What are the four groups of Miao ancient songs?

Singing "ancient songs" is the first choice for Miao people in Qiandongnan to review their national history. It is a grand festival to hold the festival of "eating drums and hiding zang" (eating dirty) every December, September and July, offering sacrifices to ancestors and singing ancient songs on the first day of the tenth lunar month or the year of Miao nationality. In this singing scene, old people, ghosts (wizards) and singers mainly sing ancient songs. This ancient Miao song, passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth, is mainly spread in southeastern Guizhou.

Miao ancient songs are five-character cycle question and answer songs. If you add a loop called "flower", the whole song is tens of thousands of lines long. Ancient songs can be divided into four groups * * * thirteen songs: the first group, creation songs, including creating the earth, gold and silver, supporting the sky with pillars, casting the sun and making the moon; The second group of maple songs, including tree species of Liquidambar formosana, planting Liquidambar formosana, cutting down Liquidambar formosana, sister single and sister left, twelve eggs; The third group "Song of the Flood", including "The Flood" and "Brother and Sister Married"; The fourth group has only one song. Thirteen ancient history songs have high literary and historical values.

In the first group of ancient songs, the formation of heaven, earth, sun and moon and the myth that the ancestors transported gold and silver to build gold pillars and silver pillars to support the sky also cast the rhyme of gold, sun and silver moon. The second group of ancient songs tells the origin of everything and people; How did the seeds fly from the warehouse in Donglao Palace to the sky, and how did they flow back to the ground with the heavy rain? Lao Gong plowed all over the world because of his seeds; Sow all kinds of tree species and transplant maple trees to the edge of the village; Liquidambar formosana is cut down, everything becomes life, and ancestors and sisters remain on the list; My sister stayed and laid twelve eggs; Jiang Yang among the twelve eggs was pushed to be the boss. The third group of ancient songs tells the story of the flood and the myth that brother and sister got married and had children after the flood. The fourth group of ancient songs tells the story of five wives and six ancestors who went through all kinds of hardships and moved to the west in order to find a better life.

Ancient songs are full of fantasy characteristics of general myths and legends, full of interest and reverie, and express the positive and optimistic creative spirit of the Miao people. The lines of ancient songs are harmonious but not rhyming (that is, the initial consonants at the end of the lines are combined rather than the finals).