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, with a population of 970,000. Miao nationality has a long history. In China's ancient books, there are records of Miao ancestors more than 5,000 years ago. This is the clan and tribe called "Nan Man" from the Yellow River valley to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Miao people have no written language, and Miao language belongs to the Miao branch of Miao Yao language family of Sino-Tibetan language family. Miao people live on high mountains, mainly in agriculture, and the crops are upland rice. Bags, buckwheat seeds, potatoes, beans, and cash crops are hemp, which are generally grown and spun by themselves. Miao people are rich in folk oral literature, such as ancient songs, poems and love songs. Miao people are also good at dancing, and Lusheng dance is the most popular. ?

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 jewelry making 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. ?

Miao customs?

Miao people attach great importance to etiquette. When guests visit, they will kill chickens and ducks to entertain guests. If you are a distinguished guest from afar, the Miao people are used to inviting guests to drink croissant first. When eating chicken, the head of the chicken should be given to the older guests, and the drumsticks should be given to the youngest guests. In some places, there is also the custom of dividing chicken hearts, that is, the oldest owner in the family gives chicken hearts or duck hearts to the guests with chopsticks, and the guests can't eat them themselves, so they must divide the chicken hearts equally among the old people present. If the guest drinks less and doesn't like fat meat, it can explain the situation. If the host is not reluctant, but dissatisfied with eating and drinking, it is considered to look down on the host. ?

Miao people-festivals?

Stepping on Huashan Mountain is a grand traditional festival of Miao people in China, which is usually held on the first, third and sixth day of the first lunar month. In all counties where Miao people live, flower poles will be erected these days and a grand stepping on Huashan Mountain will be held. This is not only a good opportunity for young Miao men and women to fall in love, but also an important place for Miao people to carry out cultural and recreational activities. Miao people, old and young, dressed in gold and silver, rushed to the foot of the flower pole from all directions, playing reeds, playing tricks, bullfighting, wrestling, playing thrush and climbing the flower pole. ?

Miao nationality-marriage custom?

Miao nationality is monogamous, and young men and women have traditional social activities before marriage. For example, "meeting girls" is the way for Miao youth to fall in love freely. The traditional festival of Miao nationality is the annual Huashan Festival (held on the fifth day of the first lunar month, also known as "stepping on Huashan Mountain"), which is the most prosperous festival of Miao nationality. During the festival, young men and women dressed in festive costumes get together to sing and perform drums, lions and lusheng, which is very lively. ?

Glutinous rice is also an essential food for young men and women to fall in love and get married. Miao people in Chengbu, Hunan Province gave each other glutinous rice cakes painted with mandarin ducks as souvenirs. When the wedding is held, the bride and groom will raise their glasses to propose a toast, and the person in charge of the wedding will also invite the bride and groom to eat glutinous rice cakes painted with dragons, phoenixes and dolls. ?

Miao nationality-clothing?

It is the nature of Miao girls to like to wear silver ornaments. They tied a bun on their heads, about 20 cm high, and made a beautiful silver corolla. There are six jagged silver wings inserted in front of the corolla, most of which are the patterns of two dragons playing with beads. In some areas, in addition to silver pieces, silver horns with a height of about 1 m are inserted into the silver crown, and the tips of the horns float in color, which makes them more noble and rich. There is a silver ribbon at the lower edge of the silver crown, and a row of small silver pendants hang down. The silver collar worn around the neck has several layers, mostly made of silver pieces and small silver rings. Wearing a silver lock and a silver collar on his chest, wearing a silver cloak on his chest and back, and hanging many small silver bells. Earrings and bracelets are all made of silver. Only the two sleeves are embroidered with lux as the main tone, but the cuffs are also inlaid with a wide circle of silver ornaments. The costumes of Miao girls often weigh several kilograms, and some have been accumulated and passed down by generations. Known as "a fairy dressed in strange clothes and wrapped in white." The craftsmanship of Miao silver ornaments is gorgeous, exquisite and ingenious, which fully shows the wisdom and talent of Miao people. Miao costumes are not exactly the same everywhere. Men usually wear cloth shorts, but Miao women generally pay attention to clothing, especially clothing, which is extremely exquisite and has many flowers. Some skirts have more than 40 layers, hence the name "pleated skirt". The patterns embroidered on the dress are antique and colorful. Women are good at weaving, embroidery and batik, with exquisite craftsmanship. ?

Miao nationality-diet?

In most areas, Miao people have three meals a day, and rice is the staple food. Fried Baba is the most common fried food. If you add some fresh meat and sauerkraut as stuffing, the taste will be more delicious. ?

Most meat comes from livestock and poultry farming. Miao people in Sichuan and Yunnan like to eat dog meat, and there is a saying that "Miao's dog is Yi's wine". In addition to animal oil, Miao people's edible oils are mostly tea oil and vegetable oil. ?

Pepper is the main condiment, and in some areas there is even a saying that it is inseparable from pepper. There are many kinds of Miao vegetables. Common vegetables are beans, melons, greens and radishes. Most Miao people are good at making bean products. ?

Miao people everywhere generally like to eat sauerkraut, and sour soup is a must for every family. Sour soup is rice soup or tofu water, fermented in a crock for 3-5 days, and then used to cook fish and vegetables. ?

The food preservation of Miao people generally adopts pickling method, and vegetables, chickens, ducks and fish like to be pickled into sour taste. Almost every Miao family has a jar for curing food, which is collectively called a sour jar. ?

Miao nationality has a long history of brewing, and has a set of techniques from koji making, fermentation, distillation, blending and cellar storage. Camellia oleifera is the most common daily drink. Miao people in Xiangxi also specially made a kind of scented tea. Sour soup is also a common drink. ?

Typical foods mainly include: blood soup, Chili bone, Miaoxiang Guifeng soup, cotton vegetable cake, insect tea, scented tea, fish paste, sour soup fish and so on. ?

Miao nationality-architecture?

Due to long-term scattered living, different regions have their own characteristics. Most houses are made of wood, and the roofs are covered with tiles, fir bark or thatch. In central or western Guizhou, thin slate is used to cover roofs. Mountainous areas are mostly diaojiao buildings; Hainan Island and Zhaotong, Yunnan Province are inhabited by long thatched houses or "fork houses" built with cross trunks; Xiangxi area is full of stone houses. ?

Most Miao people live in mountainous areas, and their houses are made of hedges, bark, tiles, or gables, bamboo chips or sawdust, and are divided into bedrooms, kitchens and stables, with simple furnishings. Some Miao people live in the dam area, and their houses also have tile houses with water and soil structure, which are divided into three rooms, with side doors on the left and right and a gate in the middle, that is, the main entrance. In some Miao people, the main entrance is generally not allowed to go in and out casually. Only when there are weddings, funerals, sacrifices and other activities at home can you go in and out through the main entrance. ?