Miao customs

According to legend, the Miao people originated from the "Jiuli" tribe that lived in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River more than 5000 years ago, and later migrated to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, forming the Sanmiao Sanmiao tribe. Over the long years, the migration of the Miao people not only spread throughout the mountains, rivers and waters of South China, but also traveled across the ocean and towards foreign countries. Nowadays, Miao people live in Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Europe, America and other countries and regions. In the long history, many great historical figures have appeared in the Miao nationality such as Qu Yuan and Shen Congwen. The Miao people are one of the oldest ethnic groups in our country. Over the long historical development process, the Miao people have evolved in terms of costumes, festivals, marriage, funeral, entertainment, etiquette, taboos, diet, etc., and have gradually formed their own unique customs and habits.

1. Clothing

In the ancient costumes of the Miao people in western Hunan, men and women were very different, and they were all colorful and colorful; they wore a flowered coat on the upper body and a pleated skirt on the lower body. They had long hair, wrapped in ochre flower handkerchiefs, and wore boat-shaped flowered shoes, and various silver ornaments.

During the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, the land was changed and the government ordered that clothing should be divided into men and women, which changed greatly, and many people even changed into Han costumes. For example, in today's Miao people in Yongshun, Longshan and other counties, their costumes are no different from those of the Han people. However, in Huayuan, Baojing, Fenghuang, Jishou, Guzhang, Luxi and other counties, the Miao costumes still have their own characteristics.

Miao men's clothes and decorations are relatively simple; they are wrapped around a cloth robe on their heads, wearing a double-prung dress, long and small sleeves, short and large pants, and wearing a green wrap around their feet. There are two types of head handkerchiefs: green handkerchiefs and flower handkerchiefs. The handkerchiefs are more than ten feet long, and some are as long as thirty feet long. When worn, they are usually in a diagonal cross shape, as big as a bamboo hat. The colors of the clothes include plaid, all blue, etc. Among them, plaid cloth clothes are the most distinctive. There are generally seven buttons. Some young men dress up to seven pieces in order to make people admire their wealth and generosity. The outermost layer of clothing only buttons the bottom pair, and the second layer of clothing buttons the bottom two pairs... And so on until the seven pairs of buttons on the innermost layer are buttoned. In this way, the layers of new clothes can be seen from the outside and have a unique taste.

Contrary to the simple clothes of Miao men, Miao women's clothes are very exquisite and complex.

Head handkerchief: The head handkerchief of Miao women varies from place to place. Miao women in Fenghuang County often wear a short handkerchief, which is more than three feet long, from the forehead to the back of the head, and even the ears are wrapped inside. Miao women in Huayuan and other counties prefer to use black handkerchiefs (white handkerchiefs worn by their parents who passed away). They are folded neatly, wrapped flat and upright, not tilted, and folded at the end to match their forehead and eyebrows. Miao women's heads in Jishou County are quite miscellaneous. The area adjacent to Fenghuang County includes flower heads, and the area adjacent to Huayuan County includes black heads. Miao women in Luxi, Guzhang and eastern Jishou wear white head handkerchiefs. There are four pairs of blue butterflies embroidered on the handkerchief, which are simple, beautiful and unique. The so-called "four corners of the handkerchief are on the head, and moths are embroidered on the four corners" is this kind of white handkerchief.

Jewelry: The jewelry of Miao women is exquisite in shape and has a wide variety. According to the raw materials used, there are gold ornaments, silver ornaments, copper ornaments, aluminum ornaments, jade ornaments, etc., with silver ornaments being the most common. According to the parts you wear: there are silver hats, silver basins, phoenix crowns, Sushan earrings, collars, bracelets, rings, toothpicks, buckles, etc., while bracelets and rings must be worn often. In terms of shape, earrings alone include melon seed hanging earrings, pomegranate earrings, plum needle earrings, circle earrings, dragon head earrings, plum blossom hanging melon seed earrings, rake cake earrings, dragon head melon seed earrings, etc.

Underwear and clothing and others: Miao women's clothes are large and long over the waist, large and short sleeves, and have no collar. The cuffs are about a foot wide. It is customary to have piping, embroidery or yarn on the chest and cuffs, and to add railing petals on it. Some also need to embroider cloud hooks on the edges of the front and rear sides of the fork opening and placement. The style of clothes is always full, without pairs. It takes dozens of work days to make a set of Miao women's pants and clothes with exquisite sewing and embroidery. The pants are shorter and the trousers are larger. The piping, embroidery or counting yarn on the hem of the trouser barrel are the same as the garment. The ceremonial skirt is long and wide, with embroidered patterns on the lower feet and edges, and rolling railings and petals of large and small sizes. It is colorful and dazzling. The shoes are full of embroidery, with a sharp head and a large mouth, and the heels and ears for easy wearing.

After the founding of New China, in some areas where Miao and Han lived together, Miao costumes were greatly influenced by the Han people, and some young people had changed to Han costumes.

2. Celebration

There are many festivals for the Miao people and the activities are large-scale. Take the Miao people in western Hunan as an example, the most representative ones are:

1. Catch the New Year. In the first month of the lunar calendar, the Miao people in western Hunan are most enthusiastic about catching up with the New Year Fair, and the dates are determined by each place. Catch the New Year. On that day, men and women, old and young, dressed in festive costumes, invited each other and went to the venue in droves. On the New Year's Eve, there are waves of people, bustling and extremely lively. Not only can people exchange materials, but they can also participate in or watch activities such as swinging, lion dancing, playing with dragon lanterns, climbing knife ladders, etc. Young men and women also make more use of this opportunity to mate with each other and talk about love. Ge Lang and Ge Niang even showed their skills, chatting together on three or five occasions, singing songs, singing harmony with each other, or congratulating them, telling traditional stories, or improvising new words. The more the singer sings, the more interested he becomes, and the more the listener listens, the more energetic he becomes. Even if it snows heavily and the weather is cold, the annual festival will be held as scheduled.

2. March 3rd. This is a traditional song and dance festival for the Miao people in western Hunan. On this day, the Miao people automatically gathered at the appointed singing venue to participate in singing, listening to songs, dancing, and watching dances to enjoy themselves.

3. Catch the Qingming Festival. This is a large-scale song festival unique to the Miao people in western Hunan, also known as the "Qingming Festival." Legend has it that because most of the Miao people are scattered in remote mountains and mountains, all daily necessities have to be exchanged in the relatively distant Han area, and they are often deceived. Therefore, the Miao people agreed to use Qingming Festival as their own occasion to exchange supplies with each other and meet relatives and friends. This way. Over time, today's "Qingming Festival" was formed.

The Qingming Festival has a traditional central venue. The Miao people in the eastern part of Jishou City rush to the Qingming Festival, and their central venue is held at Danqing's Qingming Festival every year. At that time, the Miao singers put their cheeks on their hands and sang loudly. They sang harmoniously and happily. Some sang until night fell and still refused to break up, singing until all night long.

4. Look at the dragon field. Every year, starting from the day when the grain rains in the third month of the lunar calendar, it is customary to say that the twelve days after watching the head dragon turn to the day. On the day when watching the dragon, men, women and old all take a day off and actively participate. If you do farm work on this day, it is a taboo. Therefore, the Miao people attach great importance to the matter of "watching dragons."

5. April 8th. "April 8" is the name of a small hill in Luochao Jing Township, Fenghuang County. It is said that in ancient times, there was a Miao leader named "Yayi" who led the Miao people to fight against the ruler. He once organized the Miao leaders of various villages to drink chicken blood at the current "Choxue 'ao" place and vowed to unite together and fight to the end. It was also agreed to gather a crowd to revolt on a certain mountain top on April 8. After the uprising, the rebels won successively and fought as far as Sichuan and Guizhou. On April 8 of the following year, Yayibusin died in battle around the spray pool in Guiyang City. In order to commemorate this national hero, the Miao people hold commemorative activities on April 8 every year to remember Yayi's achievements and sweep the tombs of the dead. After the Miao people Uprising in Qianjia Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty, the ruler prohibited the Miao people in western Hunan from holding this event, causing the Miao people to lose an extremely meaningful traditional festival. After liberation, with the approval of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission,"April 8" was designated as a unified Miao festival.

6. June 6th. This is an ancient custom. It is an ancestral worship activity for the Miao people to commemorate their six male and female ancestors and hope that they can also give birth to six men and six women and reproduce themselves. On the sixth day of the sixth lunar month every year, the Miao people in the Luochao Jing area of Fenghuang County hold a grand concert on Gouliang Mountain. Miao people from neighboring Huayuan, Jishou and other counties and Songtao, Tongren and other places in Guizhou also came to participate. Attendance at meetings often amounts to as many as 20,000 or 30,000 people.

7. July 7th. This is the Miao traditional drum, Jishou, Aizhaipo, Guzhang Chuandong area is the most popular. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the Miao people dressed in a new dress, gathered in the drum field, beat the drum festival, dance and indulge in joy.

8. Catch autumn. Catching autumn is one of the large-scale festive festivals for the Miao people in western Hunan. Every year, on the "beginning of autumn" day, the Miao people stop farm work, wear festive costumes, invite friends to accompany them, and flock happily to the autumn field from all directions to participate in or watch various recreational activities. Traditional autumn fields include Aizhaichang in Jishou County, Malichang in Huayuan County, Gouliangshan in Fenghuang County, Tanxi and Liangjiatan in Luxi County, etc. On this day, the crowd was crowded on the autumn field. On the nearby hillside, figures were swaying, flowers were blooming, songs were curling, and laughter were filled, making it very lively.

The origin of rushing for autumn is that some say it is rushing for the "beginning of autumn day", and some say it is "rushing for the swing." Legend has it that long ago, Miao Village had a name named Ba Gui. The young man of Darjeev was upright, valiant and good at shooting, and was admired by all. One day, he goes out hunting, see a mountain eagle passes by from the sky, pull bow with saliva hand, an arrow shot that mountain eagle, dropped a flower shoe at the same time. The embroidery on this shoe was extremely exquisite, and one could tell at a glance that it was made by a clever and beautiful Miao girl. Ba Guida was determined to find the owner of this flower shoe. With the help of the villagers, he designed and manufactured a windmill swing that could sit eight people at the same time, named "Eight Autumn." On the day of the beginning of autumn, he invited men and women from villages far and far to come and enjoy the autumn festival. Playing the swing is a favorite activity for Miao girls. Baguida thought that the girl who makes flower shoes would definitely come. Sure enough, Bagudaya's wish came true. On the autumn field, he found the owner of the flowered shoe-the beautiful girl Qiniang. They established a relationship by singing Miao songs to each other, got married, and lived a very happy life. Since then, people have followed this example and held this kind of event every year to select a good partner to form a "catch-up autumn" event.

9. Cherry will. There are many cherry trees in Miao Mountain. Whenever the cherries are ripe in spring, young men and women of Miao nationality meet to sing folk songs in the cherry forest and conduct social activities. This kind of activity is called "Liubiwa" in Miao language, which literally means "picking cherries" in Chinese. Some Miao villages in Huayuan County and Baojing County are the most popular.

10. Fragrance dancing party. Fragrant dancing parties are popular in Jishou, Guzhang, Luxi and Yuanling areas. When held, dancing is the main theme and other recreational activities are also included.

3. Miao culture

The Miao people are an ancient and colorful nation, calling themselves "Mu","Meng","Damu" and "Daji". He said that there were several situations: first, they were called "red seedlings","flower seedlings","white seedlings","black seedlings", etc. based on the color of their clothing; second, they were called "highland seedlings","Bazhai seedlings","planted ginger seedlings", etc. based on the places where they lived or planted; third, they were insulted by the rulers of the old era, such as "raw seedlings,""ripe seedlings,""linen seedlings," etc. After the founding of New China, they were collectively referred to as the "Miao". The Miao people in Guangxi account for 5.5% of the country's Miao population and 1% of Guangxi's population. They rank fourth among the population of all ethnic groups in Guangxi after the Han, Zhuang and Yao people. The main distribution of the Miao people in the country is in Guizhou and Hunan. The Miao people in Guangxi mainly live in the mountainous areas of northern, northwest and western Guangxi bordering Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan. The biggest characteristic of the Miao people is that they are rich in various woods and local specialties, and maintain a splendid and simple national traditional culture.

The Miao people have rich folk literature. Since there has been no written language for thousands of years, this kind of literature can only be created, performed and passed down orally. Therefore, oral literature has become the most common form of Miao literature, and its number is vast. Among the many oral literature, there are poems, stories, fables, riddles, jokes, jingles and other forms.

Miao poetry emphasizes rhyme, and has five-character style, seven-character style, and long and short sentences. The language is concise, harmonious, well-proportioned, and easy to understand. It can express rich thoughts and feelings. It has strong artistic appeal. It is the most important manifestation of Miao folk literature and has a wide range of use. For example, when close relatives and close friends come and send them away, men and women talk about love, even matchmaking, mediate disputes, formulate rural rules and regulations, educate children, narrate family trees and family rules, and sometimes express them in poetry. Poetry is also used to add fun while working, and poetry is used to eliminate fatigue after working.

Song of Creation: It is a very ancient mythological story song, mainly describing the origin of the heaven, earth, the moon, and the birth of all things. Such songs include "Song of the Founding of the World","Song of the Origin of All Things", etc.

Ancestor Song: mainly describes the emergence of mankind, the origin and migration of nations, such as "Song of the Origin of Humanity","The Flood", etc. The themes of these songs are proactive and enterprising, reflect the real history in a tortuous way to a considerable extent, and have historical research value.

Marriage song: It reflects the evolution of the Miao people from intra-clan marriage to extra-clan marriage, and from matriarchal system to patrilineal system. It is a rare material for studying the history of marriage. Among them, the more famous ones include "Brother and Sister Marry", which is widely circulated in various places,"Song of Opening a Marriage","Marriage of a Man", and "Song of Changing Marriage" in southeastern Guizhou, and "Receiving a Son-in-Law" and "Song of Sending a Bridal Song" in Zunyi area in northern Guizhou.

Migration songs: They are found in large quantities among the Miao people. Miao people in various places have their own migration history, so they all have their own migration songs. Among them, famous ones include "Crossing Mountains and Waters" in southeastern Guizhou,"Xiuxiang Xiu Ma" in Songtao and Tongren City,"Yanglu Hua" in northwest Guizhou, and "Grogsang" in Guiyang. The migration songs of Songtao and Southeast Guizhou reflect the grand scene and describe the fierce struggle between man and man and nature. It is a heroic epic and is very valuable for the study of Miao history.

Li Ge and Yi Lang Ci: reflect the ancient social organization of the Miao people, mainly describing various social ethics and behavioral norms, and urging people to eliminate evil and follow good.

Production labor songs: There are them everywhere. Among them, the songs in southeastern Guizhou are the most complete, such as "Embroidery Song","Cotton Planting Song","Spinning and Weaving Song","Batik Song","Wine Making Song","Shipbuilding Song", etc. The themes are positive, and most of them are works that encourage people to work hard and create a better life.

Bitter Song: A poem describing class * and nation *. Some accused the Tusi, some accused the landlords and bullies, and many accused the government.

Uprising Struggle Song: Also known as anti-song, it is mostly an accusation of the old rebellion and a tribute to the people's resistance struggle. For example, Song of Zhang Xiumei in southeastern Guizhou, Liu Tiancheng in southern Guizhou, and Tao Xinchun in northwest Guizhou are all very representative. These songs are passionate and full of fighting spirit.

Love song: It is a song sung by young men and women when they talk about love. The words are subtle, beautiful and full of lyrical. There are confession styles, question and answer styles, etc., most of which are about asking for love.

Due to the lack of writing, Miao written literature was mostly created in Chinese in history, and the number was negligible. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, more were found only in Hunan and eastern Sichuan. In recent years, Guizhou has also successively discovered some Miao literati poems. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Yingqian, Zhang Yingsong, Zhang Yide, and Zhang Mande were tribute students in Xiaolimei River in Daozhen County. All four of them had literary fame and jointly wrote "Yin Yu Shanfang Poetry Manuscripts." Poems by Long Shaona, a Miao literator in the Qing Dynasty, were also discovered in Liangjiang Township, Jinping County. Among them, the four-volume "Liangchuan Collection" published in 1878 collected the author's main poems and essays. Most of the content describes the local customs and customs of the Dong Village in Miao Township, with a strong local flavor. During the Republic of China, Liang Juwu, a well-known Miao scholar in Leishan County, also wrote some poems. His political papers are full of feelings of ethnic minorities, revealing the political powerlessness and economic difficulties of ethnic minorities.After the founding of the People's Republic of China, with the concern and cultivation of the party and the government, the Miao people began to have their own written literary creation team, and a group of Miao writers emerged. Many of their works won awards in China, and some were translated and introduced abroad and received praise. In the research, collection, collation, translation, and publication of folk literature, there are also a group of own talents and have made many achievements.

music

Miao music includes folk tunes, Lusheng tunes, suona tunes and Xiaoqin tunes, among which the most common are folk tunes and Lusheng tunes.

History Song: It is mostly sung by middle-aged and elderly people, with a recitation form, often singing a paragraph and explaining a paragraph. The lyrics are also very long, ranging from dozens of lines to hundreds of lines, and more than thousands of lines. Such as "Song of the Founding of the World","Song of the Migration of Ancestors","Song of the Roots of Marriage","Song of Reason" and so on. The historical songs in southeastern Guizhou are the most complete and most representative. Their tunes are simple, with clear beats and vigorous.

Love songs: It is a type of folk song sung by young men and women. There are many tunes, soft and beautiful, and lyrical in tune. They are usually sung in low voices. In some places, such as Liuzhi and Qinglong, Miao love songs are also characterized by high and heroic words.

Feige: It is named after its high singing voice and loud tone. Generally, young men and women sing duet when communicating. There are also some who improvise solo in their spare time to express their happiness, and there are also multiple people singing in chorus. Although listeners are hundreds of meters apart, they can hear the lyrics clearly. This type of song is most famous in southeastern Guizhou.

Funeral song: It is a lament for the normal death of the elderly. The tune is sad and the meaning of the words is sad. When the singer sings in grief, he often tears, and the listener often tears like a spring. There are Miao people in southeastern Guizhou, central and southern Guizhou, northwest Guizhou, and northern Guizhou. The mourning tune of the Miao people in Liupanshui is even more famous.

Most of the Miao music tunes follow traditional singing methods. The main achievement of famous singers lies not in the updating of the tunes, but in the creation, modification and improvement of the lyrics, so there are few changes in the tunes. There are famous singers everywhere. The late Tang Dehai, a Miao singer in Leishan County, southeastern Guizhou, is one of the best. He skillfully mastered the traditional Miao songs and folk songs, and was able to sing several folk tunes. He has written thousands of lyrics, of which there are more than 1300 new songs in Miao and Han contrast alone.

musical instrument

Lusheng: It is the most representative traditional musical instrument of the Miao nationality. It was very popular among all the Miao people in ancient times. In modern times, except for the Miao people in the border areas of the four provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou, which have been completely lost, the Miao people are still widely used in other places. Lusheng tunes are also the most representative tunes in Miao music, and often vary from place to place. Traditional tunes include dance songs, substitute songs, inquiry songs, sacrifice songs, etc., and each has several tunes. The rhythm of the dance music is relatively light, giving people a clear sense of cadence. The song is soft and melodious in tune with an ending. The tune of the Inquisition is slow and the rhythm is clear.

In addition to Lusheng, there are also suona, mangtong, qin, xiao, flute, gong, and drum. Suona is widely used in various places and is equipped with tuba and leather drums. In Songtao, Tongren and Sinan areas, the suona is widely used. It is a representative musical instrument of the Miao people in this area. It is often played during festivals and festivals. There are more than 30 qupai. In other areas, it is mainly used when playing funeral songs during funerals. Mangtong is popular in Leishan, Danzhai and other counties. Its structure is that a copper spring is attached to a single tube and threaded into a bamboo tube. The big one is made of hollowed out of a tree trunk, about six feet long and about six to seven inches in diameter, and the small one is made of bamboo tubes two to three feet long and about three to four inches in diameter. When played, it plays a low sound effect. Xiao, flute and system are made of single bamboo and generally only have five tones. Tonggu, except for Songtao, Tongren, Sinan and other places that are no longer used, are still used in other areas, most of which are in Leishan, Taijiang, Majiang, Pingtang and other counties. Qin is not common among the Miao people. Only Weining and Taijiang have Yue Qin, and Danzhai area has Gupiao Qin. There is also a bamboo harmonica in western Guizhou, which is about three inches long. Gongs and drums are common in various places, of varying sizes, and are mostly used during festivals.

dance

Lusheng Dance: It is the most representative traditional Miao dance in the province except Tongren City. It has a long history and was performed in the court during the Northern Song Dynasty. There are mainly two large formations: two rows of in-line and round. Dozens of young men blew the sheng in front of them, and dozens to more than a hundred young women followed behind them, taking three steps forward and one step back, and marching around the venue in an orderly manner.