THE HAINANESE MIAO 



(Miss) M. M. MONINGER 



Far down in the mountainous interior of Hainan, princi- 

 pally in the districts of Loh-hoe and Deng-ang, several 

 hundred Miao villages may be found. These Miao people, 

 essentially a nomadic race, build their rude villages, live on 

 the hillside a few years until the natural fertility of the soil 

 seems to them to be exhausted, and then move to a virgin 

 soil. Hainan's population embraces three great divisions — 

 the Loi aborigines (several tribes of which have become 

 much like the Chinese in everything except language), the 

 Chinese and the Miao. The Chinese seem to be unable to 

 distinguish between "wild" Loi and Miao, classing them all 

 indiscriminately as Loi robbers, but they are very distinct 

 peoples, each tribe having its own language and customs. 



The Miao people are not native to Hainan. They 

 themselves say that they came from Kwangsi five or six 

 generations ago. They are practically all of one tribe, judg- 

 ing by the embroidered head kerchief of the women, but a 

 few villages of a different type are found in Deng-ang. We 

 would be very glad indeed to get in touch with Miao people 

 in other parts of China who speak the same dialect as our 

 people, and if any readers of this article recognize from 

 the following descriptions, Miao who are similar to the 

 Hainanese Miao, correspondence would be welcomed. 



It has been my privilege, at two different times, to spend 

 periods of three weeks each, itinerating among these people, 

 and to have seen a number of their villages, both heathen 

 and Christian. Certain general characteristics are true of all 

 their villages and a description of one would apply to all. 

 Let me take as typical the village of Baeh-tui-voe or White- 

 water-tail. 



This village is situated near a lovely rocky river, on a 

 tiny hill rising from the stream. Whether you come to the 

 village from the north or from the south, you must scramble 

 down a narrow^, precipitous foot-path from the top of a 

 mountain to the village, your carriers balancing their loads 

 as best they can, and your pony in infinite danger of falling 



