NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



31 



to fight with. They fought several days. The 

 W Chinese could not defeat the Lolos and the 

 I) Miao. The Chinese said, "We need not fight 

 'l any longer. If we fight any longer more 

 i people will be killed. We had better deter- 

 mine the bounds of each other's land and each 

 one himself mark his boundary." They all 

 said, "Quite right." The Chinese went and 

 used stones as boundary markers. The Lolos 

 used wood to mark their boundaries. The 

 Miao used grass and vines for boundary 

 markers. 



When they had all established their bound- 

 aries the Chinese said, "Such a forest is so 

 big that we cannot see our boundaries. We 

 should burn it with fire so we can see them 

 clearly." Soon after he had said this the 

 Chinese used a torch and burnt up the forest. 

 Then all went to look at their boundaries, 

 but only the Chinese then had boundaries, 

 and the Miao had nothing dependable. 



Then the Chinese brought their wives and 

 children to live on the Miao's big plain and 

 the large land by the streams. The Lolos 

 were fierce and would not permit the Chi- 

 nese to come and live there (on the Lolo 

 lands), and afterward they fought several 

 battles. The Miao could only be guests (rent- 

 ers) of the Chinese and must pay rent every 

 year, and because of this the Chinese without 

 farming are still able to get things to eat; 

 hence they have been called Swa ^'' because 

 they are idle rich. The meaning of Mang is 

 fierce, daring, brave, so the Lolos are called 

 Mang. The Chinese saw that the hmong ^^ 

 (hmoO") did their farming well, so they 

 called them Miao. This is the source of the 

 names of the three races. 



A Military Heroine. A Woman Who Led 

 Soldiers (175) 



A grasshopper laid a long egg and laid it 

 on the grass. She let the grass warm it for 

 her. When it had been warmed for 12 days 

 and 30 days (42 days in all), the egg was 

 bright and fine inside, and its surface was also 

 fine. The inside of the egg opened and 

 hatched out a little girl. Her name was Mma 

 Ngeo Mi (a pretty girl in her teens). Her 

 body was that of a girl. 



Who do you say is excellent in leading 



^'^ Swa is the Ch'uan Miao word for Chinese. 

 It means play or be idle and is applied to the 

 Chinese because they are land owners and live on 

 the income from rentals paid by the Miao people, 

 who do the hard work on the soil. 



^^ The Miao call themselves hmong, but have 

 been named Miao by the Chinese. The word 

 Miao means sons of the soil. 



soldiers? It is Mma Ngeo Mi who is excellent 

 in leading soldiers. Who do you say is wicked 

 (fierce or excellent) in leading soldiers? It is 

 Mma Ngeo Mi who is wicked in leading 

 soldiers. Whose soldiers do you declare to 

 be fierce and wicked (very brave) ? It is also 

 Mma Ngeo Mi's soldiers who are fierce and 

 wicked. She took her soldiers and led them 

 up on the pass. Those soldiers were also very 

 able warriors. She also led her soldiers up 

 onto the peak. Her soldiers were also very 

 brave. She trained her soldiers on the level 

 ground. When her soldiers arrived, it seemed 

 as if she had received other soldiers. She 

 could bring 3,000 soldiers which seemed to be 

 as numerous as a swarm of bees. She could 

 bring 300 strongholds of soldiers as numerous 

 as ants. Then she would go back to the 

 lower ridge. 



Ntseo, the Chinese, broke her shin-protector 

 and then she said, "On my small finger I am 

 still wearing a brass ring. When I use this 

 to throw a spear, it speeds like a snake." She 

 again went to a level piece of ground. Ntseo, 

 the Chinese, then broke her belt. Then she 

 said, "On my small hand I am still wearing a 

 silver ring. The brass and the silver rings 

 are both here" (not lost). Ntseo killed her, 

 and then there was nobody who could lead 

 soldiers like her. After she was dead, there 

 was certainly nobody who could lead soldiers 

 as evil (fiercely) as she. After she was dead, 

 her 3,000 soldiers were led onto the moun- 

 tain above the great precipice as a refuge. 

 After her death the soldiers in her 300 strong- 

 holds went and lived in the caves in the great 

 precipices. 



The Death of a Miao Military Heroine (176) 



The praying mantis layed an egg on the 

 grass. Not long afterward its egg hatched 

 into a person whose name was Mma Ngeo Mi. 

 It was asked, "Who can lead soldiers well?" 

 Reply, "It was Mma Ngeo Mi who led soldiers 

 well and went to attack E Ch'i Lang.^^ But 

 when she led her soldiers she had much com- 

 passion. Whenever she reached a place she 

 could enlist the soldiers in that place. Her 

 soldiers were really as numerous as bees and 

 as mosquitoes. 



Later the Chinese came and stabbed her 

 legs. She said that on her delicate (fine) 

 hands she was wearing a brass ring, and be- 

 cause she was wearing this ring she could 

 easily use the spear made of a long bamboo 

 stick. The Chinese then stabbed her through 

 her belt in her waist. She said that on her 



S9 The city of E Ch'i. The place is uncertain. 



