THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS OF KWEICHOW 1G5 



None of the many Miao tribes have as yet been found 

 to have any written language, and the spoken is apparently 

 very limited in range of th ought. It has no word to re- 

 present happiness, joy, gaiety; which may be accounted for 

 by the dull apathetic character to which I have already 

 referred. Their adoption of the Christian religion appears 

 to have stimulated them to a cheerfulness previously un- 

 known, and which certainly was a marked characteristic of 

 the community with whom we spent two days at Tenten. 

 Nothing of a material nature was given them by the mission, 

 and they all brought their provisions with them in bags on 

 their backs, and we gave them nothing. 



My interpreter made a list of names of other Miao 

 tribes in this part of the province, which he got from a 

 native evangelist, as follows: — 



Wu Chian Miao 



Chuan Miao ( = River Miao) 



Fu Tu Miao 



Han Miao 



Pei Chun Miao (they wear aprons on their backs) 



Ta Hsiang Miao (they wear broad sleeves) 



Hsiao Hsiang Miao (they wear small sleeves) 



Ching Miao (they were green clothes) 



Ching (a different character from the above) they wear 

 large combs 



Yi Chun Miao (they wear their clothes tucked up into 

 their belts). 



They call themselves Miao Family, as the Chinese call 

 themselves Han Family. 



Another set of tribes tabulated by my interpreter belong 

 to the Yi Family; the Tu Mu is the most powerful of these 

 tribes : — 



Tu Mu Pai Ke Noo 



White Yi Chuan Ching 



Black Yi Tsai Chia Tze 



Yi Tze Hua Chung Chia 



Tii Noo Yu Chung Chia 



Chian Moo Ke Noo Hei Lung Chia 



Hung Ke Noo Pai Lung Chia 



Hua Ke Noo 



There are other tribes belonging neither to the Miao nor 

 Y r i families. The Nan-ching-ren are so named after a place, 

 probably Nanking, from whence they say they originally 

 came. They much resemble the I-chia, but differ slightly 

 in language and customs : they also call themselves Lang- 

 chia-tze. 



