Why is it said that Guizhou is the world of "hundred seedlings"?

What does Baimiao mean?

In Guizhou, a land of 176,000 square kilometers, people from China's 56 ethnic groups have left traces of their lives; even residents of the same ethnic group have several branches, each with their own lifestyles and cultural traditions.

, there are also great differences in folk customs.

Guizhou Baili Rhododendron Park has long been located inland, and its development has been restricted by terrain factors. When Guizhou is mentioned, it is often associated with "poverty" and "backwardness."

?It was once one of the least existential provinces in the country.

?Huangguoshu, Moutai and Laoganma have become the three business cards of Guizhou people’s hometown when they travel abroad. If you have not had personal contact with them, your concept of Guizhou people will be very vague.

Huangguoshu Waterfall, Guizhou When people from the Northwest are mentioned, hospitality and enthusiasm come to mind; when people from Jianghuai are mentioned, gentleness and delicacy come to mind; so what are Guizhou people like?

-01- Ancient humans living in caves According to archaeological discoveries, traces of human activities at various stages have been found in Guizhou since at least the late ape man 280,000 years ago.

The successful excavation of Guanyin Cave in western Guizhou officially opened the first chapter of human archeology in Guizhou.

After Guanyin Cave, traces of ancient human activities have been found in more and more caves across Guizhou.

The Niupodong site in Gui'an, rated as one of China's "Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries" in 2016, brings the relationship between ancient humans and caves in Guizhou one step closer: this is a human settlement in the early Neolithic Age.

Prehistoric humans in Guizhou spent their life and death in caves.

Interestingly, Guizhou people still have a close relationship with caves in contemporary times.

In some Miao areas, the tradition of cave burial is still preserved.

?Extended reading: Using the names of flowers and plants in the "Book of Songs" can be used as names of people. How come they sound so nice? Through a series of archaeological discoveries at the Niupodong site in Gui'an, we can work hard to piece together the place where Guizhou people lived in this land surrounded by mountains.

certain points in life.

?Here there are traces of prehistoric human activities, the first glimpses of the splendid culture of the Yelang period, as well as the figures of Guizhou's homeland such as Qielan and Zangda, and Zunyi Hailongtun, a clear evidence of chieftain rule.

It gave us a glimpse of Guizhou’s past, as well as countless shadows of current Guizhou people.

-02- Colorful Guizhou Style Guizhou people's lifestyle is colorful. This colorfulness is mainly due to the large number of ethnic groups living in Guizhou.

The Miao people of Guizhou play the Lusheng. The Miao people are the most populous among the ethnic minorities in Guizhou. The culture created by the 4 million Miao people in Guizhou is even the main impression that many people have on Guizhou people.

This distribution pattern of various ethnic groups in Guizhou can be summarized as "small settlements, large mixed settlements".

The ethnic groups in "small settlements" adhere to their ethnic beliefs and cultural traditions, showing unique ethnic characteristics; and in the pattern of "large mixed settlements", they share and integrate, gradually becoming different from other branches of the ethnic group.

Therefore, according to current ethnic classification, Guizhou only has a few ethnic groups; but according to ethnic groups, Guizhou is dominated by "hundreds of Miao".

So how to correctly distinguish these ethnic groups?

Clothing is still one of the most obvious differences among the Miao ethnic groups.

Some classify the Miao people by the colors "black seedlings" and "green seedlings"; others classify them by the patterns on their clothing, such as "big flower seedlings" and "small flower seedlings"; and some more specifically classify them by the length of their skirts

Distinguish between "long skirt seedlings" and "short skirt seedlings".

Looking deeply at the details: In terms of materials, tin is used to make embroidery thread, which is called tin embroidery; silkworms are used as the base material to make silk embroidery.

In terms of embroidery methods, the Shidong Miao people have broken thread embroidery, the Jinzhi Miao people's twist embroidery, and the Huaxi Miao people's cross-stitching, with different techniques.

The patterns on clothing are an important means of distinguishing ethnic groups. They use batik, paper-cutting, embroidery and other forms to record the patterns belonging to their own ethnic group and pass them on through clothing.

-03- They have all become Guizhou people. Even if we tell the story of Guizhou people as comprehensively as possible, we are still suspected of overgeneralizing.

Torch Festival of the Yi Nationality The Yi nationality is the fifth largest ethnic minority in Guizhou. They mostly live in the northwest border of Guizhou, and together with the Yi people in Sichuan and Yunnan, they form a huge cultural system; the Gelao people live scattered in Guizhou.

They are one of the earliest ethnic groups to take root in Guizhou and are the "indigenous people" of Guizhou in northern and central Guizhou; there are also long-standing ethnic groups such as Tujia, Hui, Bai, Yao, Zhuang, She and Maonan.

It is also an indispensable puzzle piece that makes up Guizhou people.

Dong Wedding People from various ethnic groups in Guizhou do not stick to one corner and emphasize different things.

We have also seen that different ethnic groups have friendships, intermarriages, and become each other's relatives; we have seen that Guizhou people of different ethnic groups have studied and worked together to build their own Guizhou; we have seen that from

People from Guizhou have made their contributions in various fields in China and the world.

At the foot of Wumeng Mountain, by the Qingshui River, in the hometown of Yelang and in the songs of the Yue people, they are Guizhou people who do their part.