Where is the home of 11 million Miao people?

In the mountains of southwest China

There is such a minority

Their ancestors

Once cultivated on the fertile plains

But faced with wars and conflicts

Had to relocate

(Ancient Miao Song: Trekking Through Mountains and Rivers)

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"I have traveled through mountains and rivers to the West. The West has thousands of mountains, and the peaks are up to the sky."

(Basha Village at sunrise on the upper foot of Moon Mountain in Guizhou, photographer @王伟)

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After thousands of years of trekking through mountains and rivers

Their houses are often built on the hillside.

As if growing naturally from the mountain

Their villages are often surrounded by lush forests.

Like a baby in the arms of its mother

Thus creating

China's most representative mountain village

(Basha Village in Guizhou in the dense forests of high mountains, photographer @王伟)

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They are

Miao

Life of the Miao people

It was the hardship of traveling thousands of miles

However, the resolute and brave Miao people

Not afraid of the hardships of mountain survival

Compose a moving song of life

(Please watch in horizontal mode, the Longshanlong Lusheng Team of Xinpu Township, Guiding, Guizhou Province at sunset, photographer @赵天恒)

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Behind the Song Home

How did the Miao people migrate to the mountains step by step?

How do they survive in the mountains?

01

Migration

The history of the Miao people is written by migration

They underwent five major migrations.

(The origin and migration routes of the Miao people are still controversial. This article refers to the main views of the current academic community. The following figure shows the migration of the ancestors of the Miao people. Map by @陈志浩/星球研究院)

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The first migration

Legend has it that during the Yellow Emperor period

Jiuli tribe, ancestors of the Miao people

Defeated in the battle with the Yanhuang tribe for the Yellow River Basin

Leader Chiyou was killed

The ancestors moved to the area around Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake

The name is "Sanmiao"

(Sacrificial scene at the Chiyou Temple in Danzhai, Guizhou, image source: @Visual China)

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"Sanmiao" has been operating for many years

But was defeated in the subsequent war

They had to migrate to the south of Dongting and Poyang for the second time .

Named "Nanman" and "Jingchu"

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Junshan Island, Dongting Lake, Hunan, image source: @Huitu.com)

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Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period

King Qin annexed the land of Jing and Chu

The Miao people ushered in their third migration

Entering the sparsely populated Wuling Mountain area

People at that time called them "Wuling barbarians".

(Lvdong Mountain in Baojing, Xiangxi, is still a Miao settlement in the Wuling Mountain area and is a sacred mountain in the hearts of the local Miao people. Image source: @Visual China)

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From Han to Song

Facing the conquest of feudal rulers

The Miao people's fourth westward migration

Entering the mountains of Guizhou

They saw that the main peak of Miaoling, Leigong Mountain, was surrounded by turbulent waterfalls and steep rocks.

A large number of ancestors settled here

(Leigong Mountain, picture source @Visual China)

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Since the Yuan Dynasty

Some Miao people died due to the war

The fifth migration

Recently, they moved to Northwest Guizhou and Southwest Guizhou.

Some migrated to Sichuan, Yunnan, Hainan, and even overseas.

(Wuzhi Mountain, Hainan Island, photographer @孟志军)

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Long-term migration and mountain barriers

The Miao people have a complex lineage

Their dialects, customs, and clothing are different.

(Historically, it was popular to distinguish Miao ethnic groups based on clothing characteristics: for example, they were divided into "Black Miao" and "Green Miao" based on color, and "Big Flower Miao" and "Small Flower Miao" based on patterns. Please watch in landscape mode. The following picture is an excerpt of some Miao clothing. Photographer: @李贵云, map by @杜睿/星球研究院)

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Until today

The Miao people's life finally settled down

11 million Miao people live in the southwest

Forming a pattern of large mixed residence and small concentrated residence

There are 6 ethnic autonomous prefectures and 20 ethnic autonomous counties.

And hundreds of ethnic townships

Formation of three major Miao dialect areas

(Distribution of Miao dialects. The vast majority of Miao people speak Miao as their mother tongue, and some also speak Chinese, Dong and Yao. Map by @陈志浩/Planet Research Institute)

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They are in the ravine-filled Wuling Mountains

Building villages

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Dehang Miao Village is located in the Wuling Mountain area of ​​Hunan Province, image source: Visual China)

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In the mountains of Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan

Diaspora

(Weining Shimenkan Village in the hinterland of Wumeng Mountain at the junction of Guizhou and Yunnan, photographer @李贵云)

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The humid climate of the Miaoling Mountain area in Guizhou

It constitutes one of the core hinterlands of the Miao nationality.

(Wudong Miao Village at the foot of Leigong Mountain, photographer @傅鼎)

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Generation after generation of Miao people

That's how it started

The ultimate construction of mountain homes

02

home

The Miao people who came to the southwestern mountains

Facing the diverse terrain here

Use local materials and adapt to local conditions

A variety of living forms

In valleys and gentle slopes

The Miao people mostly build bungalows

(Liangdeng Village, Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, which means the place where the eagle lands in Miao language. Image source: Visual China)

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In Xiangxi area

There are stone houses made from local materials

(Qixin Village, Jishou City, Xiangxi Prefecture, Hunan Province, a stone Miao village, picture source @China Traditional Village Digital Museum & Visual China)

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In the karst zone

Then he built his home in a cave

(Please watch in horizontal mode, Ziyun Zhongdong Miao Village, Anshun, Guizhou, image source: @Visual China)

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In the Miaoling Mountain area where the population is most concentrated

The Miao people mostly use stilt buildings.

That is, the lower part of the house is completely elevated

Use pillars to support the upper part of the building

(Regarding "stilted buildings", the earliest written record available comes from the Book of Wei. The picture below is a restoration of the stilted buildings at the Hemudu site, source: @图虫创意)

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Stilt buildings can protect against animals and moisture

Most suitable for the hot and rainy southern regions

(Model of a stilt house in the Western Han Dynasty, showing the early form of stilt architecture, image from @Guizhou Provincial Museum official website, map by @Du Rui/Planet Institute)

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However, in the heart of Miaojiang

The terrain is rugged and arable land is scarce

The whole stilt fence on the bottom floor is erected

Often occupying good valley farmland

to this end

The Miao people excavated part of the mountain

Level the foundation behind the house

Building a house in front of a slope

The pure stilt house

Evolved into a half-floor, half-ground semi-stilted building

(The evolution from full-stilt house to half-stilt house, drawn by @Du Rui/Planet Research Institute)

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Half dry fence with one side open

One side is placed on the cliff

Well adapted to the rugged mountains

Hence the name "Banbianlou"

(Half-sided buildings are mainly a type of housing in the Miao settlements in Southeast Guizhou, and are different from other Miao settlements. The picture below shows a typical half-sided building in Yangxian Miao Village, Paidiao, Danzhai. Photographer: Huang Xiaohai)

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Faced with various irregular and incomplete terrain

Half of the building can always cope with it easily

In addition, the flexible through-bucket structure

Banbianlou is like a peerless martial arts master

Walking lightly on the steep mountain

(Sketch of the half-floor through-beam structure. Miao people mostly use the through-beam structure, that is, first use horizontal through-beams to connect the columns into a fan frame, and then use vertical dou-beams to connect them as a whole. The structure is free and flexible. Map by @Du Rui/Planetary Research Institute)

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Half-buildings leaning against the mountain

It contains the daily life of each Miao family.

The bottom empty floor is used for raising livestock and manual production.

The top attic is used to store grain and farm tools.

The middle living floor is used for living, sitting, sleeping, and receiving guests.

(Sketch of vertical space functional divisions of half a building, drawn by @Du Rui/Planet Research Institute)

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To keep the bedroom away from the mountain's moisture

People put the bedroom in front and the living room in the back

Forming a layout of front room and back hall

The main room is the center of the entire living area.

It is a sacred place for family worship.

It is also a banquet venue for important festivals.

(Please watch in horizontal mode, the floor plan of the half-building is schematic. Traditional houses are mostly front hall and back room, and the half-building was changed to take into account the lighting of the bedroom. Map by @Du Rui/Planet Research Institute)

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Compared with the solemn atmosphere of the main hall

The fire pit beside the main hall is more intimate

It is not only used for heating, but also for cooking.

The whole family can sit here and chat about family matters.

The iron tripod placed in the fire pit all year round

It has practical functions for cooking

It also embodies the worship of ancestors

Sacred and inviolable

(In the fire pit in the center of the Miao residence, the Miao people believe that the iron tripod is divine and no one is allowed to cross it. Photographer @李贵云)

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The "balcony" in front of the main hall is for retreating.

There is a beauty chair beside the retreat

A Miao girl dressing up here

You can enjoy the panoramic view of the countryside and mountains

(A Miao girl from Paimo Village, Yangwu Town, Danzhai, is dressed up for the beauty festival. Photographer: Huang Xiaohai)

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that's all

Miao houses

A close look at the light and agile

(The light image comes from the "waist drop" approach, that is, the two ends of the roof are raised to form a curve. Photographer @杨照夫, map @杜睿/星球研究院)

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Looking at the layers of falling

(The well-arranged roofs of Basha Miao Village, photographer @蒋阔)

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However, high up in the mountains

Traffic blockage and closed environment

It is difficult to survive in a separate residence for a long time

Only communities where neighbors help each other

This is the way to survive in the mountains.

Only in this way can we create a truly peaceful village.

03

Village

After finding a suitable place

The Miao people built villages on the hills and lived together as a clan.

The village is located near a river in a valley or near a well at the foot of a mountain.

And more Miao settlements

Choose to live on a hilltop with a higher altitude

(Diagram of the terrain and environment for choosing a Miao village. The Xiangxi region has all three. Southeast Guizhou region mostly builds villages on the hillside or top of the mountain above the fields. Map by @Du Rui/Planet Research Institute)

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There is little flat land in the mountains

Living here requires solving the major livelihood issues

First farmland irrigation, then village housing

It became the consensus of settlement construction.

To cultivate fields on steep hillsides

The Miao people first leveled the mountain and then built a protective embankment.

Transforming hillsides into terraced fields for rice cultivation

Layer by layer, like notes of the earth

(Jiabang Terraces in Jiache Village, Guizhou, photographer @邓飞)

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The land problem has been solved

Where does the water in the mountain come from?

A few river valley flats

Just lead it to the fields through canals

(Valley fields in Xiaodanjiang Miao Village, Rongjiang, Guizhou, photographer @赵高翔)

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Most of the terraces are above water sources.

Waterwheels were used instead of canals.

Lifting water to a higher level

(Waterwheel in Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, photographer @AKZUI)

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Waterwheels are not only used for irrigation

Relying on the power of water

It also extended to become water mill and water mill.

(The water mill in Xiaodanjiang Miao Village, Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province, is used to grind rice and press oil, but has now been replaced by machines. Image source: Visual China)

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Mountain spring water wells have life significance for the Miao people

Therefore, they built a pavilion to protect the water source.

Regulating water use in stone carvings

(The first spring in Miaojiang, Lvdong Village, Baojing County, Hunan Province. The Miao people often call the natural springs “wells”. Photographer: Zhu Li)

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Wait until the harvest season

The villages on the mountain built rows of wooden frames

Form a multi-level drying yard that follows the terrain

It is for He Liang

(A rice drying rack full of glutinous rice in Dadai Village, Bingmei Town, Congjiang County, Guizhou Province, image source: @Visual China)

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Drying completed

The Miao people specially set up a granary with four legs

Insect-proof bottom and breathable top

To store more food

(The granary of Kongshen Miao Village, Liangwang Township, Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province, photographer @李贵云)

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Wooden granaries are most susceptible to fire

To protect the hard-earned food

They will also build granaries on the water.

(The water granary in Xinqiaozhai, Leishan County, Guizhou, photographer @李珩)

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but

As more and more forest land is converted into farmland

The fields will dry up, and people and livestock will be deprived of water.

People realize

The importance of trees in conserving water

Therefore, the forests on the mountain

It is regarded as a sacred tree that protects the village.

As a "feng shui forest" and "village protection tree"

Strictly protected

(The Bald Fir King protects the Getou Miao Village in Guizhou. The Getou people erected a monument to protect the Bald Fir. Photographer: @Tan Biao)

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Among all the trees

The Miao people respect maple trees the most.

and regarded them as the incarnation of their ancestors.

Whether in the ancient Miao songs passed down orally

Or in the legends of Chinese classics

You can find the imprint of maple trees

(Quoted from "Classic of Mountains and Seas: Great Wilderness Southern Classic", which roughly means: After Chiyou was killed, the wooden torture instruments and shackles were abandoned in the mountains and turned into maple trees)

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"Maple wood is the shackles that Chiyou abandoned"

(Ancient maple tree in Dashulin Miao Village, Cengong County, Guizhou Province, image source: @图虫创意)

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However, soil fertility

Still unable to support the expanding population

For this reason, a branch of the original village

They will also migrate their families to other mountain areas.

It is for " dividing the village "

So, in the misty mountains

Gradually, one village after another emerged

(Please watch in horizontal screen, the central village of Basha Village in Congjiang County, Guizhou and Zaige New Village in the distance, photographer @赵高翔)

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The center of the village

Radial patterned floor

They are paved with cobblestones

Like a huge bronze drum

It is called Tongguping or Lushengchang.

(Tongguping in Qianhu Miao Village, Xijiang, Guizhou, photographer @李文博)

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Large villages even have multiple Tongguping

When holding activities to worship the ancestors of the clan

A village with blood relations

They will play bronze drums and reed pipes here.

The drum symbolizes ancestors, the sun and life

It is a sacred artifact in the hearts of the Miao people.

Do not tap randomly

(A bronze drum hanging in the center of Tongguping during the festival in Langde Shangzhai, Guizhou, photographer @老J)

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Away from the village center

There is often a bullring

Bullfighting is also a ritual of ancestor worship

Two bulls butting their horns to win

It is a contest of strength, but also a respect for strength.

(Bullfighting among the Miao people is a manifestation of bull worship, not just playing with bulls for fun. The winning bull king can bring honor to the whole village. The picture below shows a bullfight among the Miao people in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Photographer: @白章磊)

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Powerful bull

It is also the totem of the Miao people.

(Totem poles in Nanhua Miao Village, Guizhou, image source: Visual China)

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In addition to the sacrificial site

Social space is also indispensable

If it is a holiday

Young men and women in the village

Sing folk songs to express feelings

It is for "traveling"

The place where people travel is called Youfangchang

(The parade ground is usually on an open hillside outside the village. The picture below shows the parade performance in Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, photographer @薛海阳)

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The Rainbow Bridge on the Water

It is a place for Miao youth to sing and talk about love on the bridge.

It also provides shelter for passers-by, and a place for socializing and resting.

(The Wind and Rain Bridge in Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, photographer @尘月RoyChen)

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Various Spaces in the Village

Carrying the daily life of the Miao people

(Public space in Langdexiazhai, Leishan County, Guizhou, photographer @李珩, map @杜睿/Planet Research Institute)

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And the dotted villages

Continue to form with the mountains and rivers

"Mountains-Water-Fields-Forests-Village"

The ideal pattern

(The ideal pattern of Shanglangde Village, Leishan County, Guizhou Province, photographer @赵高翔, map @杜睿/Planet Research Institute)

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Like Jiache Village

Living in seclusion in Bijia Mountain

(Jiache Village, photographer @傅鼎)

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Accompanying the cascading terraces

(Jiache Village and terraced fields, photographer @李源)

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Whenever the clouds rise from the mountains

ethereal and dreamlike

(Aerial view of Jiache Village among the mountains, photographer @李源)

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Another example is Basha Village

Perched on the foothills of Moon Mountain

(Basha Village, photographer @傅鼎)

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Living on the top of a mountain and farming on the hillside

(Please watch in horizontal mode, overlooking Basha Village, photographer @蒋阔)

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Surrounded by clouds and mist, it looks like a fairyland

(Please watch in horizontal mode, sunrise in Basha Village, image source: Visual China)

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It is also the largest Miao settlement in the world.

Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village

Located among the peaks of Leigong Mountain

Baishui River flows through the village

(Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, photographer @赵高翔, map @杜睿/Planet Research Institute)

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early morning

The village wakes up with the sunlight shining into the valley

(Morning in Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, photographer @田春雨)

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evening

Half a building nestled on the mountainside

Under the gaze of the distant sunset

Covered with a layer of red glow

(Please watch in horizontal mode, sunset at Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, photographer @张自荣)

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Wait till the afterglow fades away

Lights spread from the river to the top of the mountain

From the eyes to the horizon

(Night view of Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village, photographer @张燮林)

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The mountains accepted the Miao people

The Miao people created a mountain-dwelling lifestyle

They are a tribe of mountains.

Carve the faith of the mountain into your bones

04

Faith of the Mountain

The barren mountains of the past

Now it is the beautiful home of the Miao people.

The Miao people know that it is not easy to survive in the mountains.

Therefore, we admire the creation of our ancestors.

Raising with respect for nature

They worship their ancestors with the highest etiquette

The Drum Tibetan Festival is held every 12 years

Each time lasts for 3-4 years

During this period, pigs are slaughtered as sacrifices to drums and cattle are offered as sacrifices to ancestors.

(Please watch in horizontal mode, the 2021 Leishan Wuliu Village Drum Tibetan Festival, the festival scene is grand, and it was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006, photographer @Teng Dongfeng)

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Also use a grand ceremony to thank the land

It is the Miao New Year , and the Miao people celebrate the year's harvest.

They would also offer wine and meat to the fields and offer sacrifices.

(The 2017 Miao New Year Festival in Leishan, Guizhou. The Miao New Year is like the Spring Festival of the Han people. It marks the end of labor and the beginning of new spring farming. Photographer @李哲)

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Eat new festival

New grain should be used to worship ancestors and celebrate the harvest

We also pray for the earth’s blessing and wish for a good harvest.

(A scene of celebrating the harvest during the New Year's Festival in Maoli Miao Village, Duyun, Guizhou. The New Year's Festival is themed on celebrating the harvest, but the timing of maturity varies from place to place, so the time and content of the festival are also different. Photographer: @华克宝)

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In addition to worship, the Miao people also believe

Survival in the mountains

Everything has a spirit

They love birds

Especially in Danzhai area

The Miao people here call themselves "Ga Nao"

Meaning "Tribe of Birds"

Not only does it show the birds in all their various poses,

Embroidering beautiful clothes stitch by stitch

(A Ga Nao man wearing a bird costume and holding an ancient gourd harp, only wears this costume during major festivals, photographer @李贵云)

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In case of New Year gatherings

He also wore a golden pheasant silver ornament on his head and imitated the pheasant's gait.

Dance the Golden Pheasant Dance to the sound of Lusheng

(Golden Pheasant Dance in Paidiao Town, Danzhai County, Guizhou Province, photographer @李贵云)

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They love trees more

Except for the Feng Shui forests that cannot be cut down at will

The old trees beside the village

Most of them are also regarded as gods

Love trees

It can even entrust a person's life to

In Basha, when a baby is born

Plant a tree to symbolize new life

Wait for the years to turn

When they died, they were buried in trees instead of tombstones.

"I am a tree... I am a tree when I am alive and I am a tree when I die"

(The Tree of Life in Basha Miao Village, quoted from Yu Qiuyu's "Original Ecology of Southeast Guizhou", photographer @蒋阔)

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After thousands of years of hard work

The Miao people accept the call of the mountains

They are not only descendants of Chiyou

They are the people of the mountains.

(Ancient Miao Song: Maple Tree Song)

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"The land here is wide and the soil is good.

Plant maple trees, and they grow tall,

Ninety-nine kinds of things, I settled down with peace of mind

Nine hundred and nine kinds of things, I can live in peace."

them

Long ago, with the mountains and rivers

Seamless

Endless

(Farming in the Jiabang Terraces in Guizhou, image source: @Visual China)

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This article was created by

Written by | Yelu

Editor｜Ding Ding

Picture | Daytime sleep

Design | Du Rui

Map | Chen Zhihao

Proofread by Tingting & Jiang Shangfan & Song Nan

Header Image丨Wan Rui

Expert review

Shi Maoming, Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Tang Shikuang, Lecturer, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

[Acknowledgments] The pictures in this article were strongly supported by the Information Center of the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design and the China Traditional Village Digital Museum. We would like to express our special thanks.

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