NO. I CHUAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 9 



As we have seen, the deceased ancestors are commemorated by numerous cere- 

 monies in which offerings are made, but the Ch'uan Miao assert that they do not 

 regard ancestors as deities. 



Among more primitive peoples is found the mana concept, that of a super- 

 human, supernatural, strange power that is present in unusual persons, deities, 

 and things. Among the Ch'uan Miao this power is assumed but not named or 

 theorized about. It is possessed by gods, godlike creatures, devils, the do nun or 

 exorcist, the mo or priest, the bo ntzong who transforms people into tigers, the 

 ceremonial drum, the liu sheng, the ceremonial crossbow, the ceremonial lin p'ai, 

 the sword, the seal, etc. There are magic fans by the waving of which battles 

 can be won and other wonders performed, and there are magical charms and 

 incantations possessing this strange power. 



Tigers, foxes, snakes, banana trees, vines, rats, frogs, cattle, and eels are believed 

 to change into human form and vice versa. Sometimes they change into human 

 form to help people, but often it is to do them harm, and people injured by them 

 must be saved from death by the magician, the do nun. 



The Ch'uan Miao regard all things as alive and sentient. The sun, moon, 

 stars, mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, thunder, the echo, the rainbow, homes, fields, 

 plains, recompense or karma, beds, marriage, swords, the harvest, the year, the 

 liu sheng, the ceremonial drum, and even the sound of the ceremonial drum are 

 considered to be living things. Ample evidence of this is found in the stories, 

 and it has often been confirmed to the writer by the Ch'uan Miao themselves. 



A year is a living creature with a head like that of a human being. The liu sheng 

 is alive, and when played it is regarded as speaking. Ceremonial drums speak 

 when being beaten in the ceremonies. Mountains have heads, feet, hands, eyes, 

 ears, hearts, breasts, veins, and arteries. A plain may be male or female and has 

 a mouth, a heart, arteries, veins, and sinews. The sun and the moon have parents. 

 Rocks and stones are male and female, grow, have offspring, and can speak. Some 

 stones may become immortals. The echo has a deceptive character and can act 

 and speak. Thunder is a living creature, in size and shape like a rooster. It is 

 small but powerful, and its call is the noise of thunder. It has a knife of fire, 

 and when it throws this there is lightning. It is this knife that causes damage when 

 lightning strikes. 



The Ch'uan Miao find it natural to say that all things, even those that are 

 inanimate, are alive and have lives, but they find it difficult and less natural to 

 say that inanimate things have souls, although lives are intelligent, active, and 

 have eyes. In some old stories it is stated that people have lives and that the lives 

 are located in the armpits. Are we right or wrong if we call this animatism } 



GRAMMAR AND PRONUNCIATION 



The grammar of the Ch'uan Miao in some respects resembles that of the Chinese. 

 It is monosyllabic and tonal. The order of the sentence is subject, predicate, and 

 object, but the object follows the noun and the adverb follows the verb. In the 

 Chinese language there is the aspirate and the nonaspirate, but the Ch'uan Miao 

 have the nonaspirate, the "little aspirate," and the "big aspirate." The big aspirate 



