Miao customs

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. In China's ancient books, there are records of Miao ancestors as early as 5000 years ago, that is, clans and tribes called "Naman" from the Yellow River valley to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. 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 handcraft 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.

Liulian straw sandals

A keepsake from a Miao girl to her lover. Usually there are only four pairs of sandals, and the first pair of sandals for a couple should have six pairs. Legend has it that a long time ago, a Miao girl gave her lover a pair of four-practice sandals, and soon found that the sandals were still next to her house, and her lover left her. Miao girl is very sad Later, she got engaged to another young man and gave him a pair of carefully prepared sandals. After marriage, she loved each other and grew old together. Six-training straw sandals are composed of four-training and two-training, both of which are rubbed with brown silk. The shoe board is woven with straw, and the strands are even and fine. You can also weave colors. Shoe ears are made of green hemp, which is both soft and beautiful to wear on your feet.

Eighteen laws of duality

Miao singing. If you break the rules, you will be laughed at or expelled from the concert. For example, we should sing praises to each other at the wedding, and we can also sing historical stories, legends, astronomy and geography. After the elders leave, you can sing some love songs, but you should sing them implicitly. Sing farewell songs when you leave. When a young man sings with a girl, even if he has feelings, he can't give her a token in public. Generally, riddles are not sung at wedding banquets, because riddles are easy to bicker with each other and affect the atmosphere of celebrating autumn. When singing in the wild, young men can't invite married women or girls who have lovers. If they are invited by mistake, the woman can break the contract. If they receive tokens at the same time, they should return them to that person in time. Lu Yu should have questions and answers about songs. If one party is in a hurry, you should also sing while walking and express your apologies and thanks with songs.

Zouzhai

A social way between Miao young men and women. It is carried out on a moonlit night, so it is also called "stepping on the moon". Every moonlit night, boys play the piano and flute in groups of three or five, walk around the village and sing and chat with girls. The girls gathered in a wooden building in twos and threes, spinning and weaving, talking and laughing. Hearing the piano sound when the young man entered the village, he stopped joking, only the spinning wheel kept turning. When the young man heard the spinning wheel and knew that the girls were waiting, he went upstairs gently, sat by the fireplace and played the piano and flute, and the girls sang together. If both sides are interested, they will sing separately until the rooster sings three times. At this time, the young man can openly confess to the girl, but the girl doesn't nod easily. In a few days, the girl will invite several intimate girlfriends to dig on a sunny slope near the young man's home, and the young man will come to dig together, even if a bridge of love is built. In the spring of March, the two met again to sow in the dug field; In autumn, they all go to harvest and pick the fruits of love, and report to their parents to discuss the wedding date. During entering the village, neither parents nor brothers interfered with the girl's freedom to make friends.

Fighting horses and racing horses.

Touma and horse racing are the favorite cultural and sports activities of Miao people. After transplanting rice seedlings every year, it is usually the sixth day of the sixth lunar month. People hold horse fights and horse races to wish a good harvest.

Hmong

Traditional Miao festivals. There is no unified festival, usually in the tenth day and November of the ninth lunar month. The Miao nationality in northern Guangxi is in December of the lunar calendar. After opening the door early in the festival, firecrackers should be set off or three shots should be fired into the air with a bird comb to show good luck. During the festival, people visit relatives and friends and congratulate each other. In some places, there are also grand bullfights and horse races. Lusheng stepping on the hall is the traditional entertainment of Miao New Year Festival. Young men form a Lusheng team, and the sound of Lusheng, big and small, can be heard for miles away. Lusheng is melodious, brisk, exciting and full of vitality. The girls dressed in festive costumes, wearing dragons and phoenixes, silver horns, silver hairpin and silver comb, danced with the rhythm of music. Young men and women can freely choose their lovers when they enter the room. Young people who play Lusheng well will soon win the favor of girls and get pure love.

Oil Mill and Celluloid Life

"Travel", also known as slope meeting. Traditional social ways of Miao young men and women. From the third day to the fifth day of the first lunar month. Young men carry lusheng on their backs and young women wear silver ornaments. On the slope of the "oil mill", they gathered together and enjoyed themselves. As soon as the gongs and drums rang, all the songs were played together. Under the beautiful eyes of the girls, the sheng players are full of stunts, jumping forward and backward, leaping and prancing, with light rhythm and vigorous dance. While dancing to the music, the girls watched the sheng hand and chose their favorite person. When they saw it, they stepped forward, tied a ribbon on the young man's Lusheng and danced hand in hand with Lusheng. At dusk, on the slope of the "oil mill" and under the shade, couples whisper, singing folk songs or giving each other tokens. "Tourism" is not limited to specific festivals, but also held in the slack season or other seasons, but the scope is not large, and only young men and women in the village can participate.