NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



33 



4 Victory for the Miao (711) 



Oh, heaven. The Lolos made trouble and 

 :anie out and tied up people (and took them 

 3S captives). The Chinese made trouble and 

 ame and confiscated the land. 



One day Mi Nts'ai Ts'a arose and was 

 weaving, and her mind was disturbed. Her 

 parents said, "We are afraid that this daugh- 

 ter of ours will go crazy." They then re- 

 quested people to come and look after her. 

 Then Do Yin said, "There is no mountain 

 demon, and there are no field or water de- 

 mons. I can find neither Chinese nor Lolo 

 demons." I said, "I fear that the sky demon 

 has again come out. You may go back and 

 offer in repentance a female pig, and she 

 will of course become well." They came back 

 and manifested repentance in this way, and 

 that girl of course was healed. 



The next year, when the weather was mild, 

 the grass and the trees sprouted and blos- 

 somed. Mi Nts'ai Ts'a slept until midnight, 

 and with a loud noise spoke saying, "Now 

 the Lolos and the Chinese have united and 

 ! arisen. We must quickly arise. We must 

 I quickly raise soldiers to occupy and protect, 

 ah. For Ntzi Nto Chu (Lord of the Sky) 

 has summoned me to lead soldiers and told 

 me to rule the world. Also Ntzi" Nto Mo's 

 heavenly book has been given into my hands." 

 j At this time they did not know that she 

 j was to rule the world. They all came and 

 knelt at her feet and asked if she truly had 

 the decre of the God of the Sky. She replied, 

 "It is true. It is not false. Don't you believe 

 me? You watch me." 



After she had finished speaking, at one 

 step she flew outside the door, reached out 

 her hand, and pulled up a large bamboo tree. 

 She said, "This bamboo is my flagstaff." She 

 then took a big piece of yellow cloth and 

 used it for a flag. When the people of that 

 stronghold saw this, they all secretly acknowl- 

 edged her as their leader and called her Mi 

 Nts'ai Chu Li Fa Do (queen?). Then very 

 many men came to be military leaders. They 

 then went everywhere and proclaimed her; 

 they enlisted many soldiers, made many bows 

 and arrows, cooked a great deal of poison, 

 made many stone knives, and rubbed poison 

 on the knives. Whenever the knives touched 

 or cut anybody, he would die at once. 



When the Chinese people near the ocean 

 heard that they (the Miao) had Mi Nts'ai 

 Chu Li Fa Do, they brought many swords 

 and attacked their barracks and fortified 

 places. She cried out, "Jo Cha Lo, Jo Cha 

 Dong, leaders, bring the stone axes, rub on 

 the poison." On that day the leader of the 



Chinese people arose and discussed matters. 

 Jo Cha Lo then struck with a stone ax and 

 struck him dead. Jo Cha Dong led a big 

 company of bowmen who hid in the woods, 

 and they each shot poisoned stone arrows and 

 killed all the Chinese soldiers. 



Then they all composed this song to sing. 

 After that the Chinese people feared their 

 poison and did not dare again to contest for 

 their lands. 



A Man Was Ambitious to Become a King, 

 and His Whole Clan Was Killed by the 

 Chinese (712) 



Over a hundred years ago there was a clan 

 named Mong Ts'a (or Ts'ai). This clan was 

 very prosperous and strong. The clan alone 

 occupied one region. On their mountain 

 there were three peaks. That family named 

 that mountain three-kettle-village. 



Every year during the first lunar month of 

 the new year, that family erected on the three 

 mountain peaks three large wooden poles 

 and hung colored cloth on the poles and also 

 hung up a big drum. The Miao in all direc- 

 tions liked very much to go there and perform 

 the ceremony of dancing the flowery altar. 

 From the first day of the first moon they 

 would certainly enjoy themselves thus the 

 whole first month before they would depart. 

 They danced in this way for several years. 



One year there was a certain man named 

 Li Shan Lao Yeh ^^ who was their ruler. 

 He said, "Among people of ancient times, 

 whoever had talents was able to worship a 

 flag and cause it to stand erect." Because they 

 believed that Ntzi had given him a special 

 star, and the Miao listened to what he said, 

 he became ambitious to become a king. His 

 brothers said, "We had better, when the 

 moon is full on the fifteenth day of the first 

 moon, try by worshiping that large, vari- 

 colored flowery cloth on that flagstaff, to see 

 who by worshiping it can cause it to stand 

 erect, and we will enlist soldiers and promote 

 leaders for him and allow him to be king." 



The fact is that in that year the Miao people 

 especially bought several tens of yellow cattle 

 to kill, and especially invited the Miao from 

 all directions to come and perform the Flow- 

 ery-altar Dance Ceremony with them. Natu- 

 rally, during the Flowery-altar Dance that 

 year there were several times as many people 

 as had come before. On that day they first 

 killed the cattle and made offerings to the 

 flagstaff, and afterward hung the flag on it. 



^1 Aged grandfather, the third son of the Li 

 family. 



