Brief introduction of Miao customs and habits

Miao people in southeastern Hainan, Xiangxi and Rongshui in Guangxi mainly eat rice, but also corn, sweet potato, millet and other miscellaneous grains. Miao people in northwest Guizhou, south Sichuan and northeast Yunnan live on corn, potatoes, buckwheat seeds and oats. Miao people in Qiandongnan sealed glutinous rice and vegetables together in an altar and ate them after one or two months. This is a kind of pickle with unique flavor. The hobby of drinking is very common. In case of weddings, funerals and celebrations or visits from relatives and friends, guests should be entertained with wine.

Miao architecture also varies from place to place. Residents in Qiandongnan Prefecture live in wooden bungalows and buildings. Buildings are generally two-storeyed, and the architectural form is mostly "hanging foot building" (that is, piles are erected on the piles according to the slope of the hillside), and the roof is double-inclined. Store grain and sundries in the upper ceiling, pile sundries under the diaojiao building or keep livestock in captivity. Xiangxi and Songtao, Guizhou and other places, adopt wooden structure, double inclined tile roof or grass roof bungalows, each with 3-5 rooms, which is the "partial building" of cooking stoves or livestock pens. In the past, landlords or wealthy families also built courtyards and built high walls or stone pagodas to protect them. The walls of Miao residential buildings in Wenshan, Yunnan Province are mostly woven with bamboo strips, covered with mud and with flat grass roofs. Most Miao residents in Zhaotong live in "Quanquanfang", that is, houses with several trunks crossed with thatch, woven with branches or bamboo, and pasted with mud into walls. Generally, it is divided into two rooms, one for people and one for animals. Miao people in Hainan Island live in long and narrow thatched houses with three rooms on the first floor and a long eaves. The corridor under the eaves is a place to rest. Most Miao people in southern Sichuan and northwestern Guizhou live in houses with grass roofs or tile roofs.

Miao people are generally monogamous families, and the property is inherited by men, and housewives enjoy more power and status in the family. Older parents are usually supported by younger children. In some areas, fathers and sons have the habit of sharing the same surname, the son's first name and the father's last name. Usually only call your real name, not your father's name. Influenced by the patriarchal feudalism of the Han nationality, some established word generations, ancestral halls and genealogies. Young Miao men and women are relatively free in marriage. Young men and women are free to sing, fall in love and get married through social activities such as "traveling in southeastern Guizhou", "sitting in a village" (Rongshui, Guangxi), "stepping on the moon" (Wenshan and Chuxiong, Yunnan), "jumping flowers" (central Guizhou and western Guizhou) and "meeting girls" (western Hunan). Chuxiong, Yunnan and other places have a "girl room" system to choose a good couple. There are also parents who arrange marriages, usually through relatives and friends. Miao women have the custom of "staying at home" after marriage, especially in Qiandongnan, which still has reservations. In some areas, Miao people also have customs such as "returning girls", "changing houses" and "marrying wives and sisters". agree