One, clothing
The ancient dress of the Miao people in western Hunan, the difference between men and women is very small, and all are "colorful"; they wear flowery clothes on top and pleated skirts underneath, and their heads are covered with long hair, wrapped in ochre-colored flower handkerchiefs, and their feet are covered with boat-shaped flower shoes, and they wear various kinds of silver ornaments.
The Qing Dynasty, the Yongzheng years, "land reclassification", the government directive "clothing should be divided into men and women", after the change, and even a lot of people all changed into Han Chinese clothing. Such as today's Yongshun, Longshan and other counties of the Miao, their costumes and Han have no difference. But in Huayuan, Baojing, Phoenix, Jishou, Guzhang, Luxi and other counties within the territory of the Miao dress is still characterized.
Miao men's clothing is relatively simple; head wrapped in cloth, wearing a lapel coat, long and small sleeves, pants short and large, like to wrap the green foot. There are two kinds of headpa: green and flower, and the length of the headpa is more than one zhang, and there are as many as three zhang. Wrapped wear more into a diagonal cross, as big as a bucket hat, the color of the clothes are lattice, all green, all blue, etc., which is the most characteristic lattice cloth. Clothing buttons are generally seven. Some young men, in order to make people envy their own rich and bold, wearing clothes to seven. The outermost layer of clothing only buckle the bottom pair of buttons, the second layer of clothing buckle the following two pairs of buttons ...... And so on, until the seven pairs of buttons on the innermost layer are buttoned. In this way, the layers of new clothes all the way from the outside to see, there is a kind of fun.
In contrast to the simple clothing of Miao men, Miao women's clothing is very fine and complex.
Headkerchiefs: The headkerchiefs of Miao women vary from place to place. Phoenix County within the territory of the Miao women more than a short package of a dove, more than three feet long, by the forehead package to the back of the head, even the ears are wrapped in the inner surface. Hua Yuan and other counties within the territory of the Miao women like to use the black pas (parents who have died to wear white pas), folded neatly, wrapped flat and square, not biased, not slanted, the end of the pull together, just Qi forehead eyebrow. Jishou County within the territory of the Miao women's head of more mixed, and Phoenix County, the area adjacent to the package of flowers, and Huayuan County adjacent to the area of the package of black. Miao women in Luxi, Guzhang and the eastern part of Jishou County wear white headgear. Four pairs of green flowers and butterflies are embroidered on the headgear, which is simple, beautiful and unique. The so-called "four corners of the head of the four corners of the embroidered moths", said this white handkerchief.
Jewelry: Miao women's jewelry, beautifully shaped, a wide variety. To make raw materials, there are gold, silver, copper, aluminum, jade, etc., and silver is the most common. From wearing parts: there are silver caps, silver pots, phoenix crowns, Su Shan earrings, collars, bracelets, rings, toothpicks, buckles trip, etc., and to bracelets and rings must be often worn. From the modeling points, only earrings, there are melon hanging earrings, pomegranate earrings, plum blossom needle earrings, circle earrings, dragon earrings, plum hanging melon earrings, rake earrings, dragon head melon hanging earrings, and so on.
Clothes and pants and other: Miao women's clothes, over the waist large and long, large and short sleeves, no collar. The cuffs of the large, about a foot or more. Chest and cuffs, it is customary to piping, embroidered flowers or wisps of yarn, and to add railing petals in its ask. In some cases, the edges of the front and back sides of the openings and hemlines were embroidered with a hook for digging out clouds. The dresses are all full-breasted, with no lapels. It takes dozens of days of work to make a set of Hmong women's clothes and pants with exquisite sewing and embroidery. The pants are shorter and have larger legs. The edges of the pants are piped, embroidered or yarned in the same way as the clothes. Gift skirt long and wide, the lower leg along the edge of the full embroidery pattern, and rolled railing and the size of the petals, colorful, blanch dazzling. Shoes full of embroidered flowers, head pointed mouth, heel on the ear, in order to wear.
After the liberation, in some Miao and Han mixed areas, the Miao dress by the Han's influence is greater, some young people have changed to wear Han.
II. Festivals and Celebrations
There are many festivals and large-scale activities for the Miao in western Hunan. The most representative ones are:
1. Catch the New Year's Eve. In the first month of the lunar calendar, the most enthusiastic Miao people in western Hunan is to catch the New Year's Eve, the date of which is agreed upon by the local community. Catch the New Year's Eve. On that day, men and women, young and old, dressed in festive attire, invite each other and go to the market in groups. On the New Year's Eve, people flow like a tide, bustling, exceptionally lively. People can not only exchange materials, but also to participate in or watch the swing, lion dance, play dragon lanterns, on the knife and ladder and other activities, young men and women also take advantage of this opportunity, things * couple, talk about love. Song Lang singer is a great show of skill, three or five companions, said the ancient and modern, singing at the top of their voices, singing and each other, or Pangen, or congratulations, or recounting traditional stories, or improvised singing of new words. The more people sing, the higher the interest, the more people listen to the spirit of the more invigorating. Even if the snow is heavy and the sky is freezing, the festival will be held as scheduled.
2. March 3rd. This is the traditional song and dance festival of the Miao people in western Hunan. On this day, the Miao people automatically concentrate on the agreed-upon song field to take part in singing, listening to songs, dancing, watching dances and having fun.
3. Catching up with Qingming. This is a large-scale song festival unique to the Miao people in western Hunan, also known as the "Qingming Song Festival". Legend has it that because the Miao are scattered in the remote mountains, all daily necessities must be exchanged to the farther away Han district, often cheated. Therefore, the Miao people will meet to Qingming Festival day as their own field period, exchanging supplies with each other, while meeting friends and relatives. In this way. Over time, the formation of today's "Qingming song will".
There is a traditional central venue for the Qingming Song Festival. The Miao people in the eastern part of Jishou City rush to the Qingming, and its central meeting place is on the Qingming field in Danqing every year. When the time comes, the Miao singers put their hands on their cheeks and sing at the top of their voices, singing with me and you in a joyful manner. Some sing until nightfall and still refuse to break up the meeting, and keep singing until all night long.
4. See the dragon field. Every year from the day of the rain in March of the lunar calendar, is to see the Dragon El, customarily referred to as the head of the Dragon after twelve days and then rotate to the day of the Dragon, and then see the Dragon day, men and women, young and old, are resting for a day, enthusiastic participation. If you do farm work on this day, it is taboo. Therefore, the Miao people for "see the dragon" thing, very important.
5. April 8th." April 8" is the name of a small hill in Phoenix County Luchao well township. Legend has it that in ancient times there was a Miao chief named "Yayi", leading the Miao people to the ruler of the struggle. He had organized various cottage Miao chiefs in the current "drink blood pass" place to drink chicken blood, vowed *** with the United, fighting to the end. And agreed to April 8 in a hilltop gathering of the uprising. After the uprising, the volunteers won successive victories, has been to Sichuan, Guizhou. On April 8 of the next year, Yayi Buxin died in Guiyang City, near the fountain. Miao people in order to commemorate the national hero, to facilitate the day of April 8 every year, to hold commemorative activities to memorialize the performance of the Yayi, for the war dead to sweep the tomb. After the uprising of the Miao people in Qianjia of the Qing Dynasty, the rulers forbade the Miao people in western Hunan to hold this activity, which resulted in the loss of an extremely meaningful traditional festival for the Miao people. After the liberation of the State People's Committee approved, the "April 8" as a unified festival of the Miao people.
6. June 6th. This is an ancient custom, is the Miao people to commemorate the six male and female ancestors, hope that they can also have six men and six women, reproduction of offspring ancestor worship activities. Every year on the sixth day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar, Phoenix County, the Miao people around the well of the Chaozhi to hold a grand song on the hill of Gouliang. The neighboring counties of Huayuan and Jishou and the Miao people of Songtao and Tongren in Guizhou also come to participate. The number of attendees often reaches as many as 20,000 to 30,000 people.
7. July 7th. This is the traditional drum meeting of the Miao people, most popular in Jishou, Zhuzai slope, Guzhang through the hole area. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the Miao people will be dressed up, gathered in the drum field, beat the drums, dancing and enjoying themselves.
8. Catch the fall. Catching the fall is one of the large-scale festivals of the Miao people in western Hunan. Every year on the day of "Autumn", the Miao people have to stop farming, dressed in festive costumes, invite friends and companions, excitedly and colorfully from all directions to the autumn field, to participate in or watch a variety of recreational activities. The traditional autumn field has Jishou County's Shouzhai field, Huayuan County's Mali field, Phoenix County's Gouliang Mountain, Lushi County's Tanxi and Liangjiatan, etc. On this day, the crowd on the autumn field is very large. On this day, the crowd of autumn field shoulder to shoulder, the surrounding slopes, silhouettes swaying, flower clusters, singing curls, laughter, very lively.
Catch the origin of the fall, some say is to catch the "Autumn Day", some say is "to catch the swing". Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a Miao village named Ba Gui. Dajia's youth, upright, martial arts good shooting, by the admiration of the people. One day, he went out hunting, see a mountain eagle swept through the air, then spit hand bow, an arrow hit the eagle, while falling down a flower shoes. This flower shoes, embroidery is extremely exquisite, a look know is from the smart and beautiful Miao girl's hand. Ba Gui Dajia determined to find the owner of the shoes, with the help of the townspeople, he designed and manufactured a windmill-shaped swing that can sit eight people at the same time, named "eight people autumn". On the day of Autumn, he invited men and women from villages near and far to come and play autumn for fun. Playing the swing is the favorite activity of the Miao girls, Ba Gui Dajia thought, the girl who made the flower shoes, will surely come. Sure enough, Ba Gui Dajia's wish came true. He found the owner of the flower shoes, the beautiful girl Qiniang, in the autumn field. The two of them built up their relationship through singing Miao songs and became husband and wife, leading a very happy life. Since then, people have been holding this event once a year to choose a good match, forming the "Catching Autumn" event.
9. The Cherry Festival. Miao more cherry trees, whenever the spring cherry ripe, Miao young men and women will meet in the cherry forest singing and songs, social activities. This kind of activity, the Miao language is called "LiuBiWa", with Chinese direct translation means "cherry picking". Some Miao villages in Huayuan and Baojing counties are the most prevalent.
10. Jumping incense will. Jumping incense will be popular in jishou, guzhang, luxi and yuangling area, held this meeting, to dance, and other amusement activities.
The Miao is an ancient and colorful people, calling themselves "wood", "Mon", "Damu", "Daji". There are several cases of his name, one is to dress color and called "red Miao", "flower Miao", "white Miao", "black Miao", etc.; the second is to live or planted crops and called "highland Miao", "eight Zhai Miao", "planted ginger Miao", etc.; the third is the ruler of the old times to their insults, such as "raw Miao", "ripe Miao," "Mabu Miao," and so on. After the founding of new China, they are collectively called "Miao". The Miao in Guangxi account for 5.5% of the national Miao population and 1% of the Guangxi population, ranking fourth after the Han, Zhuang and Yao in the population of all ethnic groups in Guangxi. The main distribution areas of the Miao are in Guizhou and Hunan, while the Miao in Guangxi mainly live in the mountainous areas in the north, northwest and west of Guangxi bordering Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan. The greatest characteristic of the Miao is that they are rich in all kinds of timber and local specialties, and maintain a splendid and simple traditional culture.
Classical Culture of the Miao People
Miao Culture
The Miao people have a rich folk literature. Since there has been no writing for thousands of years, this literature can only be created, performed and passed on orally, so oral literature has become the most common form of expression of Miao literature, the number of which is as vast as an ocean. Among the many forms of oral literature, there are poems, stories, fables, riddles, jokes and jingles.
Hmong poetry emphasizes rhyme and has a five-syllable style, seven-syllable style, and long and short sentences. The language is concise, harmonious, well-proportioned, easy to understand, can express a wealth of thoughts and feelings, has a strong artistic influence, is the most important form of expression of the Miao folklore, the use of a very wide range. Such as friends and relatives ushered in, men and women talk about love, and even matchmaking, mediation disputes, the development of township rules and regulations, education of children, recounting the genealogy, family rules, and sometimes also expressed in poetry. When laboring, they also used poetry to cheer up, and after laboring, they borrowed poetry to eliminate fatigue.
Creation Song: It is a very ancient mythological story song, which mainly recounts the origin of the heaven and earth, the sun and the moon, and the creation of all things. These songs include the Song of the Opening of Heaven and Earth and the Song of the Origin of All Things.
Ancestor Songs: These songs are mainly about the creation of mankind and the origin and migration of peoples, such as the Song of the Origin of Mankind and the Song of the Flooding of the Heavens. These songs have a positive theme and reflect the real history to a considerable extent with twists and turns, and have historical research value.
Marriage songs: reflecting the evolution of the Miao from intra-clan marriage to extra-clan marriage, from matrilineal to patrilineal system, is an indispensable material for the study of marriage history. The more famous ones are "Brother and Sister Marriage" which is widely circulated all over the world, "Kissing Song", "Male Woman Getting Married" and "Marriage Exchange Song" in Qiandongnan, "Son-in-Law Receiving" and "Marriage Sending Song" in Zunyi, north of Guizhou Province, etc. The song is a great example of the evolution of the Hmong from intra-clan marriage to extra-clan marriage.
Migration Songs: There are a large number of migration songs among the Miao. Miao people in various places have their own migration history, and thus have their own migration songs. Among them, the famous ones are "Trekking" from Qiandongnan, "Xiu Xiang Xuma" from Songtao and Tongren, "Yang Lu Talk" from Qiandongbei, and "Geluo Gesang" from Guiyang, etc. The songs of Songtao and Tongren are also famous. The migration songs of Songtao and Qiandongnan reflect the grandeur of the scene and express the fierce situation of the struggle between man and man and man and nature. It is a heroic epic, valuable for the study of Miao history.
Reasoning songs and discussion of hammer words: reflecting the ancient social organization of the Miao people, mainly recounting a variety of social ethics, norms of conduct, and advise people to do good.
Production and Labor Songs: They are found everywhere. Among them, the ones in Qiandongnan are the most complete, such as the Embroidery Song, the Cotton Planting Song, the Spinning and Weaving Song, the Batik Song, the Wine-Making Song, the Boat-Making Song and so on. The theme is positive, mostly encouraging people to work hard and create a better life.
Bitter Songs: These are poems about class* and nation*. Some of them are against the Tusi*, some are against the landlords and bullies, and many of them are against the government.
Uprising and struggle songs: also known as antiphonal songs, mostly accusing the old * and glorifying the people's resistance struggle. For example, Zhang Xiu Mei's Song from Qiandongnan, Liu Tiancheng from Qiandongnan, and Tao Xinchun from Qiandongxi, are all very representative. This kind of song is very emotional and rich in fighting spirit.
Love songs: songs sung by young men and women when they talk about love. The words are subtle and beautiful, rich in lyricism. There are confessions, questions and answers, etc., mostly to the object of love.
Because of the lack of writing, the written literature of the Miao people, in the history of the Chinese language to create, the number is very small. Before the founding of the country, only Hunan, east of Sichuan found more. In recent years, some Miao literati poems have also been discovered in Guizhou. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Yingqian, Zhang Yingsong, Zhang Yide and Zhang Mande, all four members of a clan, had a reputation for their writings, and **** had a manuscript of poems written by Yinyinshanfang. Jinping County Liangjiang Township also found the poems and writings of the Qing Dynasty Miao literati Long Shaoner, of which four volumes of "Liangchuan Collection" printed in 1878 collects the author's main poems and miscellaneous writings. The contents are mostly describing the customs of the Miao and Dong villages, with a strong local flavor. Liang Juwu, a famous Miao scholar in Leishan County during the Republic of China, also wrote some poems and essays. His political essays were full of the feelings of the *nationalities, disclosing the political powerlessness and the economic pelagic condition of the ethnic minorities. After the founding of the country, under the care and cultivation of the Party and the government, the Hmong began to have their own written literary creation team, and a number of Hmong writers emerged, many of whose writings won awards at home, and some were translated and introduced to foreign countries, and were well received. In the research, collection, organization, translation and publication of folk literature, there is also a group of their own talents, and has made many achievements.
Music
Miao music, there are folk song tunes, Lusheng tunes, suona tunes and xiaoqin tunes, etc., of which the most common are folk song tunes and Lusheng tunes.
Songs of history: mostly sung by middle-aged and old people, with the form of recitation, often singing a section and saying a section. The lyrics are also very long, fewer dozens of lines hundreds of lines, more than a thousand lines more than 10,000 lines. For example, the Song of the Opening of Heaven and Earth, the Song of Ancestor Migration, the Song of Marriage Roots, the Song of Reason and so on. The most complete and representative historical songs of Qiandongnan have thick tunes, clear beats and robustness.
Love Songs: A kind of folk songs, sung by young men and women. There are a lot of tunes, soft and beautiful melody, rich in lyricism, usually sung in a low voice. Some places such as Liuzhi, Qinglong Miao love songs, but also has a high voice bold characteristics.
Flying Song: It is named after its high voice and bright tone. It is usually sung by young men and women when they are socializing. There are also labor, in order to express the mood of happy, impromptu solo, there are also many people chorus. Although the listener is hundreds of meters away, he or she can hear the lyrics clearly. This kind of song is most famous in Qiandongnan area.
Mourning Song: It is a kind of eulogy for the normal death of the elderly. The tune is mournful, and the words are poignant. When the singer is in mourning, he often bursts into tears, and the listener is often in tears. The Miao people in Qiandongnan, Qianzhongnan, Qianbei, Qianbei and other places all have it. The Miao people of Liupanshui are more famous for their mournful songs and tunes.
Miao music tunes are mostly inherited from traditional singing, the main achievement of famous singers does not lie in the update of tunes, but in the lyrics of the creation of the modification and improvement, so there are very few changes in tunes. There are famous singers in different places. The late Tang Dehai, a Miao singer from Leishan County, Qiandongnan, was one of the best. He skillfully mastered the traditional ancient songs and folk songs of the Miao, and was able to sing several kinds of folk song tunes. He has composed thousands of lyrics, of which more than 1,300 are new Miao-Chinese songs alone.
Musical Instruments
Lusheng: It is the most representative traditional musical instrument of the Miao people, and was very popular among all the Miao people in ancient times. In recent times, except for the Miao in the border areas of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Guizhou, where the instrument has been completely lost, it is still commonly used by the Miao in the rest of the world. Lusheng tunes are also the most representative tunes in Miao music, and often vary from place to place. There are several traditional tunes, such as dance tunes, songs of behalf, inquiry tunes, and ritual tunes, each of which has a number of songs. Dance songs have a brisk rhythm, giving a clear sense of staccato. The song is soft and melodious, with a coda. The question and answer song has a slow tune and a clear rhythm.
In addition to the lusheng, there are suona, manchu, qin, xiao, flute, gong and drum. The suona is commonly used everywhere and is equipped with a tuba and a leather drum. In Songtao, Tongren, Sinan area, suona is widely used, is the representative instrument of the Miao people in this area, festivals, celebrations, more than 30 songs, other areas are mainly used for funerals playing funeral songs. Mang tube, popular in Leishan, Danzhai and other counties, its structure is a single tube with copper springs, worn into the bamboo tube that is made. Large hollowed out with the trunk and become, about six feet long, about six or seven inches in diameter, small with two or three feet long, about three or four inches in diameter of the bamboo tube made of blowing up to play a low sound effect. Xiao, flute, the Department of a single branch made of small bamboo, generally only five sounds. Copper drums, in addition to Songtao, Tongren, Sinan and other places have not been used, other areas are still used to Leishan, Taijiang, Majiang, Pingtang and other counties for more. Zither, not common in the Miao, only Weining, Taijiang have Yueqin, Danzhai area has the ancient ladybird zither. Western Guizhou and bamboo harmonica, about three inches long. Gongs and drums, commonly found throughout the region, vary in size and are mostly used during festivals.
Dance
Lusheng Dance: is the most representative of the province's Miao traditional programs, except Tongren area, has a long history, the Northern Song Dynasty has entered the court performance. The big formation mainly has two rows of zigzag and round two kinds. By dozens of young men in front of blowing the sheng guide, dozens to more than a hundred young women stepping on the reed-sheng beat, followed in the back, into the three steps back one step, around the field in order.