28 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



When the Miao Conquered China (681) 



P'an Ku opened up the heavens and the 

 earth. Tsang Ku Lao produced the Yin and 

 the Yang. Shen Lung gave the five grains. 

 Hsiien Yuen invented clothes for people to 

 wear, which have been handed down from 

 generation to generation. The Miao men Niu 

 Ch'ih and Ma Wei were oflScials. The Yang 



family men were soldiers of these two officials. 

 They went to fight the Chinese Wang Bei 

 Tang. These families could not have em- 

 perors. There were no emperors in these 

 families. 



The Miao then gathered a million soldiers 

 and took possession of China. This was a 

 prosperous period for the Miao.*^ 



PRE-SZECHWAN CH'UAN MIAO HISTORY 



Raising a Big Elephant (419) 



When the mother elephant gave birth to 

 the baby elephant, the father elephant loved 

 the baby elephant as people love rice plants. 

 The mother elephant pulled down three leaves 

 and spread a bed for him. The elephant 

 father also pulled some leaves and covered 

 the baby elephant. 



One day, when the baby elephant had 

 grown up, they sold the baby elephant to 

 some Chinese. Two Chinese named Wang 

 Chin (king gold) took the elephant to battle 

 and to attack a town and to attack strong- 

 holds. 



One day the Chinese Wang Chin said 

 something very clearly. He said, "My big ele- 

 phant is like a general. My elephant is 

 spotted. My big elephant can grab people 

 with his trunk. My elephant's head and feet 

 are spotted." 



On another day the man who owned (fed) 

 the big elephant said, "We will lead soldiers 

 to the higher altitudes and go to the city of 

 the emperor called Yin Shiang City" (silver 

 flavor city) . Then the two big elephants said, 

 "We will lead soldiers and go up above. We 

 will go to die Chinese new barracks. We will 

 tie swords to our bodies" (we will go and 

 fight the Chinese). 



When the great elephants fought the Chi- 

 nese, the Chinese died like clay. They 

 tramped Chinese to death like dust. The big 

 elephants did not believe the words of the 

 Chinese. They helped the Miao fight for land 

 and cities. The big elephants were truly 

 powerful. We want to raise other elephants. 

 The song is ended. 



The Defeat of the Miao by the Chinese in 

 Kwangtung (669) 



The heavens are empty; the earth is small. 

 The Chinese arose and fought us Miao. 



45 Sung by Mrs. Wang Ch'eng Fu, daughter of 

 Mr. T'ao Min Hsiien. 



One wonders if there is any historic basis for 

 the above tradition. If so, could it have been 



When we heard this evil news, when the 

 Chinese reached Kwangtung, they brought 

 cannons and guns, and we were much afraid. 

 When they had conquered Kiangsi, the Miao 

 T'ien Ho ^j/C *^ blew his bugle, and Earth 

 Fire ife j/<. *'' took up his sword and curved 

 bows, and mustered soldiers as far as the 

 horizon. The Chinese in attacking the Miao 

 towns fought rapidly, attacking quickly, and 

 even the chickens and dogs were frightened. 

 The Miao soldiers went and fought them, 

 but the Chinese broke open the Miao cities. 

 The Chinese soldiers, when they saw the 

 Miao soldiers covering the surrounding hills, 

 were unable to hold back the Miao soldiers 

 and fled and took refuge on the cliffs. The 

 Chinese used a trick, making boats and 

 chariots, filling them with soldiers, and came 

 again to fight the Miao. The Miao were then 

 defeated. The Chinese took possession of the 

 Miao land and ordered the Miao to make 

 them 3,000 bows and arrows. The Miao 

 could not oppose them and took refuge in 

 caves. 



The Defeat and Forced Migration of the 

 Ch'uan Miao'-^ (672) 



The former home of the Ch'uan Miao was 

 in Kwangtung. The Chinese ordered the Miao 

 to give up their lands, but the the Miao re- 

 fused. The Chinese then came and attacked. 

 The Miao used crossbows and the Chinese 

 used spears. At first the Chinese were de- 

 feated. Then the Chinese brought cannon. 

 The Chinese were victorious and forced the 

 Miao, with their hands tied behind their 



when the Miao joined with the Chou people to 

 overthrow the Shang Dynasty? 



4^ T'ien Ho means fire from heaven or the sky. 



*'' Earth Fire was also a Miao leader. 



■*s This story was related by Glao Ao (Peach 

 Two) or second son of the Glao family, a grand- 

 son of a former Ch'uan Miao king. He was 

 considered by die Ch'uan Miao to be one of the 

 best and most accurately informed about Ch'uan 

 Miao traditions and customs. His grandfather 

 was the "king" whose rebellion is described in 

 No. 712 (p. 33). 



