30 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. i2-m 



to go and beat the great gong. The tunes 

 the red-scissor people played were hke those 

 of the hawk-cuckoo. They all went to the 

 home of the Chinese woman. 



At that time the Chinese girl Nts'ai Ngeo 

 Fong ^3 also worked silk clothing and golden 

 ornaments. She also wore silver ornaments 

 and golden bracelets. At that time the Miao 

 emperor I rought 3,000 ingots of silver and 

 placed them on the table. He used 300 car- 

 riers and carried them to a Chinese man's 

 home. 



When the Chinese man saw it he spoke a 

 word about the Miao king having as much 

 silver as there are stones. The Chinese em- 

 peror accepted the silver and put it away. 

 His family went to prepare (for the wedding 

 procession), because their daughter was about 

 to start. The 3,000 soldiers of the Miao em- 

 peror went forward. Then the young daugh- 

 ter of the Chinese got into the sedan chair. 

 The chair coolies walked very rapidly and in a 

 short time arrived at the flat ground and also 

 at a big field. They heard the iron cannon 

 of the Miao emperor resound like the roar of 

 thunder. The Miao emperor did not know 



whether the Chinese bride was old or young 

 In a moment they arrived at the front doo 

 of the Miao emperor. She saw the empero 

 standing in the middle of the parlor. Sb 

 also saw that many candles were lighted lik.' 

 bows and arrows. 



At that moment the mother of the emperoi 

 came out to call into his home the soul ol 

 the bride s* then, like the Chinese, led th( 

 bride out to pay respects in the hall. She firsi 

 paid respects to the house gods, then to the 

 stove door (this includes the whole stove), 

 then to the Miao ancestors; then she paid 

 respects to Ntzi's highest heaven. Then she 

 also paid respects to the level earth, thenffe 

 also to the groom's parents, and also to the 

 distant guests of 300 fortified places. She 

 also paid respects to the old people who lived 

 nearby and to the hired help (brothers who 

 helped them). After respects had been paid 

 to all these, then the groom and the bride 

 went into the bedroom. The groom said, 

 "Now we have gotten a Chinese bride like 

 a good official. This Chinese girl has come 

 to make a good breed" (to help create a fine 

 breed of people) .^^ 



Relations between Miao and Chinese (Unfriendly) 



Chinese TaJ{e Possession of the Land of the 

 Miao (29) 



Na Bo Seo (na-" bo-' Jau^ great old 

 woman with very long life) arose and opened 

 up the universe. She planted some mao bai ^^ 



S3 Nts'ai, girl, Ngeo Fong, an unmarried girl, 

 a person as charming as quiet water. 



s* According to the custom of the Ch'uan Miao, 

 when the bride arrives at the door the mother 

 of die groom brings a rooster and moves it in a 

 circle around the bride's head, then takes the 

 rooster into the house. This is to entice the soul 

 of the bride into the home of the groom because 

 if her soul does not enter the bride will die. 



ss The Ch'uan Miao custom is that after the 

 rooster is circled around the bride's head three 

 times, a woman takes the umbrella that has been 

 above the bride's head and carries it into the 

 house. After the umbrella has been taken into 

 the house, three young women lead the bride 

 into her bedroom. One does the speaking, telling 

 the escorters that they have troubled their hearts. 

 The second gives some tobacco to the escorters. 

 The third pours out tea for them. This is done 

 by the three young women outside the door. 

 Then inside the main room the bride sits down a 

 few minutes, when the diree women do again 

 as they did outside — speaking, giving tobacco, and 

 pouring the tea. Outside the door the face of the 

 bride is covered by a cloth. Inside die room the 

 cloth is left covering the bride until after supper. 



and the five grains to eat. Her land was very 

 broad. Ye Mang (Se' maO", an old Lolo) 

 arose to turn the animals out to pasture. Ye 

 Mang and a Chinese Yang Tsua (jaO' tswa^) 

 arose to carry on mercantile business. Then 

 all the people bartered foodstufifs with each 

 other. 



One day Na Bo Seo's many sons arose. The 

 old Chinese man said, "We will all divide the 

 land." The old Lolo men would not consent 

 and arose and went to war. The Chinese 

 used a big bamboo tube and put in it sul- 

 phur and saltpeter and placed it on the road. 

 The Miao used wood set on fire and torches 



After entering the room, with thanks, tobacco, 

 and tea, then there is a feast. An hour or two 

 after the meal, a second meal is enjoyed by the 

 bride with the near woman relatives of her hus- 

 band. In this later meal there should be two 

 chickens and a special dish of a quart of wine 

 rice {chill mi) cooked and divided among them 

 all, with vegetables, pork, and other things. Wine 

 should be used. After the feast the women go 

 into the bride's bedroom and sit down. Then 

 a bowl of cooked pork is given to the women 

 who brought the bride to the home, and also a 

 pitcher of wine. Then the women who escorted 

 the bride are asked to take the cloth ofl the 

 bride's face. Thus the ceremony is finished, 

 s^ Mao bai is a grain with fine seeds. 



