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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 123 



delicate finger there was still a silver ring. 

 When she had finished these beloved words, 

 she died. (When she had said these words, 

 die beloved woman died.) After she had died 

 the Miao did not have any able leader to com- 

 mand their soldiers. Some of the soldiers 

 were carried away by the Chinese to Chung- 

 king, and the rest separated and lived in caves 

 in the cliffs everywhere. 



Calling upon Laborers to Beware of Bad 

 Treatment (680) 



In a country village there was a wicked per- 

 son. He hired people to work for long 

 periods, and he spoke deceivingly, saying, 

 "When I hire a laborer, the wages are higher 

 than that of others, but the condition is that 

 during one year he must not lose any of my 

 tools, or he will not receive any of his wages. 

 If he loses any, I will confiscate his entire 

 year's wages." 



After he had hired workers he waited until 

 the men had gone to work, and then he se- 

 cretly went and stole some of the tools they 

 were using, and that is the reason that he 

 spoke in this way. 



One year he hired a son of a Miao family 

 who was 20 years old, who went and helped 

 him that year. But the Miao boy was very 

 careful. One day he went to plow the field, 

 and he stuck the plow into the ground and 

 pretended to go away and amuse himself. 

 The Chinese landlord then came to take 

 away a part of the plow. But that boy had 

 hidden in the woods, and when the Chinese 

 came and had loosened the plowshare (or 

 hook) and was just about to take it away, the 

 boy came leaping out of the woods, and 

 shouting loudly caught him and beat him 

 awhile. The Chinese did not dare say much 

 but talked to him for awhile and went back 

 home. The Miao boy received a lot of money 

 and came back home. He used his wages to 

 buy many farming tools and then used them 

 to farm (for himself). Afterward he had food 

 to eat and did not work for others. He com- 

 posed this song to tell others about his 

 experience. 



A War with the Lolos against The Chinese 

 (682) 



There was en emperor named Ntzi Chu Ja 

 La Tung (ntzi' Chu-' dsae' la-' Tung', god's 

 official old person field brass). With his 

 daughter he ruled all China. His people 

 looked upon the emperor as too young, and 

 rebelled. He and his daughter gathered sol- 

 diers and prepared weapons, such as spears, 



swords, and bows and arrows, and fought 

 with the rebels. They fought to Lo Ssu Ch'en 

 which is now called Chiu Ssu Ch'en, near 

 Hsin Wen Hsien in the Lan Luh Hsien south 

 of I Pin, Szechwan Province. His soldiers 

 captured half the city and also a fortification 

 named Lo Ssu Chai, and they killed the Miao 

 and the Lolos in that region. The Miao and 

 Lolo women could not find a refuge, and so 

 they fled at night to the Yangtse River. There 

 was no bridge, and so many of the women 

 and children were drowned in the river. 

 Henceforth the emperor controlled the land 

 of the Miao and the Lolos. The Miao re- 

 turned to their present abode and the Lolos 

 went to Liang Shan and are still inde- 

 pendent.^*^ 



A Song about Salt (683) 



At first there was no salt to eat. The Miao 

 drew water and boiled it dry and salt was 

 left, and not till then did they know of the 

 existence of salt. Later the Chinese learned 

 that the Miao had salt, and they brought 

 horses and mules in order to buy and carry 

 it away. The Miao revered the salt and called 

 it "salt mother" and gave it to horsemen to 

 carry on their horses, and "salt father" for 

 the mules to carry. When the salt was 

 sprinkled on chicken meat then the meat had 

 a good flavor. It also made pork good to eat. 

 The Chinese therefore came and took away 

 the source of the Miao salt (probably the salt 

 wells at Ch'ang Ning). The Miao were with- 

 out resource and could only weep in their 

 homes. 



The Chinese Conquered the Land of the Miao 

 and the Lolos (694) 



The Chinese are good like a flower. They 

 are good, but they coveted our city Hsin Wen 

 Hsien. As to Gien Wu Ch'en, it had a big 

 iron gate. Inside was a big furnace. The 

 furnace was for making bows and arrows. 

 The Chinese emperor Je La Dong sent many 

 soldiers, and they came and took our big 

 rocky place for horse racing and for shooting 

 arrows. They attacked Chiu Ssu Ch'en and 

 also Chiu Ssu Chai (near Hsin Wen Hsien) 

 and drove away the Miao and the Lolos. The 

 Lolos fled across the Yangtse River. The Miao 

 were driven to the river and many drowned, 



^0 Sung by Mrs. Wang Ch'eng Fu. This event 

 probably took place in the Manchu Dynasty, al- 

 though in the Tang Dynasty there was a great 

 Chinese leader whose daughter became a famous 

 warrior. 



