The Miao Culture

The Miao Culture

 In the third century A.D., the ancestors of the Miao went west to present-day northwest Guizhou and south Sichuan along the Wujiang River. In the fifth century, some Miao groups moved to east Sichuan and west Guizhou. In the ninth century, some were taken to Yunnan as captives. In the 16th century, some Miaos settled on Hainan Island. As a result of these large-scale migrations over many centuries the Miaos became widely dispersed.

Such a wide distribution and the influence of different environments has resulted in marked differences in dialect, names and clothes. Some Miao people from different areas have great difficulty in communicating with each other. Their art and festivals also differ between areas.

Custom

Long-horn Miao Minority

Gaoshan Miao Minority






Their clothing has distinctive features which vary from place to place. In northwest Guizhou and northeast Yunnan, Miao men usually wear linen jackets with colorful designs, and drape woolen blankets with geometric patterns over their shoulders. In other areas, men wear short jackets buttoned down the front or to the left, long trousers with wide belts and long black scarves. In winter, men usually wear extra cloth leggings known as puttees  Women's clothing varies even from village to village. In west Hunan and northeast Guizhou, women wear jackets buttoned on the right and trousers, with decorations embroidered on collars, sleeves and trouser legs. In other areas, women wear high-collared short jackets and full- or half-length pleated skirts. They also wear various kinds of silver jewelry on festive occasions.

Long-skirt Miao Minority

Because timber resources are plentiful in most Miao areas, houses are usually built of wood, and roofed with fir bark or tiles or are thatched. In central and western Guizhou, houses are roofed with stone slabs.

Houses vary greatly in style. In mountainous areas, they are usually built on slopes and raised on stilts. Animals are kept under the stilted floors. In the Zhaotong area in Yunnan and on Hainan Island, most Miaos live in thatched huts or "branch houses," made of woven branches and twigs or bamboo strips plastered with mud.

The typical Miao family is small and monogamous. Aged parents are usually supported by their youngest son.

Xijiang Miao Village, the Largest Miao Village in China

Wooden Stilted House

Lusheng Festival

Lusheng Festival is a traditional festival of the Miao Ethnic Group. It is celebrated in many parts of southwestern China, but falls on different times. The original purpose of the Lusheng Festival was to provide an opportunity for courtship among young people, while today it has become a much more general annual celebration, though the courtship ritual is still at the heart of the Lusheng Festival.

Lusheng is an antique reed-pipe wind instrument. Legend has it that it was Zhuge Liang (an ancient outstanding militarist) who taught the Miao people to make Lusheng.

As early as in the Tang Dynasty, Lusheng was widely made and played by ethnic people living in southwest China. The instruments were made of bamboo of different sizes, with the largest one at 3 meters long and smaller ones at 30 centimeters long.

Miao Lusheng Festival

During the Lusheng Festival, the Miao people gather together at a public place from villages far and near. Hundreds of the Lusheng in dozens of groups are simultaneously played by the boys and the music is reverberating far and wide. The Miao girls wearing silver-decorated ethnic costumes and head ornaments are dancing together to the rhythms, forming one circle after another together on the playing ground, and appearing a silver swirling sea.

As the music and dancing begins, the whole village is cheering up. People celebrate in the hopes of a plentiful harvest. The lovely Miao girls walk and dance in the sun and their cheeks burn with excitement while they flirt with handsome young men, each of whom is searching for a beauty worthy of his strength and handsomeness. Thus young people will take this chance to meet their beloved ones and express their affection for each other.

The Festival is both an exhibition of prosperity and a competition of skill and wisdom. Those noble and dignified, well-behaved youngsters are praised and those clever and deft, beautifully-decorated girls are admired. At the Lusheng Festival, people can enjoy other activities, such as bullfighting, basketball match, tug of war, mountain-climbing, horse racing, chess-playing, hitting bronze drums, etc.

The New Year Of Miao

According to Miao custom, the tenth lunar month is the beginning of a new year. Therefore the Miao New Year festival, the most important festival for Miao people, is usually celebrated around this time. However, the exact date varies each year and is only disclosed one or two months in advance. Regular updates can be found on our website as the festival approaches.

The celebration of the Miao New Year in Leishan, Guizhou Province is the grandest among Miao festivities. During the event tourists can enjoy watching enchanting Miao customs come alive through various kinds of ethnic activities. These include the festival parade that features Miao girls and women in traditional Miao dress, the traditional music of the Lusheng (a kind of musical instrument made of bamboo), bullfights, horseracing, and of course, lots of singing and dancing.

Bullfights

The ritual of praying

Miao ethnic group wearing traditional ethnic costumes to dance