NO. I 



CH UAN MIAO SONGS AND STORIES — GRAHAM 



261 



Miao and the Lolos came and lived there. 

 The nature of the Ngai Nts'i was to struggle 

 against the sky (heaven). They were there- 

 fore also called the Du T'ien.^^ In the sum- 

 mer when it was hot they v/ere accustomed 

 to wear leather coats and warm themselves by 

 the fire. For this some laughed at them and 

 said "If you wear skin clothing during the 

 fifth and sixth moons you will be too hot 

 inside and outside." 



In the winter they wore a single sweat 

 garment (very thin), and carried big fans in 

 their hands and fanned themselves. But they 

 would not let anybody be lazy, and all strug- 

 gled against heaven (or the sky). They were 

 very industrious at clearing the land, and 

 each family was very rich. Every family built 

 a stone grave in which to bury its parents. 

 In birth (while living) they were a united 

 group, and in death they wanted to be to- 

 gether (therefore their graves were close to- 

 gether). 



Afterward there was a Chinese bachelor of 

 arts named Lo Yin ( ,^ O ) . He worked out 

 a scheme so that when a person died his de- 

 scendants could not prosper. He therefore 

 started a rumor, "The Ngai Ntsi' can only 

 struggle against heaven. They cannot struggle 

 against the water of the sea. It will be well 

 to first take our ancestors' bones and bury 

 them in the sea. After that we can scatter 

 the Ngai Ntsi" people." 



The Ngai Nts'i heard dais and they took all 

 their ancestors' bones and buried them in the 

 water of the seas (small lakes) , But although 

 they did this, they afterward prospered 

 greatly, and out of their midst a great ruler 

 arose. Later this Lo Yin bachelor of arts 

 again thought out a trick. He again started 

 a rumor saying, "These Ngai Ntsi can only 

 oppose heaven, the earth, and water. There 

 are still the great white cliffs. Probably they 

 do not want these cliffs because the cliffs are 

 very dry. If they bury their ancestors by hang- 

 ing them on the cliffs, they will never cease to 

 prosper, and from the cliffs they will look 

 upon us like the stars and the moon, and their 

 descendants will prosper even more in the 

 future and will rule all the world." 



When they heard these words, they spread 

 the news everywhere, and they assembled the 

 race all togedier and said, "Formerly people 

 spoke about sea water, and we have already 

 accomplished things (we have buried the dead 

 there and prospered). Today there are also 

 people v/ho say we should hang the dead up 

 high like the stars and the moon, and in the 

 future we will control the world." Afterward 

 they hired masons to first paint the bows, 

 arrows, swords, and so on which the people 

 used, with the horses they rode and their 

 saddles, and their seals, on the cliffs, then 

 after death to bury them by hanging their 

 coffins on the cliffs.^^ 



As A Demon 



The Bachelor of Arts Lo Yin and the Magi- 

 cian Wang San (489) 



The bachelor of arts, Lo Yin, was efficient 

 in eating people. Wang San, the titan Jiung, 

 was efficient in healing people. Where Lo 

 Yin, the bachelor of arts, ate people, the titan 

 \iing healed people 



One day Wang San, the magician, went to 



noimced in southern Szechwan "Ngai TsJ, mean- 

 ing dwarfs or short people. The Ch'uan Miao 

 name for these people also means dwarfs or short 

 people. In Chinese they are called Pat Jen \ , and 

 are apparently of the Shan or Thai race. 



21 Du T'ien are Chinese words meaning to 

 struggle against heaven or hold a contest against 

 the sky. 



^2 At the present time these coffins can be seen 

 near Kunghsien, Ma T'ang Ba, Miao Keo, Shan 

 Tsai, Shi Tsai, which localities are probably all in 

 Szechwan, and in the districts of Cheng Hsiung 

 Hsien, Lung K'ung Pa, of Yen Ching Hsien, and 

 Teo Sha Kuan of Ta Kuan Hsien in Yunnan 

 Province. The name in Ch'uan Miao for the 

 Ngai Nts'i is Tao^ 3e^ or short people. 



heal people. Then the bachelor of arts ran to 

 the wife of the tuan \ung and said, "In what- 

 ever home I eat people, your husband pursues 

 me to that home. On the thirteenth day of 

 the ninth moon I will come to take you for 

 my wife." 



When it had become dark her husband came 

 home. She told her husband about it. On the 

 day when the bachelor of arts was coming, 

 the whole family kept watch all day, but they 

 did not see the bachelor of arts Lo Yin come. 

 Later, when the fire had died out, the wife 

 went to sleep and suddenly she was not to be 

 seen. Then the tuan \ung knew that she was 

 taken away by Lo Yin, and he wept every 

 day. Although he wept, he did not know 

 where to go and find her. 



One day a small boy came and said to him, 

 "Are you thinking about your wife? Your 

 wife has already been taken across the great 

 sea by the bachelor of arts, Lo Yin. If you 

 go along the river you will certainly get to 

 see her." 



When he heard the small boy's words, he 



