About Miao culture

About Miao culture: Miao ancestors lived in the "five streams" area in Qin and Han dynasties, that is, Xiangxi and Qiandong. In China's ancient books, there are records of Miao ancestors as early as 5,000 years ago, that is, clans and tribes from the Yellow River valley to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, which are called "Nan Man". Miao nationality has a long history, and its ancestors may be part of the ancient three south areas. One theory originated from the "mane" people in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, they mainly lived in western Hunan and eastern Guizhou, including in the name of "Changsha-Wuling Revolution" or "Wuxi Man", and then gradually migrated and scattered in the southwest mountainous areas. Others believe that it is related to the ancient "Jiuli". Miao people in Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan and other places have regarded Chiyou as their ancestors so far. Legend has it that Chiyou is the king of Jiuli. Five thousand years ago, the Jiuli tribe clashed with the Huangdi tribe, withdrew from the lower reaches of the Yellow River and occupied the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Gradually form a "three seedlings." After the 2nd century BC, most Miao ancestors migrated to Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou and other places. The Miao people in Hainan were soldiers who went from Guangxi in the16th century.

Miao people are mainly distributed in the southeast of Guizhou Province, Damiao Mountain in Guangxi, Hainan Island and the border areas of Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan and Guangxi provinces, with a population of 970,000. Miao nationality has a long history. In China's ancient books, there are records of Miao ancestors more than 5,000 years ago. This is the clan and tribe called "Nan Man" from the Yellow River valley to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Miao people have no written language, and Miao language belongs to the Miao branch of Miao Yao language family of Sino-Tibetan language family. Miao people live on high mountains, mainly in agriculture, and the crops are upland rice. Bags, buckwheat seeds, potatoes, beans, and cash crops are hemp, which are generally grown and spun by themselves. Miao people are rich in folk oral literature, such as ancient songs, poems and love songs. Miao people are also good at dancing, and Lusheng dance is the most popular.

The Miao population in Yunnan is 907,000, accounting for 12.2% of the national Miao population. Mainly living in Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Zhaotong area and Wuding and Luquan counties. Miao people have their own language and writing.

Miao nationality has its own language, which is divided into three dialects: Xiangxi, Qiandong and Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan. After 1956, the Latin alphabet writing scheme was designed. Due to the long-term contact between Miao and Han, a large number of Miao people are fluent in and use Chinese.

Agriculture is dominant in Miao areas, supplemented by hunting. Miao people's arts and crafts such as flower picking, embroidery, brocade, batik, paper cutting and jewelry making are magnificent and colorful, and they are well-known at home and abroad. Among them, the batik process of Miao nationality 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 nation in the world. Miao nationality is a nation that can sing and dance well, especially love songs and wine songs. Lusheng is the most representative musical instrument of Miao nationality.

Miao people are famous for their ability to sing and dance, especially for their rich folk songs. Every year, on the second day of the first lunar month or Huashan Festival (that is, stepping on Huashan Mountain), young men and women get together to step on drums and dance Lusheng, express their feelings for songs and seek spouses. At the same time, flower pole climbing and fighting competitions were held. Miao people are good at weaving hemp, embroidery and batik, and their craftsmanship is exquisite, which has won praise at home and abroad. Young men and women like to wear "five-point clothes", which combine batik and embroidery with rich colors. Miao people are mainly engaged in family business. In the past, hunting was the main sideline. Bows and arrows and muskets are often used to hunt prey, and the distribution method of "shooting birds over mountains, seeing people have a share" is implemented. Some Miao compatriots believe in folk polytheism and Christianity.

well-behaved

Miao people attach great importance to etiquette. When guests visit, they will kill chickens and ducks to entertain guests. If you are a distinguished guest from afar, the Miao people are used to inviting guests to drink croissant first. When eating chicken, the head of the chicken should be given to the older guests, and the drumsticks should be given to the youngest guests. In some places, there is also the custom of dividing chicken hearts, that is, the oldest owner in the family gives chicken hearts or duck hearts to the guests with chopsticks, and the guests can't eat them themselves, so they must divide the chicken hearts equally among the old people present. If the guest drinks less and doesn't like fat meat, it can explain the situation. If the host is not reluctant, but dissatisfied with eating and drinking, it is considered to look down on the host.

Miao people pay attention to truth and sincerity, and are very enthusiastic. Most of them avoid glitz and hypocrisy. Host Lu Yu guests don't take the first step, don't walk in front; Use honorifics in conversation; Welcome guests to wear holiday clothes; For distinguished guests, wine is welcome outside the village; When the guest arrives at the door, the host will call the door and inform the hostess at home that she will sing and open the door to welcome the guests; In front of the guests, the hostess does not climb upstairs; At the banquet, chickens and ducks are the most precious delicacies, especially the heart and liver. It should be given to the guests or the elderly first, and then the guests will share it with you. The order is first long and then small. Guests should not call the host "Miao Zi"; They prefer to call themselves "Meng".

Dress

It is the nature of Miao girls to like to wear silver ornaments. They tied a bun on their heads, about 20 cm high, and made a beautiful silver corolla. There are six jagged silver wings inserted in front of the corolla, most of which are the patterns of two dragons playing with beads. In some areas, in addition to silver pieces, silver horns with a height of about 1 m are inserted into the silver crown, and the tips of the horns float in color, which makes them more noble and rich. On the lower edge of the silver crown, silver ribbons are hung in circles, and a row of small silver pendants hang down. There are several layers of silver collars around the neck.

It is made of silver pieces and small silver rings. Wearing a silver lock and a silver collar on his chest, wearing a silver cloak on his chest and back, and hanging many small silver bells. Earrings and bracelets are all made of silver. Only the two sleeves are embroidered with lux as the main tone, but the cuffs are also inlaid with a wide circle of silver ornaments. The costumes of Miao girls often weigh several kilograms, and some have been accumulated and passed down by generations. Known as "a fairy dressed in strange clothes and wrapped in white." The craftsmanship of Miao silver ornaments is gorgeous, exquisite and ingenious, which fully shows the wisdom and talent of Miao people. Miao costumes are not exactly the same everywhere. Men usually wear cloth shorts, but Miao women generally pay attention to clothing, especially clothing, which is extremely exquisite and has many flowers. Some skirts have more than 40 floors, hence the name "pleated skirt". The patterns embroidered on the dress are antique and colorful. Women are good at weaving, embroidery and batik, with exquisite craftsmanship.

custom

When you are a guest in Miao family, remember not to eat chicken head. Generally, guests should not sandwich chicken liver, chicken offal or chicken legs. Chicken gall and chicken offal should respect old women, and chicken legs should be left to children. When you leave the Miao host family, you must say "Wow Zhou" politely, which means "thank you" and thank the Miao family for their hospitality.

In some Miao areas, it is forbidden to wash and drink rice retort, rice bag and rice basin at any time, and only when eating new rice, to show that the old rice has passed away and welcome the new rice. Washing at any time will wash away the family wealth and there is not enough food. Drinking raw water in the mountains should not be directly drunk. You must mark the grass first to show that you are killing sick ghosts. Don't touch other people's clothes on the roadside, so as not to catch leprosy. Avoid children playing with small bows and arrows at home for fear of shooting their ancestors. Avoid crossing the child's head, or the child will not grow tall. It is forbidden for women to sit on a bench with their elders.

marriage customs

Miao nationality is monogamous, and young men and women have traditional social activities before marriage. For example, "meeting girls" is the way for Miao youth to fall in love freely. The traditional festival of Miao nationality is the annual Huashan Festival (held on the fifth day of the first lunar month, also known as "stepping on Huashan Mountain"), which is the most prosperous festival of Miao nationality. During the festival, young men and women dressed in festive costumes get together to sing and perform drum treading, lion dancing and lusheng, which is very lively.

Glutinous rice is also an essential food for young men and women to fall in love and get married. Miao people in Chengbu, Hunan Province gave each other glutinous rice cakes painted with mandarin ducks as souvenirs. When the wedding is held, the bride and groom should make a toast, and the person in charge of the wedding also invites the bride and groom to eat glutinous rice cakes painted with dragons, phoenixes and dolls.

Dietary customs

In most areas, Miao people have three meals a day, and rice is the staple food. Fried Baba is the most common fried food. If you add some fresh meat and sauerkraut as stuffing, the taste will be more delicious.

Most meat comes from livestock and poultry farming. Miao people in Sichuan and Yunnan all like to eat dog meat, and there is a saying that "Miao's dog is Yi's wine". In addition to animal oil, Miao people's edible oils are mostly tea oil and vegetable oil.

Pepper is the main condiment, and in some areas there is even a saying that it is inseparable from pepper. There are many kinds of Miao vegetables. Common vegetables are beans, melons, greens and radishes. Most Miao people are good at making bean products.

Miao people everywhere generally like to eat sauerkraut, and sour soup is a must for every family. Sour soup is rice soup or tofu water, fermented in a crock for 3-5 days, and then used to cook fish and vegetables.

The food preservation of Miao people generally adopts pickling method, and vegetables, chickens, ducks and fish like to be pickled into sour taste. Almost every Miao family has a jar for curing food, which is collectively called a sour jar.

Miao nationality has a long history of brewing, and has a set of techniques from koji making, fermentation, distillation, blending and cellar storage. Camellia oleifera is the most common daily drink. Miao people in Xiangxi also specially made a kind of scented tea. Sour soup is also a common drink.

Typical foods mainly include: blood soup, Chili bone, Miaoxiang Guifeng soup, cotton vegetable cake, insect tea, scented tea, fish paste, sour soup fish and so on.

Holidays and festivals

Miao people used to believe in animism, worship nature and worship their ancestors. There are many festivals, besides traditional festivals and sacrificial festivals, there are also special festivals related to eating. Such as: duck festival, new year festival, fish killing festival, tea picking festival, etc. Besides preparing wine and meat, seasonal food is also essential for festivals.

Miao Nian Miao Nian usually starts from the first day of the first month and lasts for three, five or fifteen days. Years ago, every household should prepare rich new year's goods, besides killing pigs and sheep (cattle), they should also prepare enough glutinous rice wine. The New Year's Eve dinner is rich, paying attention to "all seven colors" and "all five flavors", and making "rice cakes" with the best glutinous rice. Banquet and gift exchange

Most of the killing festivals are held by the river. Women bring rice, bacon, sausages and other dining tables. As long as they catch fish, they light a bonfire and cook fish in a pot until they enjoy themselves.

Drum Festival is the biggest ritual activity of Miao people. Generally, a small sacrifice lasts for seven years and a big sacrifice lasts for thirteen years. It is held on the second day of October to November in the lunar calendar. At that time, a roe deer will be killed and a Lusheng dance will be performed to commemorate the ancestors. Invite friends and relatives to get together during meals to enhance feelings and family harmony.

Stepping on Huashan Mountain is a grand traditional festival of Miao people in China, which is usually held on the first, third and sixth day of the first lunar month. In all counties where Miao people live, flower poles will be erected these days and a grand stepping on Huashan Mountain will be held.

This is not only a good opportunity for young Miao men and women to fall in love, but also an important place for Miao people to carry out cultural and recreational activities. Miao people, old and young, dressed in gold and silver, rushed to the foot of the flower pole from all directions, playing reeds, playing tricks, bullfighting, wrestling, playing thrush and climbing the flower pole.

Back-pounding Festival is very popular in some areas of Funing County. It is held from the third day to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month every year. This is a festival for young Miao men and women. During the festival, young men and women gather on the scenic hillside. When the back-beating began, men flocked out and rushed to the girl they chose, with one hand around the girl's neck, the other hand covering her eyes, and other boys hitting her on the back. Not to be outdone, the girl struggled with a smile. When you break free, catch that young man and deal with him as he deals with you. Throughout the venue, men chased women and jumped around. Tired of playing, men and women find a place to make local calls (that is, two bamboo tubes with a long line in the middle, each of which can hear the voice of talking and singing), pour out sweet words to each other and form a partner. After falling in love, tell your parents that you will get married on an auspicious day.

build

Due to long-term scattered living, different regions have their own characteristics. Most houses are made of wood, and the roofs are covered with tiles, fir bark or thatch. In central or western Guizhou, thin slate is used to cover roofs. Mountainous areas are mostly diaojiao buildings; Hainan Island and Zhaotong, Yunnan Province are inhabited by long thatched houses or "fork houses" built with cross trunks; Xiangxi area is full of stone houses.