90 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



123 



EXPLAINING CEREMONIES 



Why the Miao Kill a Rooster to Lead the 

 Soul of the Deceased to Hades (402) 



In ancient times there were two old people, 

 a husband and his wife. They had only one 

 son, whom they named Nong Shioh. When 

 he grew up he went into the highlands to 

 choose a wife. Up there was an old man who 

 had two daughters. Nong Shioh went into 

 their home. The two daughters were also 

 willing to be married to him. 



At night the two girls secretly slept with 

 him. They said to him, "You eat the food 

 we cook in our home as you please. What 

 our father cooks when we are not at home 

 you should not eat. For his heart is evil. He 

 has some poison." 



One day when the two girls had gone out 

 the father boiled rice for him to eat, but he 

 would not eat it. He was hungry, but he 

 feared that if he ate he would be poisoned. 

 He thought awhile, then ate a bowl of rice. 

 As soon as he had eaten the poison took effect, 

 and he died immediately. 



Just as he died the two girls came back. 

 When they saw that he was dead they wept, 

 shedding tears. Then they went and pre- 

 pared a cofSn and placed him in it. They 



put a rooster on the coffin to show the soul 

 of the dead person the way (to heaven). 

 Then they took the coffin and the rooster and 

 threw them all into the river, and they were 

 washed away by the river. 



After they had been washed along for half 

 a day, the coffin arrived at his home and the 

 coflin stopped. Then the rooster crowed say- 

 ing, "Gang ndo, gang ndo, there are a hus- 

 band and a wife and also a son. There was 

 nobody to name him, so they named him 

 Nong Shioh. He went up on the highland to 

 choose a wife, but because the father's heart 

 was evil he put poison in the food and medi- 

 cine in the water, and poisoned Nong Shioh 

 to death. The two sisters made a coffin, placed 

 Nong Shioh in it, and put them in the river. 

 They have come back here." Then the rooster 

 crowed, "Oh, oh-o-o-o." 



The mother heard this and said, "Husband, 

 I hear that our son, who went choosing a 

 wife, has come." Then the two old people 

 went out together to look. They saw the 

 coffin and they asked, "What should we do?" 

 The rooster replied, "Now let maggots be 

 liis partners and maggots his brides" (let 

 them eat his corpse). 



DESCRIBING CEREMONIES 



The Time of Year for Marriages (71) 



Heaven was at the edge of the sky. The 

 earth was in its place and it ends by the 

 ocean. One day when the sky had first be- 

 come apparent, it was as though diere were 

 thunder or a volcano. There was light and 

 there was a loud noise. The sky also began 

 the time divisions (hours etc), and when there 

 were time divisions people could seek out the 

 times for marriages. When the times were 

 joined together, then the marriage road could 

 be established. If the time is good, then the 

 road to marriage can be made secure. To get 

 a marriage road a year must pass.''''^ 



When a year of time had passed, the old 

 farmer lived on his farm. He took a cane 

 and asked the news (about the engagement) 

 and asked at what time the sound of the 

 thunder and the lightning were heard and 

 seen (so he could reckon the time). An old 

 farmer said, "There was a beginning and an 

 end of the time when the thunder resounded. 

 The beginning was in the second lunar mondi 

 (the rabbit month). The end was during the 



■^^ After an engagement a year should pass 

 before the marriage. 



fourth lunar month (the month of the 

 snake). During these months, the second, die 

 third, and the fourth, marriages can be per- 

 formed." '^^ 



The Customary Proceedings When Escorting 

 a Bride to the Bridegroom' s Home ''^ (79) 



Sunny days are like good will in men's 

 hearts. Rainy weather provokes people. On 

 a fair day the water of the creeks in the 

 forest flows down the high mountains. When 

 it rains the water rises and fills the streams. 



There is an official's home on the flat be- 

 low the mountain. On the knoll on the big 

 mountain there is anodier official's family. 

 There is also an official who lives above the 

 waterfall. They all live as equals among the 

 common people. 



Hmong Tso (a Miao official) gathered to- 

 gether his relatives (brothers) to escort the 

 bride. He also appointed her older and 

 younger brothers to go togedier in order to 



■^^ This is an old custom, but now marriages 

 often occur in the fall after harvest is over. 



'^s The Ch'uan Miao still observe most of these 

 customs. 



