Miao nationality has a long history, but its historical development is very slow. There are still many very old and even primitive elements in the culture and customs of modern Miao nationality. When studying the ancient Miao culture, it is inevitable to contact the relationship between Chu culture and trace the origin of Miao and Chu. The origin of clans or tribes in the south in the ancient legend era has always been debated, and the historical records are also confusing. But one thing is the same. The activities of these clans or tribes are basically the same, mainly in the Jing and Man areas of the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. Man Jing, named after the place name of Jingzhou, generally refers to the tribal peoples living in Jingzhou. It is not surprising that they have the same cultural characteristics because of the same living environment. Therefore, it is reasonable that Chu people in Man Jing have very close cultural ties with Miao ancestors who have lived in this area for a long time. Especially after the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Chu became the fusion center of all ethnic groups in southern China. When it was strong, it once ruled the territory stretching for thousands of miles in the south, such as Qunman, Baipu, Guangdong, Yunnan, Yunnan, Yunnan and Yelang. Yunnan, Wu, Yue and other ancient nationalities were once ruled by them. Affect each other in customs and culture. Therefore, there are still many characteristics of Chu culture among the modern nationalities in southern China, especially among the Miao people.
Ancient Tribal Groups in China
In China, the Yellow River Basin is the cradle of Chinese civilization, and the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties are an important period for the emergence and development of ancient civilization in China. These three generations of civilizations have established the tradition of ancient culture in China. While Xia, Shang and Zhou civilizations occurred and developed in the Yellow River basin, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the north and south of the Yellow River also developed agricultural culture, and at the same time developed the primitive culture of China. The ancestors of Miao nationality are the ancestors who created the culture in this area.
In terms of archaeological types, Chu culture is closely related to Daxi culture, Qujialing culture and Qinglong Spring culture equivalent to Longshan culture. According to archaeological findings, the Neolithic culture in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is diverse and extremely complex, showing the characteristics of multi-ethnic settlement in this area. At the same time, it also shows that the creation and exchange of ancient cultures are very prosperous, and they permeate each other in the process of forming their own splendid cultures.
The Creation of Heaven and Earth ―― The Dawn of History
Miao Nationality and Cultural Relics of Chu State
The distribution of ancient Miao and Chu ancestors was mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Archaeological data show that there are many agricultural tribal sites in the Yangtze River basin, such as Qinglong in Yunxian County, Hubei Province, Qujialing in jingshan county and Daxi in Wushan County. A large number of production tools and rice seeds have been unearthed, as well as fishing and hunting tools such as stone axes, Shi Mao, stone chisels, nets, hooks, arrows and spinning wheels. In addition, Neolithic sites in Lixian, Hunan, Baima Lake in the west of Changde, Juanjinggou, Sichuan and Yangjiawan, Yichang, Hubei also have close cultural relations with them. The "Taozu" unearthed from Qujialing cultural site is a reflection of the custom of male genital worship. Qujialing culture is similar to Longshan culture and belongs to the patriarchal society site. It has the same cultural characteristics as the burial system of protecting male genitalia with perforated tortoise shells in the lake-cooked culture in Jingchu area and a series of activities of sacrificing male genitalia in the ritual of Miao ancestors. The burial system of Chu and Miao people is mostly earth burial, but there are also habits of taking cliff holes as tombs in mountainous areas. For example, in 1980, a number of Chu tombs of the Warring States period buried on cliffs were found on the banks of Huxi River in Guixi County, Jiangxi Province. There are 37 coffins and a large number of cultural relics in the tomb. Cliff burial tombs have also been found in northwest Guizhou, southeastern Guizhou and northern Guizhou, where Miao people live in compact communities. Hanging coffins are mostly buried before the life of influential Miao people. Two kinds of funerals were found in northwest Guizhou. There is a cliff tomb, where more than a dozen Miao tombs with coffins have been found, similar to the cliff tombs of the Warring States on the banks of Luxi River.
Miao hanging coffin
Comparison between Miao and Chu weapons
Miao ancestors "are not afraid of strong drugs, swords and crossbows go in and out, and fishing and hunting are a matter of agricultural gap." Miao's crossbow is not only a production tool, but also a weapon. Self-control has a long history. According to legend, Miao people weigh the baby boy three days after his birth, and according to his weight, they melt the pig iron given by relatives and friends or the pig iron that has been reserved and bury it in the soil. I took it out for refining on my birthday every year, and it was not until I was fifteen or sixteen years old that I struck the iron and made it a sabre, and I took it with me, which was called "Miao Dao". Tempered into steel, the texture is tough. The shape of this knife is similar to that unearthed in Chu State. The crossbow used by Miao people is also very similar to that used by Chu. The crossbow originated in the state of Chu. It is said that it came from an orphan's father, and later it spread to Qin Chu's home and then abroad. Many crossbow machines have been found in Changsha, which proves that Chu is the base of crossbow production.
Bow crossbow of Miao nationality in Guiyang area
Miao Nationality and the Totem Worship of Phoenix Birds in Chu State
Bird totem worship is a common feature of Chu people and Miao ancestors. Chu people worship phoenix and Luan. Some people think that Phoenix is the embodiment of Zhu Rong; "White Tiger and Five Elements" records that Zhu Rong ... is essentially a bird and a phoenix. Some people also think that Dog Fight is also the name of a bird, also called Dog Fight, also called Dani, and the ancient prose is called Yan Yi. There is a cloud in Historical Records: the catfish should be Peng. "Birds with mouths and wings" explains the bird totem worship of dog fights. The appearance of totems is generally related to their ancestors. Primitive people thought that each clan was related to some animal, plant or inanimate object, or had other special relationships. Become a symbol of the totem or protector of the clan and be worshipped by the whole clan. Miao people believe that their ancestors were descendants of brother-sister marriage during the flood period, and they also put forward the legend of oviposition ancestors. Especially in the ancient songs popular in southeastern Guizhou, such as Twelve Eggs, Fengxiang, Sisters on the List or Mother Butterfly, it is mentioned that giant birds "Ke Ti" and "Le Ti" lay eggs on earth, and "Ji Wei", "Que Yu" or "Yu Ji" hatch eggs to breed young people. Miao people still take birds as the theme in costumes, decorations (headdresses, jewelry) and embroidery patterns.
Miao golden pheasant dance
Women in Qiandongnan Prefecture wear various headdresses or other decorations, including a silver horn like a peacock or a bird-shaped headdress with a bunch of feathers on each corner. Men often wear feathers as headdresses. Six Miao people put a bunch of two or three feet long golden pheasant tail feathers on their heads, usually with a white feather between them. Nowadays, men have short hair, put feathers on the lusheng as decoration, and don't wear hair bands. There are also many signs of bird totem worship in costumes. For example, the ornaments of Miao women in central Guizhou are recited one by one, and there are carved patterns representing "bird's eyes" and "bird's wings" just on the shoulders. The "bird clothes" decorated with white feathers in Qiandongnan and Damiao Mountain, as well as the white pleated skirts of Miao women all over the country, look as proud as peacocks after unfolding. The Miao people's bird totem worship is more common in ancient songs or folk stories passed down from mouth to mouth, so I won't go into details here. As for the bird totem worship of Chu people, many unearthed cultural relics have reflected it.
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Painted woodcarving small screen and woodcarving painted double-phoenix-tiger-seat drum unearthed from the No.1 Tomb of Wangshan in jiangling county (Chu Tomb of Warring States) are obviously embodied. The small screen is 5 1.8 cm long, 15 cm high and only 3 cm thick, but it is carved with 55 kinds of animals such as snakes, frogs, deer, birds (or phoenixes), forming a picture of fighting each other. The image layout is symmetrical. If separated from the middle, both sides are the same picture. The image is centered on a bird (or a sparrow or a phoenix), whose back dives downward in the shape of a snake peck, and there are two snakes curled up in a ball below. The snake head extends to both sides and bites the forelimbs of two Benwu sika deer. There are two compound phoenixes on each side, namely biting snake and claw snake. Two winds that meet on both sides smoke a snake, and two claws catch two snakes. There are animal (mainly snake) reliefs on the base and two side frames of the seat screen. Some snakes reached out to bite the frog that tried to escape. The whole image is centered on birds (or phoenixes or sparrows) and is the only winner. Shuangfeng Tiger Drum is a pair of phoenixes with symmetrical images. Shuangfeng wears a double-sided drum. Shuangfeng stepped on the tiger's back and looked up. He was very proud, but the tiger lay meekly and let the bird step on his back. From the totem point of view, these two cultural relics constitute the victory of the struggle between bird totem and snake tiger totem. This is a true portrayal of Chu's prosperous history. In primitive society, there were many clans who took birds as totems, but all clans living in the same area worshipped bird totems, and the relationship was extraordinary.
The Phoenix Bird Drum in Chu State
Miao nationality and witchcraft culture of Chu state
Chu culture refers to the culture of Chu after the founding of the People's Republic of China. However, the culture of witch officials in Chu has a long history. It inherited the witchcraft of nine miles and three seedlings. Zhuan Xu in the ancient legend era may be a wizard or religious leader of Chiyou tribe, who joined the Huangdi tribe after the defeat. At that time, the Jiuli people conquered by the Yellow Emperor still believed in witchcraft and worshipped ghosts and gods. So the Yellow Emperor ordered Zhuan Xu to force his former Jiuli tribe to obey the enlightenment of the Yellow Emperor. Later, Sanmiao continued the witchcraft of Jiuli. According to Lv Xing, "Sanmiao is in a daze and still listens to God". Chu people inherited witchcraft, prevailed witchcraft, and sacrificed ghosts and gods. Wizards must use witchcraft songs and sing forbidden words when performing arts. There are many records of ghost worship activities in Jingchu area in ancient books. There are also many accounts in the Songs of the South. Wang Yi's Chapters and Sentences of Songs of the South of Chu: "Between Yuan and Xiang in the past, a city in the south of Chu was a place where people believed in ghosts and loved to worship, and its worship was bound to entertain the gods with songs." "History of Han Geography" contains: "Chu ... believes in witches and ghosts and attaches great importance to shrines". Geography of Sui Shu records: Generally speaking, Jingzhou worships ghosts, especially shrines. Gu also said: "The custom of Hunan and Chu is still a ghost, and it has been like this since ancient times." So did the Miao people who later lived in this area. According to the records of Yongsui Hall in western Hunan, the Miao people sacrificed ghosts as many as 70 times. It also records the income of Miao people from fishing and hunting in their leisure time, and they also have to sacrifice to ghosts to eat. Miao people have the saying that there are 36 gods and 72 ghosts, but in fact they believe that ghosts and gods are everywhere, and they believe that ghosts and gods can attach themselves to everything. More because they are unable to fight diseases and disasters, they can only pray for ghosts and gods. Even the wizards don't know the swearing words of Miao people. It can be seen that there are many kinds of swearing words, as many as 100, all of which are antithetical singing. Similar to Nine Songs, it is used for sacrifice in Songs of the South. Nine Songs of Chu is a sacrifice song sung by the priests and wizards when Qu Yuan adapted it from the folk sacrifice of Chu. Some of Miao's obituaries may be part of the prototype of Qu Yuan's Nine Songs. The content of the Miao sacrificial ceremony is used to worship ancestors, such as solitaire, vertebral cattle, vertebral pigs and eating internal organs (drums and sticks). There are water curses to ward off evil spirits and diseases, vows to wash one's heart and seek early rain, divination for good or ill luck, and waiting for fate. There are also similarities between "Chu Ci Evocation of Soul" and Miao witchcraft words.
Chu murals
Martial spirit of Miao and Chu people
Chu people and Miao people share the spirit of martial arts. Chu people think that it is a great shame not to send troops for five years, and they can't hide their ancestors after death. Therefore, there is a saying that Chu is belligerent. This is related to the legend that Chiyou was "good at killing" and was later regarded as "God of War". It is also somewhat similar to the Miao people's "30 years of small rebellion, 60 years of big rebellion." Miao people worship Wushu because of the influence of traditional culture and the need of self-defense. Thousands of conquests and rebellions in history have prompted Miao people to pass on their martial arts skills from generation to generation, including Chu's legacy. Wushu, also known as Wushu, is the art of Chinese national fitness and physical fitness. The struggle between nationalities in history has strengthened the development of Wushu. It's hard to say which country those condoms come from now. However, Miao Wushu still has its own characteristics.
Basha Miao nationality
Myths and legends of Miao and Chu people
The state of Chu regards Nu Wa as the god of creation. Miao people say that Fuxi Nuwa is a brother and sister, the only survivor after the flood, and human beings are bred by brothers and sisters. I haven't heard much about the Yin and Zhou Nuwa. By the Warring States period, that is, the prosperous period of Chu State, it was widely spread, probably because of the expansion of Chu State, which became the story of human origin of Han nationality and other ethnic minorities in Xu Xiang. The legend about Fuxi was first seen in Yijing: "The ancients were the kings of the Bao family, and the Bao family was Fuxi." The name is the same as that of the Miao people. Miao people often add "p044" (Qiandongnan dialect) or "p035" (Yangyao dialect, transliterated as "Bao" or "Bo", meaning brother or elder brother) before addressing men. Up to now, there are still wooden statues of ancestors' brothers and sisters used by Miao people all over the country. Although the names of brothers and sisters are Fuge Fu Mei, Fuxi Nuwa, Jiang Yang Brothers and Sisters, Yang Po, Liangmang (Hulu Brothers and Sisters) and Nuogong Nuomu, they all refer to the same ancestor.
Fuxi Nu Wa Tu
Miao literature and Chu literature
Chu literature and Miao folk literature also have similarities, especially in format. Li Sao, a Chu ci, uses Chu language to write Chu sounds, remember Chu places, and remember Chu famous things, with strong local color. Qu Yuan's Lisao "from beginning to end, it is called the ancient emperor, cherishing the mountain and calling for the dragon", which is full of reverie. Some people say that Qu Yuan spent nine years between Yuan and Xiang, singing by the Zehe River, and Li Sao is an ancient masterpiece. Traditionally, Chu ci poetry is called "Sao style", which is characterized by loving ancient myths and legends, creating romanticism, using Chu language and overlapping words. The word "Xi" is often used in Sao poetry to adjust the rhythm of poetry or as an auxiliary word. The style and characteristics of the cloud are almost the same as the ancient songs passed down from mouth to mouth by Miao people. Oracle bones is the crystallization of Miao myths, historical songs and stories. Jia has more than 10,000 lines, and there are often questions or answers in the poem. From the beginning of time, the origin of human beings, the appearance of various natural phenomena, the migration and development of ethnic groups ... are rich in content, vivid and touching. As far as its content is concerned, it is similar to Tian Wen of Chu Ci. Jia begins with "Who was born the earliest?" I slowly tracked down the Miao legends such as Jiang Yang, Xiuniu, Huonai, Zhangpa and Fufang. Singing until "white mud is covered by fog, white mud turns into sky, black mud is covered by fog, and black mud turns into ground". "Heaven and earth stick together, and the earth is connected with the sky. Two thick things, together ... "
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Tian Wen's whole article is 374 sentences long. The main content is to ask 172 questions about various natural phenomena, myths and legends, and historical facts between heaven and earth before and after the formation of the universe. Ask the question of the universe first, then ask the morning sun, moon and stars in the sky, and then ask the question of geographical knowledge. From ancient legends and history to the state of Chu. The whole article is well-organized and coherent. Jia of Miao nationality is similar to it and may be one of its original materials. There are also different understandings about Nine Chapters of Chu Ci and Qu Yuan's works when he was in exile. If arranged in the old order, they are Yong, Shejiang, Ai, Painting Thoughts, Huai Sha, Simei, Nostalgia, Ode to Oranges and Return to the Empty, among which, from Ezhu (Wuchang) to Xupu, but by land, from Wuzhu to the morning. Besides describing the poet's political ideal, he also described some scenery along the way, using Chu language and place names, such as Ezhu, Yuan, Xiang, Fang Lin, Waste Zhu, Chenyang and Xupu. Chu language, such as "cloud" means turning point, "long biography" means long sword, "faithfulness" means wooden pen and "altar" means atrium. There are also some Chu dialects, such as "chaotic moon", which means "on" or "on right and wrong". "Li Sao" and "Nine Chapters Shejiangdu" have "Luan Yue" as the end of the poem, so it may be inappropriate to translate them into vernacular Chinese. According to the meaning of Miao language, it is more appropriate to translate it into On Japan and On Taoism.
Qu Yuan
Another example is "Sha" in Huai Sha, which is difficult to understand in Chinese, but it is translated into "Song" in Miao language (the "Sha" in Xiangxi Miao language is "Song"), and "Huai Sha" is a song to express thoughts. In addition, the "Nine Songs" of Chu Ci should be the folk religious dance songs of Chu State. Wang Yi said in the chapter "Songs of the South": "Nine Songs is also the work of Qu Yuan. Chu, a southern city between Yuan and Xiang, used to be vulgar and happy to worship, so its worship must be stimulated by songs and music to take advantage of the gods. Qu Yuan was exiled, full of worries and hardships. Seeing the ceremony of the laity, the joy of singing and dancing, its words are humble, so it is a song of nine songs. " Zhu said in Notes on Songs of the South: "Since I was demoted, I felt it when I saw it, so I decided on more words and was too loyal to them." Both Wang Yi's and Zhu's notes show that Nine Songs is the essence of folk sacrificial songs. In the sacrificial songs of Miao ancestors, in addition to offering sacrifices to ancestors and tracing the origin of everything in the world, there are also some contents that express people's longing for a happy life, or the pursuit of love, joy and pain in love, etc., which are closely combined with life. At festivals or banquets, wizards often lead the singing, and some are called "wine songs", which are sung while drinking or dancing. Shang Xun said that the nine songs "dance constantly in the songs and sing loudly in the room". "The Book of Songs" says: "Under the autumn, there is no winter and no summer, and its heron feathers are on duty." Although "Nine Songs" is a witch song, its content is not all about praising gods. There are many stories in the world, which are not only related to offering sacrifices to gods, but also closely related to people's lives. Between man and god, a wizard who can sing and dance can communicate. These are the same as the sacrificial activities that are still popular in Miao 'ai area today.
Bainiao clothes
Similarities and differences between Miao language and Chu language
In Chu ci and Chu dialect, we can find words with similar phonetic meanings to Miao. In dialect, it is not clear why Yang Xiong called his brother Bo to Jingyang, Chu. In fact, Miao language refers to my brother as "Bo" or "Bao" and "the contempt of Jingyang", which is undoubtedly Miao language. In addition, there are many words with the same or similar meanings, such as "Ge", "Jian" (sound dirty, meaning old man), "widow" (sound wandering), "remonstrance" (sound sheep, meaning beating), "sin" (sound thunder, meaning arriving) and "venting beating" (.
Bird-shaped step of Miao nationality
Festivals of various ethnic groups are different, some are gradually unified through mutual influence, and some are traditional festivals inherent in a certain ethnic group. Duanyang Festival on the fifth day of May was originally an orchid bathing festival of Jingchu people. The day of "Li Ji from generation to generation" reads: "On May 5th, orchids were bathed". Chu Ci says: "Mulan soup is fragrant", so it is called Mulan Festival. Also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, four people step on a hundred herbs and pick wormwood and hang it on the door to detoxify. On this day, racing cars compete for miscellaneous drugs. Later, he became a memorial to Qu Yuan who threw himself into the Miluo River and threw zongzi as a sacrifice. Up to now, the Miao people take May 5th as a festival, holding ceremonies, drinking to entertain, racing dragon boats, throwing food into the river and other activities. Now almost all countries celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, and some take dragon boat racing as the theme. In addition, people in Jingchu celebrate the eighth day of April. On this day, the temple set up a fast, bathed the Buddha with five packets of fragrant soup, and some greeted the Buddha in Jincheng with eight characters and set up banners to preach, thinking it was music. On that day, a child seeker presented pancakes to the temple pavilion to pray for his son. The Miao people also regard April 8 as a big festival, which is said to commemorate a national hero, but there are other sayings. The activities in western Hunan and central Guizhou are the most grand, including singing, dancing lusheng, encouraging and sports activities. As a festival, April 8 was celebrated by Miao people in ancient times, but the reasons for the festival are different.
Miao Dragon Boat Festival
According to the above discussion, it can be inferred that the ancestors of Miao nationality are not "Chu ancestors are two tribes of the same tribal alliance in distant times." Due to the long-term coexistence of * * *, similar ancestral legends, totem worship and cultural customs have emerged. Later, Chu people became more and more powerful, especially after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and created brilliant Chu culture on the original basis, many of which were the essence of ancient China culture. The Chu cultural relics unearthed in recent years have even amazed people today. However, the ancestors of Miao nationality experienced great historical ups and downs and constantly migrated, which had a great impact on the political, economic and cultural development of Miao nationality. Their living areas are extremely scattered and cannot form a unified economic, political and cultural center. Due to the extremely slow development of Miao society, there are still many remnants of primitive culture. In order to compare with Chu culture and explore the historical and cultural development track of Chu and Miao ancestors thousands of years ago.