PREFACE 



I first came into contact with the Ch'uan Miao )l\^ in 1921. During the pre- 

 ious year there had been a severe famine in Kweichow jj^H, and many of the 

 ibespeople of that province, to save themselves from starvation, ate grass and 

 le leaves and bark and roots of trees. One Hua Miao ^l^rf > called Chang Sa Kai 

 r Zaccaeus Chang because of his short stature, left his home in Kopu ^^7, 

 i.v^'eichov^^ Province, and came to Suifu ^^^M, now called I-pin, where I was 

 rationed. From him I learned of the Ch'uan Miao, and by his help I was able 

 3 make friendly contacts with them. I visited the Ch'uan Miao at Chou Chia 

 Leo )fj^,j||, Wang Wu Chai^l^^^ and other places, and a Ch'uan Miao boy 

 lamed Yang Fong Tsang went with me to Suifu, where he attended the junior 

 nd senior primary schools. For years he was an almost constant companion on 

 ny journeys, and he assisted me in my attempts to learn the language and customs 

 f these people. 



During the following years I visited the Ch'uan Miao in their homes as often 

 s possible, listening to their songs, hunting with them, talking about their customs, 

 aking anthropometrical measurements, and watching them play their wind instru- 

 nents and dance, or perform their ceremonies. 



In 1932 I was transferred to Chengtu ^^, the capital of the province, and 

 vas made curator of the West China Union University Museum of Archaeology, 

 Vrt, and Ethnology. From this time on I made more determined efforts to learn 

 ibout the Ch'uan Miao. I spent several summers with them, and on one of these 

 ;xpeditions I was accompanied by W. R. Morse, M.D., and Gordon Agnew, D.D.S. 

 !)r. Morse made anthropometrical measurements and observations, and Dr. Agnew 

 tudied their diet and their oral conditions. At one time when it was impossible, 

 Decause of brigands, to go to their homes, several Ch'uan Miao came to Suifu and 

 "or weeks aided me in my study. At other times one or more Ch'uan Miao men 

 :ame all the way to Chengtu. Believing that their music was very interesting and 

 3f high quality, I brought three of their best musicians to Chengtu where for 

 several weeks Dr. Agnew and other musicians studied and transcribed their music, 

 ind published an interesting article on the music of the Ch'uan Miao in volume 11 

 Df the Journal of the West China Border Research Society. 



At first my method was to listen to a song or story as it was sung by a Ch'uan 

 Miao man or woman, then write it down sentence by sentence as it was explained 

 by the singer. Later I obtained the help of a Ch'uan Miao who could read and write 

 Chinese and sent him to different parts of the Ch'uan Miao region to collect songs 

 and stories. He would write them in Chinese in little booklets, which he would 

 send to me at Chengtu. Later, with his help, I would translate them into English. 

 The final stage was reached when my knowledge of the Ch'uan Miao language 

 and the international script had improved enough to enable me to write down the 

 Ch'uan Miao words in the international script, then transliterate them, and finally 

 render a translation. I would always go over my final translations several times 



