Edit this paragraph [Ethnic Profile]
Miao nationality, in the 2000 census, the total population of Miao people was: 894,0116 people, mainly distributed in Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hainan, Guangxi and other provinces (regions). The Miaoling Mountains and Wuling Mountains, where the Miao people live, have a mild climate, surrounded by mountains and rivers, and dotted with large and small fields and dams. It produces rice, corn, millet, wheat, cotton, flue-cured tobacco, rapeseed, tung oil, etc. In addition, it is also rich in timber resources and mineral resources. 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). 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 of music and dance, and the popular Lusheng dance is highly skilled. The Miao people's arts and crafts such as cross-stitching, embroidery, brocade, batik, and jewelry making are magnificent and colorful and enjoy a high reputation in the world. The Miao people have many festivals, and the more solemn ones include the "Miao Year", "April Eighth", and the "Dragon Boat" Festival.
The Miao people once called themselves "Mu", "Mongolian", "Mo" and "Mao". In some areas, they called themselves "Ga Nao", "Guoxiong", "Daisou", "Daji", etc. . He called them "long skirt seedlings", "short skirt seedlings", "red seedlings", "white seedlings", "green seedlings", "flower seedlings", etc. After the founding of New China, they were collectively known as the Miao ethnic group.
The Miao people have a long history. In ancient Chinese classics, there are records about the ancestors of the Miao people more than 5,000 years ago. This is from the Yellow River Basin to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, known as the "Southern Barbarians" Clans and tribes. 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.
Edit this paragraph [Religious Customs]
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 main beliefs of the Miao people include nature worship, totem worship, ancestor worship and other primitive religious forms. In traditional Miao society, ghosts and gods are superstitious and witchcraft is prevalent. There are also some Miao people who believe in Christianity and Catholicism. Very few Miao people believe in Buddhism and Taoism.
Traditionally speaking, the Miao people often regard some giant or strange-shaped natural objects as a manifestation of spirituality, so they worship them and make offerings of wine and meat. Among them, the more typical nature worship objects include huge rocks (strange rocks), caves, big trees, mountains and forests, etc. In addition, the Miao people believe that some natural phenomena or natural objects have divine or ghost properties. The Miao language often does not distinguish between ghosts and gods, or the two words are used together.
In most cases, ghosts are considered to be abandoned or wronged souls and tools. They often bring disasters, illnesses, plagues or other misfortunes to humans, such as the so-called Eastern ghosts, Western ghosts, sow ghosts and hanged ghosts. , tiger ghosts, etc. are called evil ghosts. Spiritual natural phenomena are often considered to be good ghosts with certain divinities, such as mountain gods, valley souls, cotton gods, wind gods, thunder gods, rain gods, sun gods, moon gods, etc. The Miao people also have different ways of offering sacrifices to good ghosts and evil ghosts. Good ghosts are greeted and sent away, and sacrifices are more sincere. Evil ghosts must be bribed and coaxed until they are driven away.
In many areas, the Miao people also believe that there are many spirits in nature. For example, cows cover themselves with dung or roll around in the stable, trample dung into circles, pigs eat piglets or lie in the trough, ducks eat duck eggs, tigers enter the field, encounter two snakes mating, and hens give out rooster sounds. The tweets and other sounds are all related to the appearance of corresponding spirits.
In some Miao areas, man-made objects worshiped include the Earth Bodhisattva, Earth Milk, family gods, sacrificial bridges, wells, etc. The Earth Bodhisattva is called Earth Ghost in the Miao language. It is generally made of several stones. The Earth House is mostly made of wood or three stone slabs. It is extremely simple and is located at the intersection next to the village or at a resting place for pedestrians on the roadside. Belief in family gods exists among some Miao people with Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan dialects, that is, setting up idols of "house gods" in their homes. Bridge sacrifice is popular in most areas of southeastern Guizhou. The dragon is also the object of worship and sacrifice by the Miao people in various places.
Totem worship. Many Miao and Yao people in the eastern region worship Panhu (a kind of divine dog). They have told the story of "God Mother and Dog Father" for generations, and regard Panhu as their ancestor. Some Miao people in the central region believe that their ancestor Jiang Yang originated from the heart of the maple tree, and therefore regard the maple tree as a totem. In other areas, the Miao people regard buffalo, bamboo, etc. as their totem worship objects.
Generally, ancestor worship occupies a very important position in Miao society. They believe that although their ancestors have died, their souls will always be with their descendants. They must offer wine and meat to their ancestors during festivals and festivals, and even their daily meals must be worshiped at all times. Many areas hold ancestor worship ceremonies regularly or irregularly. In western Hunan there are "knocking stick pigs" and "spine cattle worshiping ancestors", in southeastern Guizhou there is "eating viscera", in central Guizhou it is called "knocking Balang", in northwest Guizhou , Northeast Yunnan has the custom of beating old cows. Among them, eating Guzang in southeastern Guizhou is still popular and is the most typical. The Guzang Eating Festival is also known as the Drum Festival, Drum Society Festival, and Guzang (Guzang) Festival. It is held every seven or thirteen years based on the clan (drum society). They believe that the souls of their ancestors reside in wooden drums, and the sacrificial drum is to beat the wooden drum to summon the souls of their ancestors to enjoy the offerings of their children and grandchildren. The officiant is called Guzangtou, and the sacrificed Guzang cattle are specially raised for this purpose. Each sacrificial event lasts for three years.
Most Miao people believe in witchcraft. The main witchcraft activities include shamanism, divination, divine judgment, ghost sacrifice, etc. In addition, there are also Gu magic. Witchcraft events are hosted by wizards. Wizards are mostly non-professionals. They play the role of host in the various primitive worship and witchcraft activities mentioned above. In some places, shamans also serve as village elders. In addition to being familiar with sacrificial methods, most wizards can also tell about the genealogy of their sect, major historical events of their own nation, and migration routes. They are also familiar with various myths and legends, ancient songs, and folk stories. Some wizards are also singers. and the functions of a dancer. Therefore, wizards are important inheritors of Miao traditional culture and play the role of intellectuals in Miao society. In addition, wizards also have certain medical skills and know some herbal medicines. While exorcising ghosts, they use scientific medical methods.
In addition to these traditional beliefs, since modern times, as Western missionaries have penetrated into the mainland of my country to preach, some Miao people have converted in areas such as the junction of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan, Kaili in Guizhou, and Yuanling in Hunan. Christianity, a small number of Miao people in southeastern Yunnan believe in Catholicism. Especially in northeastern Yunnan and northwest Guizhou, the Christian faith once had strong momentum and great influence. Foreign missions or missionaries have opened many primary and secondary schools, medical institutions, and even implemented some economic development projects in the Miao areas, which have played an indelible role in the progress of the Miao society and the improvement of their political status. Famous pastors include Dang Juren, Bogeli, Zhang Daohui, Wang Shude, etc. from Anshun, the first two of whom died while serving in the Miao District.
After the founding of New China, the influence of Christianity and Catholicism declined for a time, but in recent years there has been a trend of recovery. However, the current "Three-Self" practices of Christianity and Catholicism are many different from the Christian faith before 1950 in terms of social organization, social influence and even belief content.
Among the Miao people abroad, a small number of Miao people in Vietnam and Laos believe in Catholicism. The Miao people in Western countries such as the United States and France also believe in Christianity and Catholicism. The Miao people in Laos and Thailand are also influenced by Buddhist culture. Despite this, in their society, traditional ancestor worship, soul concepts, etc. are still retained to a large extent.
Edit this paragraph [Ethnic Calendar]
The Miao people are one of the oldest ethnic groups in China and one of the earliest ethnic groups to settle in China.
In ancient times, the Miao culture and technology were very developed, as can be seen from the recently unearthed ancient Miao history. The Miao ancient calendar has enriched the Chinese and world calendar systems.
According to research by Professor Chen Jiujin, a famous Chinese astronomy expert: the Miao people have an ancient calendar system. So far, no one has been able to calculate and compile the Miao ancient calendar, and I would like to try.
According to the author's research: the ancient calendar system of the Miao people in China is a lunisolar calendar, with the solar calendar being the main one.
The ancient calendar of the Miao people uses twelve zodiac animals to record the hour, day, month and year. One year is 365.25 days, an ordinary year is 365 days, and a leap year is 366 days.
Each year is divided into moving month, partial month, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September and October, among which 1, The five months of March, May, July and September have the long day of the month, with the 31st day of each month; the seven months of the moving month, partial month, February, April, June, August and October have the short day of the month with the 30th day of each month. .
The "Winter Solstice" is the first of the year, the first of the year, the first of the festival, and the first of the Qi, which belongs to the "Zi Zheng Ren Tong" of the Chinese calendar.
One year is divided into two festivals: "Winter Solstice" (Yang Dan) and "Summer Solstice" (Yin Dan). The day before the "Winter Solstice" is the Miao New Year.
One year old is divided into three seasons: cold season, warm season, and hot season. It is divided into the first half of the year and the second half of the year. The cold season, warm season, and hot season each occupy two months in each half of the year. The cold season, warm season and hot season each occupy 4 months.
The first half of the year goes from "cold to hot", the second half of the year goes from "hot to cold", and the cycle repeats year after year. There is a leap at the age of 4, and the added value is 1 day. The leap is in the moving month, that is, at the beginning of the year, and the leap month is on the 31st.
The last day of October in the Miao calendar is New Year's Eve (the day before the "Winter Solstice").
The first sub-day, Chou day, and Yin day of the moving moon are respectively the Heaven Sui Festival, the Earth Sui Festival, and the Human Sui Festival. Therefore, there is a Miao custom of "not going out on the first day of the year".
In addition to using the twelve zodiac animals to record time, day, month and year, the Miao calendar also uses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and natural numbers to assist in recording time. , day, month, year, birthday wishes for the elderly: "Wish you 120 years old."
The origin of the twelve zodiac signs is related to the twelve clans in ancient China. The twelve zodiac signs are used to record hours, days, months and years. A year is divided into 12 months and a day is divided into 12 hours. Years, months, days and hours are fixed and unchanged. Days are recorded according to the twelve zodiac signs and used cyclically. In the system of construction, "Jian" is used as the first day of the day, and it is used in fixed cycles.
Twenty-seven constellations are related to the nine hexagrams of the Miao people.
The Miao ancestors also used the corresponding directions of the houses they lived in and the twelve zodiac animals to help record the time, day, month, and years, and divided the day into four periods: night, morning, day, and dusk. The compatibility of the two zodiac signs is recorded as "the entrance, the main room, the left room, the back of the house, the right room, and the roof". Observe the sunrise and sunset. In the lunar calendar, one month lasts from a full moon to the next full moon, and each month is divided into 27 nights. The lunar calendar has 358 days in ordinary years and 387 days in leap years. The moving moon and partial moon are the short days of the month; the months from January to October are the long days of the month. The long day of the month is 30, the short day is 29, and the leap month is 29. In the ancient Miao calendar, regardless of the solar or lunar calendar, leaps are set at Sui Rat, Sui Chen, and Sui Shen. There is a leap every 4 years, and the leap moves the month. The ancient calendar of the Miao people embodies the Miao people's generative philosophy of "one divided into three, trinity" and the three-dimensional thinking of "nine hexagrams" (i.e. front and back, left and right, up and down, inside and outside, middle or east, south, west, north, middle and southeast). , southwest, northwest, northeast).
The Miao ancestors worshiped the "sun, moon and stars" and regarded the three lights as the most pure.
The Miao ancestors believed that the primary substances that make up all things in the universe are thunder, dragon, and Kui (freely translated as water, fire, and air), which are recorded as "three specialties"; the "five elements" are light, Air, water, earth, stone. Dayao (also known as Mr. Guigu) surrendered to the Yellow Emperor (who claimed to be the emperor). After Dayao's sister Leizu (Leizu) married the Yellow Emperor, Dayao changed the Nine Trigrams into the Eight Diagrams (called Fuxi System in Han Dynasty) to please the Yellow Emperor. Bagua, wrong), change one into three (yang, yin, neither yang nor yin) into one into two (yang, yin), change three-dimensional thinking into two-dimensional thinking. Combining the ten branches with the twelve zodiac animals creates the Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and Sixty Years (this is recorded in the Han Dynasty). Change 27 places to 28 places. Change the five elements according to the plane orientation and the products they produce into gold, water, wood, fire, and earth (west, north, east, south, middle), and create them in conjunction with the phases of gold, water, wood, fire, Saturn, the sun, and the moon. Qiyao calendar. "Qiyao Calendar" is the earliest existing almanac in my country.
The Chinese Miao ancient calendar and the ancient Egyptian calendar are both solar calendars, but they are more than 3,800 years earlier than the 6,200-year-old Egyptian calendar. Each year has 365 days, and there is a leap every four years; the difference is that the ancient Egyptian calendar The added value of a leap year is 6 days, and the added value of a leap year in the ancient Miao calendar is 1 day. The Miao ancient calendar is consistent with the length of the solar return year of 365.25 days, and the Tengu cycle is 1460 years old, which is highly accurate.
The ancient calendar of the Miao people in China played a huge guiding role in the ancient Miao people's agricultural production (mainly rice production), and was also used by the people to choose good luck. (For details, see Shi Qigui's "Field Investigation Report on the Miao Nationality in Western Hunan").
The time limit for the use of the ancient calendar of the Miao people in China can be traced back to at least 10,000 years, and the lower limit is the 33rd year of Guangxu (i.e. 1907 AD). According to the "Yongsui Zhili Chronicles": "It was passed down from father to son, using rats, oxen, tigers and horses to record the years and months, secretly combined with the almanac." (written by Yang Ruizhen in the Qing Dynasty, engraved in the seventh year of Tongzhi) written by Dong Hongxun in the Qing Dynasty, in the 33rd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu The printed version of "Gu Zhangping Hall Chronicles" also has the same record. According to the original memorials and "confessions" of arrested Miao leaders in the "Miao Bandits in the Sixty Years of Qianlong" collected in the Beijing Museum, as well as the history books or local chronicles compiled by those who participated in the suppression of the uprising: it was agreed upon that Fenghuang, Qianzhou, and Yongzhou The date of the Suiting and Songtao Siting uprising was the sixth day of February in the 60th year of Qianlong's reign (lunar calendar). According to Wu Tianban's explanation in the "Proposal", this day is the first day of the first lunar month of the Miao year (the Miao lunar year), so the day of the uprising is set as this day, which means removing the old and returning it to the new. Later, due to the leak of secrets, the uprising was carried out on the 18th day of the first lunar month (lunar calendar) in advance. This is a major historical event recorded in history books and related to the ancient history of the Miao people.
The ancient calendar of the Miao people in China and the "Future Calendar Plan" announced by the United Nations (see details in the 1988 second issue of "Information Card" "Future Calendar", sponsored by Xinhua News Agency Inner Mongolia Branch) have similar approaches but similar results. . The ancient Miao calendar has a single number of days per month compared to the current Gregorian and lunar calendars, and the leap method is simple and easy to master and use.
The ancient calendar system of the Miao people in China shows that the twelve zodiac signs, the seven-day calendar and the twenty-seven and twenty-eight constellations were all produced in China and were later introduced to Babylon, India and other countries. It can be seen that the ancient calendar of the Miao people in China is the mother of the Chinese calendar and the mother of the world calendar.
The corresponding months and solar terms of the Miao calendar are shown in the following table:
The December month of the Miao calendar and the 24 solar term months
November, the zodiac solar term season
The winter solstice of Rat, December of the small cold season
Big Cold of Niu Chou, January of the cold season of Beginning of Spring
Rain in Huyin, February of the warm season of Jingzhe
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The spring equinox of Rabbit Mao, the warm season of Qingming in March
Longchen Guyu, the hot season of Beginning of Summer in April
The Snake Si Xiaoman, the hot season of Ear Grain in May
The summer solstice at Mawu, June during the mild heat season
July before the severe summer heat for sheep, July during the Beginning of Autumn heat season
August during the hot season for monkeys and white dew
The Autumn Equinox, the warm season of cold dew in September
The frost falls in Dogshu, and the cold season of Beginning of Winter in October
Edit this paragraph [Ethnic Festival]
The Miao people are a A nation rich in ancient civilization and emphasizing etiquette, its festivals are unique and distinctive every year.
The traditional festivals of the Miao people are divided into functional meanings: ⒈ festivals for agricultural activities; ⒉ festivals for material exchanges; ⒊ festivals for men and women to socialize, fall in love, and choose spouses; ⒋ sacrificial festivals; ⒌ commemorative and celebratory festivals. In chronological order, one year is divided into twelve months, and each month has more than one festival. The 1st to 15th day of the moving month (rat or child month) (the first child day to the second Yin day) is the Wan Nian Festival, of which the first child day is the Tiansui Festival, and the Miao people do not go out (far away); the first child day is the Tiansui Festival. The first Chou Day is the Di Sui Festival. During the period from the 1st Chou Day to the 2nd Chou Day (2-14), people visit relatives and friends one after another, congratulate each other on the New Year, sing duets between men and women, play with dragon lanterns, lions, etc.; The 2nd Yin day (the 15th) is the tail year (burning dragon lanterns). The first ugly day of the partial month (Ox month or Chou month) is the She Day, also known as the Dragon Head Festival. The Miao people offer sacrifices to the earth god, Jielong and Anlong (Miao language Ranrong). The first Yin day of January (Tiger month or Yin month) is a festival for material exchange and socializing between men and women (called March 3 Street Festival in Chinese). The first day of February (the Rabbit month or the Mao month) is the Ox King Festival (called April 8 in Chinese), the Cherry Blossom Party for men and women, and the Buddha's birthday. The first Chen day and the second Yin day of March (Dragon Moon or Chen Yue) are the Small Dragon Boat Festival and the Big Dragon Boat Festival respectively. The Small Dragon Boat Festival later commemorated the great patriotic poet Qu Yuan (surnamed Mi) of the Miao nationality, also known as Qu Yuan Festival and Singer Festival. The first Si day of April (Snake month or Si month) is the Dragon Subduing Festival (known as June 6th and June Festival in Chinese) and the New Eating Festival (barley ripening). The first sub-day of May (horse month or noon month) is Xiaonian Festival (summer solstice, Yindan day? Tomorrow is Qiqiao Festival (called the Seven Sisters in Miao language, namely the Big Dipper). June (sheep month) The second Yin day of July (Monkey month or Shen month) is the Duck Festival, the second Chen day is the Autumn Festival, and the first Shen day of July (Monkey month or Shen month) is the Wine Festival (glutinous rice is harvested to brew sweet wine, rice wine). August (the Rooster month or the You month) is the festival of sacrifices (mainly activities such as bone-backing, eating pigs, dancing incense, returning Nuo wishes, and Anlong). September (the Dog month or the Xu month). During the Hunting Festival, we choose a day to worship the Three Gods of Meishan, and start hunting on Mao and noon days in October (the Pig Month or Hai Month), the Pig Soup Festival (killing the New Year pig), the Kitchen God Festival (sacrifice to the Kitchen God), and New Year’s Eve (New Year’s Eve). night, which is called the Miao New Year in October).
Edit this section [Eating Habits]
In most areas, rice is the staple food for the Miao people. The most common fried food is fried cake. If you add some fresh meat and pickled cabbage as filling, the meat will be more delicious. The meat comes from livestock and poultry. The Miao people in Sichuan, Yunnan and other places like to eat dog meat. It is said that "wine of the Yi people". In addition to animal oil, the cooking oil of the Miao family is mostly camellia oil and vegetable oil. Chili is the main condiment. In some areas, there is even a saying that "no dish can be made without spicy food". There are many kinds of Miao dishes, Common vegetables include beans, melons, green vegetables, and radishes, and most Miao people are good at making soy products. Miao people in various places generally like to eat sour dishes, and sour soup is a must-have for every household. After 3-5 days of fermentation, it can be used to cook meat, fish, and vegetables. The Miao people generally use the pickling method to preserve their food. Most of the Miao people like to pickle vegetables, chickens, ducks, fish, and meat to make them sour. Every household has jars for pickling food, collectively called sour jars. The Miao people have a long history of making wine, and they have a complete set of techniques for making koji, fermentation, distillation, and cellaring. Scented tea. Sour soup is also a common drink. Typical foods include: Xueguan soup, Miaoxiang Guifeng soup, Miancai cake, insect tea, Wanhua tea, pounded fish, sour fish, etc.
Edit this section [Wedding and Funeral Customs]
Glutinous rice is also an indispensable food for young men and women in the process of marriage and love. The Miao people in Chengbu, Hunan, give each other glutinous rice cakes with pictures of mandarin ducks as tokens. ; When holding a wedding, the bride and groom have to drink a cup of wine, and the officiant also invites the groom and bride to eat glutinous rice cakes with patterns of dragons, phoenixes and dolls.
[Clothing Features]
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If the Miao girls in costumes gather together, it will definitely become a beautiful silver world. It is the nature of Miao girls to wear silver jewelry. They put their hair in a bun on the top of their head and wear it, which is about 20 centimeters high. They make exquisite silver corollas with 6 uneven silver wings inserted in the front of the corolla. Most of them are decorated with silver ornaments. 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 tied 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 girls' skirts are called pleated skirts, but in fact there are more than 500 pleats on a skirt, and there are many layers, some as many as thirty or forty layers. These skirts, from weaving to bleaching, dyeing and sewing, to the final drawing and embroidery, are all done by the girls themselves. Together with the hand-embroidered flower belts and flower breast pockets, they are really colorful and beautiful.
More than half of the Miao people live in Guizhou, and the rest are distributed in Hunan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan and other places. The main food of the Miao people is rice, supplemented by cereals, millet, sorghum, wheat, potatoes and other miscellaneous grains. Miao people like to eat glutinous rice the most. Non-staple foods mainly include melons, beans, vegetables, and peppers, onions, garlic, etc. as condiments. Meats include pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks and fish.
The Miao people’s tastes are mainly sour and spicy, and they especially like to eat chili peppers. Daily dishes are mainly hot and sour soups. Sauerkraut is delicious, easy to prepare, and can be eaten raw or cooked. They usually eat fresh vegetables or melons and beans, and the Miao family also mixes in some sauerkraut or sour soup. Increases appetite. In addition, the Miao family's boiled fish in sour soup is a famous dish. The method is to boil the sour soup with water and salt, remove the gall from fresh fish, and cook it in the sour soup. The meat of this dish is tender and the soup is fresh, fragrant and delicious. You can do it all year round.
The Miao family can process and preserve smoked bacon, cured meat, pickled fish, dried fish, sausages, etc. Among them, pickled fish is a traditional delicacy of the Miao people. The method is to cut open the fresh fish, remove the internal organs, apply salt and chili powder, bake it over fire until it is semi-dry, and then seal it in the altar. Take out and steam when eating. This fish has the characteristics of crispy bones, moderate salty and spicy taste, fragrant and delicious.
The Miao people also like to make tofu, tempeh, and process pig enema, blood tofu, etc. Love hotpot. Both men and women of the Miao family like wine, and most families can make their own wine. They make their own indica wine and use local glutinous rice, corn, sorghum, etc. to brew fragrant sweet wine, soaked wine, shochu, cellar wine, etc.
The origin of the Miao ethnic name
Miao ethnic group It is said to be ancient and was first seen in oracle bone inscriptions. Before the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were names such as "Sanmiao", "Nanman", "Jingman" and "Wulingman". These titles confuse Miao with other ethnic titles. After the Song Dynasty, Miao was separated from several mixed names of "man" and became a single ethnic name.
The Miao people in the Xiangxi region call themselves "绡xiong" (fruit bear), while in other areas they call themselves "Mao", "Meng" or "Meng". "Meng" or "Meng" means "tree heart" in the Miao language of southeastern Guizhou. Legend has it that "Meibangmeiliu" (butterfly mother) was born in the heart of the maple tree, and "Meibangmeiliu" gave birth to "Jiang Yang", the distant ancestor of the Miao people. Use "Meng" or "Meng" as the clan name. Some areas are called "Ga Nao", which means Wu, and may be the remains of the ancient Wushi clan totem.
Historically, different names were given in front of the word "Miao" according to their clothing, place of residence, etc. After 1949, they were collectively called the Miao ethnic group. ?
As for the origin of the Miao people, they are related to the clans or tribes called "Southern Barbarians" in historical records that lived in the Yellow River Basin to the Yangtze River Basin and south of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River more than 4,000 years ago. . Some people believe that Chi You from the ancient historical legend era is the ancestor revered by the Miao people today and is related to the Miao people. Some people believe that the ancient Sanmiao people were related to the Miao people. Some people believe that today's "Miao" can be traced back to the ancient "髳" people. In addition, there are Huandou theory, Yelang theory, Bajun Nanjun Man theory, Panhu Man theory, Wuling Man theory, etc.
In recent years, some people have proposed that Chi You in the Legend Era, Sanmiao in the Tang and Yuxia dynasties, Piao in the Yin and Zhou dynasties, Jing Man in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and Qianzhong Barbarians or Wuling Barbarians in the Qin and Han dynasties all include Including the Miao ancestors, they are different names of the Miao ancestors at different times in history.
In short, according to historical records and legends, the ancestors of the Miao people already lived in the Qingjiang River Basin in Hubei and Dongting Lake in Hunan during the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. Around the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Miao ancestors were active in Bashu, Yelang and Jingzhou. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, most of the Miao ancestors settled in Wuling County, Zangke County, Yuexun County, Ba County, Nan County and other areas, and a small number continued to migrate to the Liujiang River Basin, the capital of southeastern Guizhou. Later, migration continued due to wars, famine, disease epidemics, high fertility, and farmland being abandoned.
Edit this paragraph about the five great migrations in the history of the Miao people
According to expert research, the five great migrations in the history of the Miao people are as follows:
First The second great migration was when the Miao ancestors migrated eastward along the Yangtze River to the north and south banks of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River from their birthplace in the upper and middle basins of the Yalong River, Minjiang River, Bajiang River and Jialing River in present-day Sichuan: those on the south bank reached Dongting, They settled down between Pengli and Pengli; those on the north bank reached the Jianghan Plain. I have lived here for many years. With the development of production, life has improved, the population has increased, and the level of science and technology and culture has also improved day by day. This was the first great migration of the Miao people from west to east. The cause of the great migration was the ancient Qiang people from the south, who forced the Miao ancestors to migrate eastward, about tens of thousands of years ago (the primitive society of the early people).
The second great migration occurred after the Miao ancestors had lived in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River for a long time. With a large number of people, they were known as the "Jiuli". They had conflicts with the Yandi tribe in the south and defeated the Yandi tribe. Some of them chased The Yandi tribe reaches directly to the north bank of the Yellow River. Many years have passed here, and the power of the Jiuli tribe has become stronger and stronger. Chi You, who was born at this time, was smart, studious, brave and good at fighting. He later became the leader of the Jiuli tribe. He manufactured a variety of weapons and had strong military power. He had armed conflicts with the Huangdi tribe who came to the upper reaches of the Yellow River. At first, the Yellow Emperor was defeated in nine out of nine battles. Later, he joined forces with the Yan Emperor clan and others to fight Chi You in the wilderness of Zhuolu. As a result, Chi You was defeated and killed, and his head was buried in a different grave. From then on, although the various tribes of the Jiuli tribe fought against the Huangdi tribe for a long time, they were defeated repeatedly because they had no leader. This migration from south to north took place about 4300-4600 years ago (from ancient times to the Yellow Emperor).
In the third great migration, long after Chiyou's defeat in the battle, some of the Jiuli tribe's subordinates established the Li country in the north; some were captured and made slaves, and later integrated into the Han; one group Some traveled long distances and retreated to the south. The Sanmiao tribal alliance was established between Dongting and Pengli in the south of the Yangtze River. This was a migration from north to south, about 4200-4100 years ago (Yellow Emperor to Tang Yao).
During the fourth great migration, the Miao ancestors worked hard between Dongting and Pengli and established the Sanmiao Tribal Alliance. After a long period of recuperation, they gradually became stronger. Tang Yao was very afraid of Sanmiao, Huanggong, Huandou (i.e. "Huandou"), etc., so when Shun came to the throne, he immediately "divided the three Miao" in the north and sent the soldiers to Youzhou and Huandou to Chongshan. ; Channeling Sanmiao in Sanwei; killing Gun in Yushan, the powerful Sanmiao tribal alliance has since divided and collapsed. Some people also fled to the East China Sea, and the ancestors of this Miao people also preserved an independent group. Only the group that was exiled to Sanwei continued to struggle. It was not until the period of Xia Yu that they initially surrendered and settled in the Sanwei Mountain area.
This time they migrated in separate ways, with different migration directions. For example, Sanmiao migrated from south to northwest; some of them migrated eastward; Huandou basically remained unchanged, that is, they moved from Dongting and Pengli to western Hunan today. The time was about 4100 years ago (Yu Shun-Xia Yu period).
The fifth great migration, this migration is a return in separate ways. For example: The team that was driven to the three dangers (the three seedlings) was the strongest team in the past. They were repeatedly robbed by armed forces as they fled. They resisted again and again, were defeated again and again, and fled again and again. They came out of Sanwei Mountain, passed through the Snowy Mountains, crossed the Hunshui River (Yellow River), and headed in the direction of the south wind. Migrating step by step, they passed through the "Tibetan-Yi Corridor" in Gansu and Qinghai, which produces yak and camel, and along the Jinsha River to southern Sichuan, northeastern Yunnan and northwest Guizhou. The migration direction of the Miao people was from north to south. The group that was exiled to Chongshan (Huandou) all moved at a short distance, that is, from Chongshan to the east, they reached the area of ????Changde in Hunan Province, and then along the water to between Dongting and Pengli. Later, the Zhou Dynasty regarded it as a hidden danger. King Xuan "ordered Uncle Fang to attack the barbarians in the south." During the Warring States Period, Wu Qi launched force to "invade the barbarians and Yue in the south" and occupied the barbarian and Yue lands such as Dongting and Cangwu. This Miao people were forced to flee into the Wuling Mountains. As soon as they became stronger, they were repeatedly suppressed by the Eastern Han Dynasty. They were forced to flee "toward the place where the sun sets", and finally reached what is now western Hunan, northeastern Guizhou, and Sichuan. Southeast and southwestern Hubei. The migration direction of this Miao people was first to the east and then to the west. The group that fled eastward (some of the three seedlings contained seedlings) did not settle on the east coast for a long time. Instead, they slowly left the seaside and gradually moved back to the west. Some of them (around 4,000 years ago) may have crossed the sea to Japan. Today, in some places in Japan, there are many similar or even identical cultural phenomena to those of the Miao people in eastern Guizhou, China. It can be seen from the migration song "Traveling Mountains and Rivers" of the Miao people in eastern Guizhou that the migration of this Miao people was a peaceful transfer without fighting. From the place "right by the sea", they gradually returned to the original Sanmiao from east to west. After a period of time, in order to "find a good place", the residence of the tribal alliance moved from Dongting Lake upstream to the Wuxi area, then along the Wushui River into the Nanling Corridor, passing through the northern foot of Yuecheng Ridge to present-day Rongshui, Guangxi ( Damiao Mountain), and further north to the present-day southeastern Guizhou region. The migration direction of this Miao people is generally from east to west. The migration time of the above three Miao people was about 1200 years ago (from the Zhou to Song Dynasty).
In addition to the above-mentioned major migrations, there were many smaller migrations. However, before and after the Song Dynasty, most of the Miao people settled in their current living areas. However, the rulers of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties continued to "suppress" the Miao people in Western Hunan, southeastern Guizhou and other places. They fled everywhere, but they never left the Western Hunan, southeastern Guizhou, and Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan regions.
In short, the migration of the Miao people in history has gone through many places and gone through untold hardships. It was not until the 19th century (nearly a hundred years) that they settled down. Especially in recent decades, with the implementation of regional ethnic autonomy, ethnic minorities can live a life of equality and peace and contentment.