and daughters after her husband's death, the difficulty of being a widow and starting a career, and the loneliness of having no one to discuss when something happened... expressing deep affection and condolences for the deceased. The girl's daughter-in-law told her about the kindness of raising her elders. Since then, there was no one to teach her and life was difficult to manage. Relatives and friends often cried about the virtues of the deceased during his lifetime and his hard-working life. Those who cried and sang shed tears of sorrow, and those who heard it all shed tears of sadness. The spirit was guarded late at night. After the ritual, the male heir slept on the left side of the spirit and the female heir slept on the right side. The male keeper's Tianmen lamp was placed on the coffin, and the female Ning's Hell lamp was placed under the coffin, and the spirit was guarded in the same hall.

After the dead people of Chaodu were buried in the coffin, the Master began a series of processes such as opening the altar, paper-cutting (the ultimatum document at the Guanjin Ferry), opening the road (opening the way to break the prison), chanting scriptures, hanging flags and lists, passing charcoal, asking for water, making ghost king cakes, offering sacrifices, raising filial piety, walking around the coffin, spreading flowers, saying farewell, setting up a frame, digging a well, burying, buying mountains to absorb gas, and restoring mountains.

If the deceased who transcended was also a mage, he would have to open the gate of heaven before being buried. When opening the gate of heaven, three great mages must be invited. The first one supported the main altar and called the Lord Mo Gong (earth), the second one set up a middle altar upstairs to support the person Mo Gong (human), and the third one set up a high altar on the roof to call the Lord Tian Mo Gong (heaven). The three great mages worked together to open a ladder that could allow one person to pass through from directly above the coffin in the main room to the roof. Tie two long bamboo poles with three to six steps made of a pig butcher knife blade facing upwards. The eldest disciple of the deceased mage ascended to heaven with his soul on his back on his bare feet. If the magic power of the method is not enough, send the undead to heaven. The bloody feet dripped on the coffin. People say that this is the deceased mage, the immortal mage, Hongsheng, otherwise it is the white immortal mage.

The funeral of the Red Miao people was the most imposing scene during the entire funeral. When the farewell came, as the Red Miao people said, they had the last meal with the old man. All the descendants of the old man, who were born from the root vein, knelt in front of the memorial and grabbed the food in the dustpan with their hands. They cried while eating, commemorating the old man's kindness of breeding. Next was the hall wine and the intention of toast. The time had come, and the gun was fired three times to show the funeral. Relatives and friends waited for the spirit to rise, and placed a large bowl of red flint stones on the coffin. The mage was wearing a robe with embroidered dragon patterns and a crown tied on his head. He held a sharp axe and cut off all the coffin ornaments in the mourning hall amidst the deafening sound of clickers. The axe again struck the top, bottom, left and right of the door post to inform the door god to make way. He threw the axe hard outside the door, turned back and stood in front of the shrine behind the coffin. At this time, the clicker stopped and aimed at the flint bowl on the coffin, shouting loudly, Telling the dead that they had gone out of the house, they raised their swords in their hands, roared gongs and drums, and sparks flew everywhere. The people who raised the spirit ignored the danger of the fire. The dutiful sons closed the door and squatted down to the coffin to prevent scratches. With the smoke sweeping the spirit behind them, they were carried out with a bang.

The musical instruments used at the funeral of the Red Miao people are also called rattlers. Most of them are percussion music. They are accompanied by gongs, drums, cymbals, cymbals, bells and other rattlers. They are sonorous and powerful, have a bright rhythm, and are shocking. Suona and Lusheng are wind instruments used by the "Eight Immortals". They were originally played by eight musicians, but most of them have now been lost. The ones played use tunes such as mourning, tearjerking, and soothing the mournful family to create a mournful atmosphere. The strike of the rattler is based on the number of ways. For example, the long-way guide is used to guide the dead on how to travel to heaven and return to their hometown; the nine-way plum blossoms are used to reproduce the changes of the whole year in front of the dead; the thrush jumping is used to reproduce the red Miao people's custom of training animals and breeding since ancient times; the mountains and rivers are high and far, which reflects the migration of the red Miao people through mountains and rivers. There are many ways to change rattler strikes, and there are quite a lot of research in combination and application. According to the old man, there are 91 and 81 changes, which have been lost for a long time, and now there are only more than ten styles left.

Ancient dishes of the Red Miao people

As the twelfth lunar month approaches, the end of the year is not far away.

In the Red Miao mountain village in Longsanpan Village, Huajia Township, the New Year's killing pigs will arrive based on the date. From time to time, there will be heart-wrenching sounds of slaughtering pigs. The production of delicious spicy bones starts from this. It begins with the cries. The annual spicy bone making of the Hongmiao people is indispensable. It is an indispensable pickled meat dish in the production and life of the Hongmiao people. The reasons are as follows: First, when the weather is dry in March and April of the next year, they will reserve nutritious and delicious mountain dishes; The second is to entertain visitors from home, that is, authentic and convenient home-cooked dishes. They are famous for their delicious and spicy taste. They are very popular in the Red Miao Mountain Stronghold. If foreign guests taste a little, they will feel very fragrant and spicy. Immediately, they praised it.

There is a folk song singing: Chop chopping boards in the tenth winter and twelfth lunar month, and make a pot of bones and tendons.

The jar contains cans of ginger bone mixed, and chili local wine and red Dandan.

There is a jar of spicy bones in the Miao family, and cans of spicy meat float across the mountains.

There is no need for vegetables to go to the ground in March, so grab a little bit and watch the scenery.

Spicy bone is a convenient dish made by the ancestors of the Red Miao people during daily hunting, under difficult conditions of lack of water and salt, directly marinated meat without washing. In order to preserve food, the most primitive and rough storage method was adopted. With the Red Miao people's border guard journey from Jiangxi to Guizhou and then to Yunnan, it has been as long as the history of the mysterious Red Miao Nuo vow. It has formed a unique food culture phenomenon since its inheritance. It has extremely important significance in the history of the Red Miao people's food culture who have gone through several migrations.

There is a folk song sung: Red seedlings make claw bones spicy, and there are vegetables without vegetables to catch in jars. Go up the mountain to farm land without salt, and make soup with spicy bones and rice.

The level of making spicy bones is an important criterion for young people of the Red Miao nationality in choosing a spouse. When the young man wants to 'spy on match', he will entrust someone to inquire about the details of the girl's family from the side. How well the spicy bones are made and how bright they are. They will be an important symbol of the future Red Miao girls becoming' chefs 'and will also be the face of hosting guests. When the Red Miao girl was in her mother's home, she had to be the first to learn to pickle the bright red and delicious spicy bones with meat. In the first year or two before the girl marries, her mother will teach the craft of marinating meat by hand. She must master the recipe of ginger, spicy, wine and other seasonings skillfully, so that she can make spicy bones with complete color, flavor and taste. Only female, not male, is the rule handed down by our ancestors. There is a song Nuo sentence such as: sister Ya spicy bone black slag, the future married a big mute. Spicy bones do red, married sun is immortal.

Nowadays, the life of the Red Miao nationality is as spicy as Song Zuying's song "Spice Girl" in people's eyes. Spicy girls are not afraid of spicy when they are young, and spicy girls are not afraid of spicy when they grow up... Spicy girls are afraid of spicy when they go out, and they can talk when they grab a handful of spicy 'bones'.

Red Miao spicy bone, this spicy food, this fragrance floating far away, this red like the sun, spicy bone color, fragrance, taste seasoning red Miao people's life is getting better and better, better and better, in the world's attention and red Miao people's unremitting efforts, red Miao spicy bone will become the people to eat for the world food through the ages.

After the winter solstice, every household began to dry glutinous rice, in order to help relatives also Nuo wish to make preparations, then add a little glutinous rice to accompany the god food, pray Nuo God to protect the family next year smooth weather, peace and good luck.

In this way, there was a saying that the god of a family provided food for hundreds of families. Every household that sent food wanted to ask for an explanation in front of Nuo God. The local people called this saying Nuo God's "lecture chapter", while Mr. Shifa was very professional and said it was "asking divination". The grain of hundreds of families was called "military grain and horse material". If there was no additional food, how many families sent it would be made. One big and two small portions, the big one was the god's food to worship Nuo God, and the small one was the return of grain to the hundred families.The small baba returned to hundreds of families is the divine cake grain that Mr. Master used the "Five Thunder Ruler" to draw the "blessing chapter", used the mantra to "seal", and sprinkled with "Dharma water". The old people often said that they ate Nuo wishes. The small baba can cure all diseases and ward off evil spirits. Mr. Master knows a thing or two about his mantra, which is to cover the road with white clouds when going, and hide the grass when coming.

The cake grains sent by hundreds of families have different colors of red and white, but the weight is balanced. One catty and two taels of the old scale are used. After all mixing, the glutinous rice dice are completely red in white, and each grain must be smooth and plump to ensure that the cake is made. It is full of color, aroma and fragrance. Then we found 12 women in Hongmiao Village who gave birth to a firstborn baby to form the Jade Nv Star who was specially responsible for the early production process of rice cake. The production of glutinous rice soaked, boiled, caged, aerated, steamed, and caged must be done in one go. If anything happens in the middle, the elders will say that their spirits are weak and their elephants will be defeated. In the future, the main family will have a small population and will be passed down only in one vein. The next step was to find 12 men who gave birth to firstborn males to form the Golden Boy Star, who was specially responsible for making cakes. While the jade women were steaming glutinous rice, they used 1.2 feet long peach wood to cut them into U-shaped cakes with unsealed ends. The cake trough was placed in the middle of the courtyard dam, and cut it into cakes with a 6-foot-long thorn bamboo. At this time, the woman steaming rice shouted--Here we go! At each end of the cake trough, there were six freely combined Golden Boy Star men posing, holding cake beating sticks as thick as a small bowl, waiting for the glutinous rice just out of the cage to be poured into the cake trough. Then they used the cake beating stick to hold the glutinous rice in the cake trough, shouting loudly-make cake! -- Hey hey!

The people watching at the courtyard dam also ordered: --Make a cake! -- Hey hey!

One dozen Nuo, two dozen Ba, and three dozen masters made a fortune!

At this time, the glutinous rice in the cake trough became more and more sticky and adhered more severely as the rice was being beaten back and forth. The cake trough flowed back and forth on the courtyard dam in the continuous adhesion push. Occasionally, an "accident" occurred, that is, when it was one-sided, the sticky rice in the cake trough flew out, making the people next to him laugh. The owner would shout: The cake will not stick to dust when it falls.

However, it didn't take a while for the sticky cake in the cake trough to come out of the trough, but it was also so tired that the two gangs of cake players were sweating profusely. When the first trough of cake came out of the trough, the cake player gently pestled the sticky cake into a large ball with a cake stick, slowly picked it up and lifted it above his head, and under the guidance of the mage, he entered the shrine to "offer cakes" to the Nuo god. After turning back and going out, he circled around the crowd in the courtyard dam three times and then "started to knead". The pink sticky cakes, under constant kneading in people's hands, were neatly arranged in the round bamboo weaving box. In the big shaking box, it was tempting to appease, and children gathered around the shaking box. She bent her waist and stretched out her fingers to point out the little Baba and said,"This is mine and that is yours. She kept shouting, hoping that my old man would press his name on it with his sticky fingers, and wait a while. When I finish serving God, I can take it home early to enjoy it!"

This is the red Miao people's making cake. The pink cake creates the red Miao people's knot-making cake to return vows. In this way, with the mysterious God Nuo, there was pink Baba, which was the spiritual food of the Hongmiao people. It was indispensable food on the way of the Hongmiao people's migration. It was the food and road stained by the migration blood road. Culture, passed down to this day, has a thousand years of history. In the lives of the Hongmiao people, a pink flower blooms.

On the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the only remaining Nuo vows of the Red Miao people in China have been quietly hidden deep in remote villages for many years. People are not known to the outside world and are spread very mysterious in the local area. Behind the slope is a village with more than 40 households and more than 300 people, only 6 kilometers away from Huajia Township, Funing County. The villagers all have the surname Ma and Long, and are all Red Miao. The stockade lies halfway behind the towering "Yunpanshan Mountain". The terrain is unique, the mountain roads are rugged and difficult, the grass is deep, the forests are dense, and the scenery is pleasant. The mountainous areas outside the land behind the slope have long been influenced by the small-scale peasant economy. Their production and living conditions are very difficult. The cultural level of the villagers is not high and they have little contact with foreign culture. This has become the most grand ceremony held by the Red Miao people among the local villagers. The sacrificial activities have always been loved by the villagers, and the Nuo wish has survived.

The origin of the Nuo will of the Red Miao people. The Nuo will of the Red Miao people is the only Yin opera left in China's Nuo opera. "Nuo vow" originated from witchcraft and meant "expelling evil spirits" or "expelling evil spirits." It was a phenomenon of ancient primitive religion in China and an ancient traditional cultural phenomenon. It was a sacrificial activity held by people in ancient times in China to expel evil spirits and welcome auspicious services. "Nuo" is an ancient etiquette that originated from the original sacrificial song and dance. After three thousand years of historical evolution, it was separated from the song and dance to form a unique original Nuo instrument. In the long river of history, this unique style of primitive cultural phenomenon has still maintained its simple cultural and artistic original shape since the pre-Qin Dynasty, making it particularly mysterious.

Judging from the original meaning of Nuo, it means "behavior is regulated"("Shuo Wen Jie Zi "). In the "Book of Songs", there is a saying that "cunning laughter is used to discuss, jade and Nuo". In China's writing, Nuo is a strange word. If you take it apart, there is the word "person" on the left and the word "difficult" for disaster on the right. Taken together, it means that people mean disaster or disease. In ancient times, people regarded disasters and diseases as ghosts and gods and were influenced by a supernatural force. Therefore, they put on a ferocious mask and shouted "Nuo, Nuo" to expel ghosts and epidemics. Over time, they formed Nuo Yi. Dancing and dancing are often required during the Nuo ceremony, forming a primitive art that reflects the social content of the struggle between man and ghosts and gods in the form of song and dance. Among the folk customs that are mainly inherited from oral teaching and behavior, and among the only remaining rituals with unique religious colors of the Red Miao people, as a folk cultural phenomenon, Nuo carries the most primitive driving force of the Red Miao people: rigidity, blood, calm, simple, and very dignified, so it is called the "living fossil" of traditional human culture.

The Nuo wish of the Red Miao people appeared on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and has a long history. With the evolution of history and the development of society, the original Nuo song and Nuo dance have become Nuo vows. It is mainly called Yin Nuo, which mainly focuses on rewarding gods, exorcising ghosts, making wishes, and Naji. At present, the Yin Nuo, which only exists behind the slope of Huajia Township, was formerly called the "Yuan Emperor Treasure Altar" and is awarded the seal of the treasure altar "Taoist Classics Shi Bao". There are 18 altars in total. They were all lost during the Cultural Revolution, but now only three altars are left. Today, Nuo Yuan, whose missionary ancestor is called Ma Fagang. When opening the altar to invite teachers, Mr. Nuo Yuan would have a total of 166 teaching ancestors starting from Ma Fa Gang. Mafalin, a seventy-year-old man who is currently active in the area behind the slope, said that from the early years of the Ming Dynasty, in order to eliminate the remnant forces of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty emperor mobilized a large number of troops from the southeast to conquer Yunnan in the south. Later, he established Guizhou Province, and stationed a large number of troops in Guizhou to consolidate his rule in the southwest. Due to the large number of Tun troops and their families migrating to Guizhou. The ancestors of the Red Miao people marched south from Jiangxi to Yunnan with the army and went to Huohongpan Sha County in Guizhou, which is now Pan County in Guizhou. Later, in the late Yuan Dynasty, the family power of the Red Miao people became stronger and stronger. The Shangao Emperor was far from disobedient to the emperor's control and called himself king. Later, he was sent troops to encircle and suppress him. Today, the Ma and Long surnames fled to Yunnan, hiding in remote rural and mountains in Yunnan. After liberation, people with some culture in the family wrote a book based on the accounts of their ancestors. It is now "Journey Notes", which tells the process of an ancestor of the Red Miao people recruiting the border of Yunnan, which is today's Nuo God. Therefore, later people retained various traditional customs and etiquette in their hometown to balance their psychology and express their deep attachment to their homeland. This is the reason why the Nuo vow activities of the Red Miao people have continued to this day. Through making wishes to their ancestors, they made them return to their hometown and held a primitive sacrificial activity.

The simple and weird mask art mask is the main symbol of the Nuo wishes of the Red Miao people. At present, only 18 masks have been preserved, and their masks could not be restored during the Cultural Revolution. During the migration of the ancestors of the Red Miao people, influenced by the local culture of Hunan and Guizhou and based on the types of characters of different classes in local society, they created relatively secular, regional, national and facial mask art. It has the artistic characteristics of primitive and rough, simple and naive, vigorous style, and strong realism. Masks can be divided into 11 types: male, female, old, young, cultural, martial arts, ghost, god, monk, Taoist, and ugly. Each type of mask has distinctive personalities, lifelike and never repeated. Some have kind eyebrows and big eyes, broad faces and long ears, a smile, and are gentle and coordinated, showing integrity, kindness and gentleness; some have rough lines, clear outlines, strange images, and a domineering momentum; some have regular facial features and beautiful eyebrows, showing a simple and honest personality; some have thin eyebrows and small eyes, which is really annoying, giving people the impression that they have no proper shape; Some have cracked teeth and cracked mouths and ferocious faces, showing the rich imagination of folk artists in absurdity. These all pay special attention to the in-depth characterization of different characters 'personalities in terms of plastic arts, and pay special attention to the in-depth characterization of characters' personalities in terms of modeling, condensing The unique artistic shape and the sense of beauty show the intelligence and wisdom of the mask maker. Among the Nuo wishes of the Red Miao people, these masks, made of willow tree wood that is fine, soft and difficult to crack, with high connotations in the traditional national culture, have been created with the courage and imagination of producers in the world. The masks that integrate beautiful carving, beautiful craftsmanship and beautiful shape. The simple, mysterious, peculiar, unique and funny beauty will make people think about it.

The mask shapes of the Red Miao people have a long-standing relationship with the gods in China mythology, such as the generals of the mountains, the land masters, etc.; there are also folk legends and small people in the city. Therefore, there are a variety of characters in terms of shapes, with exaggerated images. Historical, secular, and true characters in the story. The modeling types can be roughly divided into: ferocious types, such as mountain masters, judges, etc.; Charity types, such as land masters, monks, etc.; Straight types, such as Nuo Lord, Nuo Niang, etc.; Funny categories, such as: Qin Tong (crooked mouth), etc., these types of masks have lifelike shapes and expressions.

From these masks, we can appreciate the magical artistic charm created by the Red Miao people in the Nuo wish. In many national traditional cultures, the characteristics of China's essence, knife techniques, coloring and modeling are demonstrated through the characteristics of each mask. The charm of traditional culture is like beautiful exotic lakes placed in the long history of Oriental civilization.

During the Nuo vow activities of the Red Miao people, the mysterious Nuo Wish Dojo is grand and lively. The process is complicated, but it is all very rigorous. According to the local old gentleman Ma Fallin, on the third day of the first lunar month of every year, soldiers and horses are recruited for the "Yuan Emperor Treasure Altar", also known as the so-called "Qing Altar", to maintain the prosperity of the altar gate. It is also the time to recruit apprentices to teach teachings. It is also the annual opening ceremony. During the opening ceremony, a series of activities such as opening the army, walking the altar, guiding, covering, visiting the five battalions, dismounting, building bridges, building prisons, building mats, setting horse piles, and sealing prisons. During the activities in the five battalions in the court, just like a military parade, we respectfully invite the ancestors to come to the altar to personally seal the seal. The hexagram of Zhongshun in the hexagram was used as the order to receive the seal, and the commander of the five battalions was sealed. Under the guidance of the master of this altar, we reviewed the soldiers and soldiers of the five battalions in Jiuzhou; during the mat building activity, this is also the time to welcome tribute to the gods, and many sacrifices mainly "three lives"(pigs, chickens, ducks) were used to reward the gods. In order to ensure a bumper harvest of grain and peace and good fortune throughout the year; In the activities of building and sealing prisons, many evil ghosts were collected and sealed in the cellar under the altar, so that those evil ghosts would not cause trouble in the world. The atmosphere in the dojo was very rigorous, and the sound of gongs and drums was loud. After that, in May, anyone who had a major or minor disaster that had not been seen in the past had to set up an altar to "make a wish" so that ghosts and gods could have a "thought". They promised that after the winter solstice, the altar would be opened wide for ghosts and gods who would return to their hometown. The ghosts and gods who were going back to their hometown fulfill the promises given by people, that is, the "disaster wishes". Through this series of sacrificial activities, the ghosts and gods who were far away from their hometown can return to their hometown. Generally speaking, the sacrificial activities for making disaster wishes are small and will not involve too big a move.

"Revening the vow" is the highlight of the Nuo vow of the Red Miao people, and it is also the most lively sacrificial activity at the end of the year. In the process of the "vow return" activity, a series of major sacrificial activities such as opening the teacher, walking on the altar, guiding, connecting the cover, building bridges, dismounting, stabilizing benefits, sending out meritorious officials, paying students, making mats, raising ripening, opening light, pioneering, opening mountains, leaving the land, vacating students, entering the bid, opening holes, round holes, sending out old judges, and soliciting vows can be carried out. There can be no repeated ritual dojo for several consecutive days. If there is a house to open an altar to "pay a wish", the first day is to cut paper and make a hole. The so-called hole is Taoyuan Cave. That is, an arched flower tower is made with various colored paper in the center of the host's main house. Some birds are cut and decorated. The saying for "pay a wish is" flying and hanging ", allowing people to enter the main house, as if they have arrived at an immortal's dwelling. There is also a cake, using a 1.2-meter-long pot mouth with fragrant wood as big as a pig trough. Pour the steamed glutinous rice into the trough. At each end of the trough, there are six people using bamboo sticks with thick bowls to pestle the glutinous rice in the trough until it is pestle into cake. The trough is placed in the middle of the courtyard dam and is unstable. The people at both ends seem to be playing the most primitive competitive competition. The sound of "Nuo, Nuo" sounds in their mouths, as if one side is weaker and will be pestle to the edge of the yard, causing everyone to laugh for a whole afternoon. Finally, the pestle cake is lifted high above their heads by 12 bamboos. In the old man's chanting, he placed it on a tray held by the host's house kneeling on his feet to provide food on behalf of the twelve Nuo gods and wish him a smooth weather and a bumper harvest in the coming year. This activity is quite fun; The next day was the opening of the altar and the initiation of vows. From the beginning of the division, walking the altar, guiding, connecting the cover, building bridges, dismounting, peace, sending out meritorious officers, paying students, making mats, serving on ripening, opening light, pioneer, cutting mountains, leaving the land, vacating students, entering the bid to opening the cave, the gongs and drums were non-stop and full of enthusiasm. This was a day when the old man was busy. At night, he would perform monks, Qin Tong, Balun, and mountain cutting generals, which are people's favorite scenes. The ones who pretended to be mountain cutting generals wore ferocious masks. Singing a simple and crude song, I remember a passage in the lyrics that goes like this: I am a bird in the distance. I fly to the main house without any place. I stand on a branch and break, and when I stand on a leaf and fall... There will be girls who will compete with beautiful songs and want to keep the mountain leader. They will ask him to come to the main house to drive the Nuo field, break the world, and make those demons and ghosts afraid of his terrifying face. Sometimes, when the person who plays the mountain leader, he will be confused by the girls, which makes people laugh loudly. Speaking of the mountain leader, it's not so much. He was so anxious that he walked around in the middle of the main room several times; on the third day, it was the round hole to make wishes. On this morning, it was the so-called Nuo Yuan. Like a normal banquet, many relatives and friends would rush to have a drink, and they began to "fight" with the tofu residue left over from making tofu. The man wearing a mask of a landlord and a blue and black robe became the enemy of all arrows. He beat the tofu residue on his mask and body one by one. He turned around and swept it around the crowd with a snake body and a human face in his hand. He continued to sing. After finishing the tofu residue, Under the guidance of the old man, he helped demolish the Hualuyuan Cave that was dug up the day before, and placed land wine in the center of the main room to reward the nine land lords, Tianmen, Mountain God, Liushu, Yanghe, Vegetable Garden, Bazuo, Bridge, Jiefang and Liangshan, for providing food. Nine people who drank a large amount of alcohol were found among the relatives and friends who had helped or drank wine to represent the nine land gods. After Mr. Nuotan's hexagram, he prayed for the nine land gods to protect and decide how much wine he wanted to drink to achieve his wish. The old man said,"There are three cups of yin and four cups of yang, and twelve bowls of the hexagram of Zhongping Pingshun". After coming down one morning like this, it was easy to kill people when they were drunk. People watched the excitement even more enthusiastically to see who could withstand the tortures of land wine. Finally, the god made his wish.

A long time ago, Nuo Yuan was only passed down orally and through behavior. Now, after years of collection and collation by educated apprentices, he has 10 kinds of singing records, such as: It is not difficult to see from the preserved records that most of them are related to folk customs, folk customs, and folk beliefs. Most of them are sacrificial content that rewards gods and blessings. Wearing unique masks and very exquisite costumes, they perform the original sacrificial activities of fighting against ghosts and gods.

Red Miao's linen In the development and changes of the Chinese nation, the Red Miao people were one of the first ethnic groups to learn to make clothes from hunting to wrap their bodies and cover their shame. Later, during migration, they discovered fire linen leather, which can be used for weaving. Weaving, the Red Miao people popularly call it cloth. The weaving machine is very primitive and has a low level of craftsmanship. The cloth woven is hemp black, with the true color of the hemp skin after it dries up, so it is called linen. It has been passed down for thousands of years and has not changed.

Nowadays, the craftsmanship of Hongmiao linen weaving is very complex. With the rapid development of the modern textile industry, it has gradually faded out of the lives of Hongmiao people, freeing Hongmiao women from the hard work of weaving cloth and better participating in the development of the family industry. Come on, break the old habit of men farming and women weaving.

The Red Miao people are a hard-working people. The Red Miao people all have their own habit of weaving cloth. They start the annual hemp production during the slack season. During the market, walking, and after tea, you can see the Red Miao women wearing thick hemp skin on the back of their backs. With their skillful craftsmanship, they constantly rub and connect the hemp skin. The originally rough hemp skin thread is connected thread by thread through skillful hands covered with calluses, and wrapped around the back of the hands. The shape of the handle is like a cow's head, which truly achieves the point of having enough food and clothing.

The hemp making process used in Hongmiao linen is the most complicated, and the production process is cumbersome. The first is to plant hemp, and there are songs: In March, the Miao people planted hemp with fire, and they swayed their skirts and bloomed.

In July, the hemp stalk kang covers the grain, and the hemp skin cuts your fingers.

After the hemp is planted, the next step is to cool the hemp stems, take the hemp skin, rough, divide the hemp, pound the hemp, wash the skin, straighten the hemp, wire, wash the thread, spin the hemp, drive the hemp, boil the hemp (fire ash is the boiling material)), float the hemp, wind hemp (cool and dry in the shade), wire winding (8-line), boiling the thread (second boiling the hemp), putting on the shelf and threading (Thread the hemp thread one by one into the shape of a comb to change the layer thread), weaving cloth (tie the thread to a waist seat), rolling hemp (press the cloth with a stone mill), and three boiling hemp coloring (white fire ash). Only by a series of manufacturing processes can the linen be taken out from the rough hemp skin. Therefore, the old Hongmiao often said that the seedlings are straight and dripping freely, while the Miao girls choose the thin ones from the thick, smiling and charming, and extremely gentle.

The linen weaving of the Hongmiao people is the simplest weaving method among all ethnic textiles. When the hemp thread is made, two wooden branches are set up in the empty room of the side room of the home, the combed hemp thread is wound around a wooden roller as thick as a small bowl, and wrapped tightly with bamboo chips in layers. Tie one end of the hemp thread to the waist and straighten it, place a pair of treads under the comb, squat and step on it repeatedly, and the hemp shuttle goes back and forth to network the linen weft, just weaving bit by bit. I heard that the most powerful women can weave it all day long. It's just a foot of linen. You can imagine. There is a truth in the old saying that men work and women weave. When the cloth wearers are tired, they only need to untie the hemp thread on their waists and roll it on the wooden roller. After tying it, they can leave. This is the way for the Hongmiao people to find a simple and easy way to weave linen during their migration. way. People often say: peach blossoms bloom in March, and the seedlings move.

The dead are wrapped in linen and carried every spring.