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The Miao people are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangxi, etc. provinces (autonomous region).
The Miaoling Mountains and the Wuling Mountains, where the Miao people live in compact communities are surrounded with rivers, interspersed with many large or small field flatlands. And the climate is temperate there. They produce rice, corn, wheat, cotton, flue-cured tobacco, rapeseed, Tung oil tree, etc.. In addition these areas are rich in wood and mineral resources.
The ancestry of the Miao people can trace back to the tribe of the mythological warriors engaged in fighting with the Yellow Emperor in the central plains region in the times of the primitive society. During the period of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th – 11th B. C.), the ancestors of the Miao people began to set up “San Miao Country” along the middle-lower reaches of the Changjiang River, engaged in farming. The Miao people changed their residences from place to place in the history; the roughly routs were from the Huanghe Valley to Xiang (Hunan), to Qian (Guizhou) and to Dian (Yunnan) respectively.
The Miao people have their own language, belonging to the Miao language of the Miao-Yao branch of the Sino-Tibetan Language Family. Originally they had no their own language in written forms. A Latinized alphabetic system of writing had not been created until the end of 1950s. Currently, most of them understand the Chinese language.
The Miao people have a long history in music and dance. They are fond of playing the Lusheng dance, with very high skills. The arts and handicrafts of the Miao people are surpassingly beautiful, such as Tianhua (cross-stitch embroidery) ,embroidery, brocade, wax printing, ornaments processing, etc., enjoying high reputation internationally. There are many festivals for the Miao people, the most grand are “Miaonian Festival”,”siyueba Festival” ”Dragon-Boat Festival” etc. |
Introduction Of Guizhou
