CONTENTS 



Page 



Preface iii 



I. Introduction 1 



The people 1 



Historical background 2 



Economic life 2 



Social organization 3 



Social life and ceremonies 4 



Religion 7 



Grammar and pronunciation 9 



Phonetic table 10 



II. Legends 11 



Creating and forming the sky and the earth 11 



Gods battle for the world 14 



The ladder between the sky and the earth was broken 14 



The first people who raised cats 16 



A supernatural birth 16 



A Miao changed into an amitabha 17 



A stone that was an immortal 17 



A stone turned into a morning star 18 



III. Tales relating to historical and etiological traditions 18 



Life in ancient times 18 



Stabilizing the sky and the earth 18 



Securing seed 18 



Social customs 19 



Religious customs 20 



Origin of customs and things 21 



Social customs 21 



Religious customs 23 



Things 25 



Ancient history 26 



Chinese 26 



Miao 27 



Chinese and Miao 27 



Pre-Szechwan Ch'uan Miao history 28 



Recent history, mostly in Szechwan 29 



Ch'uan Miao 29 



Relations between Miao and Chinese (friendly) 29 



Relations between Miao and Chinese (unfriendly) 30 



Relations witli non-Chinese groups 34 



The Taipings 35 



The Pai Jen, "Short People" (T'ai people?) 36 



