《全黔苗图》 Quanqian Miaotu
A Miao Album for All of Guizhou Province:
An investigation, explication, and translation
Francis Miller SAS 2013 May 7, Spring 2013
Professor Adam Smith Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences, Philadelphia, PA
EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
Table of Contents
Abstract 2
Introduction 3
Guizhou Province and the Chinese Empire 5
Considering Miao Albums and Ethnography 8
The Miao Album in the Penn Museum: Content and Peculiarities 12
Questions and Conclusions 35
Bibliography 39
Appendix I: Place Names in the Penn Miao Album 41
Appendix II: Comparison of Incidences of Mentions of Ethnic Groups in Printed Albums 43
Appendix III: List of Miao Albums Available in US Libraries and Online 45
Appendix IV: Bibliography for Penn Miao Album 46
Appendix V: Map of Modern Guizhou and Approximate Locations of Place Names 47
Appendix VI: Text and Translations 48
1 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
Abstract
Among the many objects in the Asian Collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology associated with the peoples of southern China, there is a miaotu1 or a Miao album. The Miao album itself is a unique manuscript composed of 40 pages of text, with each block of text facing hand-painted color illustrations. While other scholars have mentioned this Miao album in their research, very little has been said about the album itself or its peculiarities. Additionally, the album was "found in collection," and thus any information about its author, previous owners, its place and date of production, or how the museum acquired it remains unknown. This paper initiates the search for the yet missing information by translating the text, examining the content, and considering the significance of the Penn album within the scope of Chinese history and ethnography.
Key Words
China, Southwest China, Miao, Hmong, Yi, Luoluo, Zhongjia, Gelao, Miao Album, Ethnography, Ethnic Minority, Guizhou, Hunnan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Penn Museum, Qing Dynasty, Ethnography
1 苗图/苗圖. Object CG98-1-129.
2 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
Introduction
Modern museums have begun to digitize information to create virtual collections accessible to anyone with an internet connection. One such digitized object in the Online
Collection of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology2 is a manuscript from China. Object CG98-1-129 is a unique work of art with 40 pages of 40 hand- drawn color illustrations facing 40 accompanying passages of text in classical Chinese, along with front and back covers. It is one of more than 100 similar Chinese albums belonging to museums, libraries, and personal collections around the world.3 This particular album did not officially exist in the Penn Museum or have an object number until recently, when it was "Found in Collection" sometime in the late 1980's or early 1990's. There are only a few hints to its provenance, which remains unknown. In addition to not knowing when or where it is from, the author, commissioner, previous owners, and how it was acquired by the Penn Museum all remain unknown, although it was almost certainly acquired after 1929. There was no existing list of references for existing research that mentioned this album.4 What is readily available is the object itself and the stories it can tell on its own. Upon investigation, however, the questions only seem to multiply.
The content of the album includes both illustrations and text that depict various ethnic groups across southern China, the largest being known as the Miao, alternatively Romanized as
"Hmong." Southern China is home to the greatest number of the 56 officially recognized minority groups in the Peoples Republic of China, although not all ethnicities are represented by this list of "official minorities," including the Miao. The people known as the Miao do not share
2 Hereafter "the Penn Museum." 3 Some of the online collections of these institutions include beautifully rendered digital versions of Miao Albums. For a partial list of albums readily available in libraries and online, see Appendix III. 4 For an ongoing bibliography of scholarship referencing the album, see Appendix IV.
3 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller a common language, a common region, a common set of customs, religious beliefs, education systems, history, or otherwise. The one thing that they do share is that they almost never identify themselves as "Miao." It is difficult to figure out when exactly the term Miao came into existence, but early outsiders traveling through the southern regions of China referred to these people as Miao hundreds of years ago and still do today. Miao literally translates as "sprout," but is also used as a transliterated appellation given by outsiders to the area as an umbrella term to lump several different ethnic groups over a wide geographic region together under the same name. This region, composed mostly of what is the modern Province of Guizhou, was formerly referred to as 'Miao Jiang,' or Miao Borderlands.5 Today, the Miao peoples are concentrated in
Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and many of the southern provinces of China including Guizhou,
Yunan, Sichuan, and Guangxi, and have even immigrated to many cities the United States.6
While more is known about the Miao people of today than when the album was written, much of their history has been written by outsiders. This is both in the sense that Qing Dynasty military campaigns determined the fate of the Miao people, and that Ming and Qing government officials would regularly observe and record the customs of their subjects. Thus Ming and Qing era historians, followed by predominantly Jesuit missionaries, were the first to write about the
Miao in detail. In fact, some of the text in the Penn Album comes from various official records and histories. Many historical figures are also mentioned throughout the album.
There is also the subject of ethnography in imperial China. The albums, including the
Penn album, are products of an ethnographic process that observes and records the various cultural oddities and inconsistencies between different ethnic groups in China's southwest.
Whether or not the albums were ever actually employed by their owners in order to more
5 Crossley, Siu, and Sutton, Empire at the Margins. p 190-193. 6 Hostetler, Qing Colonial Enterprise. p 107.
4 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller effectively carry out their administrative duties in these regions is questionable.7 Whether they were used as an ethnographic tool or not, the Penn album contains both intriguing and mystifying content. While it covers many of the common tropes that Laura Hostetler outlines in her dissertation using phrases and text from other Miao albums, there are also many instances where characters are written incorrectly, phrases are scrambled, or there are characters missing altogether, leaving an unintelligible mess. Exactly why this album has corrupted text is unknown, but by examining the context, content, and the instances in which the text is inconsistent with other Miao albums, answers to other questions, like how the album was first produced, start to come into sharper focus.
Guizhou Province and the Chinese Empire
Today Guizhou Province is a populous but relatively poor province in Southern China. It is home to the majority of China's environmental diversity. It is known mostly for its insufferable weather and inhabitants who lead relatively simple lives.8 It was also in between several larger, more industrial, and more politically significant provinces. As a result, it has very few, but very important through-roads. Most significant, however, are the people living there, who today comprise most of China's ethnic diversity. However, Guizhou was not always a part of what is thought of today as "China."
Guizhou first became part of the Ming Empire in 1413 and until the second half of the
18th century was populated almost exclusively by non-Han peoples, of which the Miao groups were the most populous.9 As government interference, incompetence, and Han immigration in
7 Elliott, “Review Of Qing Colonial Enterprise: Ethnography and Cartography in Early Modern China by Laura Hostetler.” 8 Jenks, Insurgency and Social Disorder in Guizhou. p 11. 9 Hostetler, Qing Colonial Enterprise. p 101, 114.
5 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
Guizhou increased disproportionately without any significant benefits for the local people, several unsuccessful uprisings occurred starting in the first half of the 18th century. The government of Guizhou believed that reform through education was the best plan for assimilating ethnic minorities. The governor of Guizhou advocated for more schools as practical long-term solution to this problem of civil unrest.10 Additionally, a system known as tusi, or
"local leaders," was developed to maintain stability.11 Local tribal chieftains were put in charge of various regions and allowed to rule over their own people in what was usually a hereditary system. This scheme kept local leaders happy, but came with many challenges as well. Since leaders were local, they could potentially develop connections and power in various localities that ran deeper than the government anticipated. As a result, if the government was displeased with the management practices of a particular tusi, it could not simply reassign the tusi to a new locality.12 In order to preemptively avert such confrontations after the Ming Dynasty declined, the new Qing government instituted programs to ensure that the next generations of tusi would be reliable. These programs included educating local leaders and meticulously documenting genealogy. This meant that there were a lot of local leaders to keep track of. For instance,
Duyunfu, one of the regions in Guizhou mentioned in the Penn album, had 10 tusi leaders.13
While the tusi system was highly effective in some areas, it did not do so well in others for a number of reasons. Although tusi means something like "local leader," local non-Han people were not always the ones fulfilling these roles. Oftentimes, Han immigrants to these regions would assume these hereditary roles, which complicated matters. Advocates for change argued that the system needed an overhaul, saying that the tusi were abusing their power to
10 Ibid. p 116. 11 Chen, Tu Si Zheng Zhi Yu Zu Qun Li Shi. p 23. 12 Hostetler, Qing Colonial Enterprise. p 118. 13 See Plate 20. Chen, Tu Si Zheng Zhi Yu Zu Qun Li Shi. p 32.
6 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller exploit the people and that natural resources were not as easily recovered without central government control.14 As the population grew in conjunction with the importation of new world crop seed, along with increased resource extraction, the government decided to implement a reform of the tusi system called gaitu guilu, or "replacing native chieftains with regular officials."15 Ortai, an official of the Qing Dynasty under the Yongzheng emperor and future viceroy of Yunan and Guizhou Provinces, advocated for the switch and was crucial to its successful adoption.16 As a part of this changeover, the Miao were forced to change their hairstyles to a queue,17 cast aside their beliefs and festivals, and relinquish their weapons, among many other things. As a result of the harsh implementation of these policies, there were many violent confrontations, and a rebellion ensued in 1735.18 Finally, the Yongzheng emperor passed away and another official was appointed to resolve the rebellion, which is considered to have ended in 1736, while in reality the Miao peoples continued to revolt. Overall, these centuries were a particularly tumultuous time for Guizhou.
As officials travelled through Guizhou, they were exposed to a number of publications from which could garnered information. One was the Yanjiao Jiwen, an essay written by the jinshi scholar Tian Rucheng. Another was the Qian Ji, or the records of Guizhou, written in 1813.
Finally there was also the Guizhou Gazetteer. The Guizhou Gazetteer is a source for much of the information written in the Miao albums. In addition to information about ethnic groups, it also provided maps of the Miao peoples. These essays and records each detail the Miao in slightly
14 Hostetler, Qing Colonial Enterprise. p 119. 15 Ibid. p 121. 16 Guy, Qing Governors and Their Provinces. p 342-346. 17 Hair worn long, usually braided and of men. The adoption of this hairstyle was mandated by Manchu rulers of the Qing Dynasty to reinforce the submission of the Ming rulership. 18 Hostetler, Qing Colonial Enterprise. p 122.
7 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller different ways. They were inevitably source material for some of the content in the Miao albums, including the Penn album.
Considering Miao Albums and Ethnography
Altogether, there are probably more than a hundred Miao albums that are known to exist in museum and library collections around the world, although all of them have never been counted.19 It is not surprising, given that the albums are often hand-painted in color and include accompanying calligraphy, that the albums would interest collectors of Asian art. Despite the interest of museums and collectors in acquiring these objects, they have received very little attention in scholarship. English scholarship on the Miao people is limited, and scholarship on the Miao albums was severely lacking until about twenty years ago, but remains wanting. There are only a few modern Chinese translations or interpretations, and only one full English translation of a Miao is in print. The earliest Western articles about the Miao and Miao albums appeared in the mid-19th century and were written by many different travelers to East Asia.
Many of these English resources on Miao albums are translated from other languages like
French, German, or Portuguese, or were the products of the Jesuit missions in China. Most of these publications are not so much analytical as they were commentary, or used by Jesuits to better understand local culture. For instance, much Jesuit literature elaborates on the creation myths to which various groups ascribe and the gods to whom various groups they spend their time worshipping.20 Other Western authors, much like their Chinese counterparts, rant about how
19 Hostetler lists 82 in her dissertation. Hostetler, “Chinese Ethnography in the Eighteenth Century”; Tan Weihua 谭 卫华, Luo Kanglong 罗康隆, “《百苗图》传世抄本收藏情况概说 The General Survey to the Collection of Handwritten Copies of ‘Bai Miao Paint’.” 20 Clarke and China Inland Mission, Among the Tribes in South-west China. p 60-63.
8 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller miserable the weather is in Guizhou and how impoverished the people are.21 The first scholarly article in English included a partial translation of an album, its preface, and a commentary. It was written by Samuel Wells Williams who would eventually go on to become Yale University's first professor of Chinese language and literature.22
As for categorization, these manuscripts go by several different names in both English and Chinese, but are usually referred to as "Miao albums" in English. In Chinese, the most common two category names are miaomantu, 苗蠻圖, meaning "Album of the Miao Barbarians" and baimiaotu, 百苗圖, literally meaning "Album of the Hundred Miao," but may more idiomatically translate to "Album of All the Miao Groups." Almost every album that has a title, however, has a unique title. They also vary widely from each other in other ways, including that there is no standard format for the presentation and content of an album. Their immediately captivating characteristic, that is their illustrations and accompanying text describing southwest
Chinese ethnic minorities, is usually used to place them into the category of Miao album.
However, there is no standard list of groups that must be included; almost every group has a different selection. There is no set number or order for illustrations or text. The album with the most illustrations and text supposedly has 124 pages, the one with the least has 16.23 Some albums have illustrations without text. Some sport hand-painted illustrations while others are printed with woodblocks. Some, like the Penn album, feature just people in illustrations. Other albums, like the ones published by Academia Sinica, include landscape settings for each group that accord with their location, be it in the mountains, by a river, in a forest, or otherwise. There is no consistent binding material or style for albums, which include wood, paper, brocade,
21 Jenks, Insurgency and Social Disorder in Guizhou. p 11. 22 Hostetler, “Chinese Ethnography in the Eighteenth Century.” p 56. 23 Hostetler voices some doubt about these numbers in her dissertation on p 40. See Diamond, “The Miao and Poison.” p 2.
9 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller cardboard, and other materials in fan, accordion, wrap around boxes, and randomly ordered loose sheets, among other binding styles. With regards to their content, some albums have poetry and others do not. There are also groups for whom there are many different names. Some albums have prefaces, while others like the Penn album do not. In essence, no album is alike and even the information about each album's provenance varies widely, largely depending upon how it was acquired by the original owner.
While each album is very different from the next, there is almost certainly no album that lacks overlap with others either in illustrations or text. There are common themes between albums in that ethnic groups are generally associated with a specific attribute. Hostetler identified 82 frequently recurring tropes evident in the illustrations across many albums.24 In addition, some albums are clearly related to each other. While the full text and illustrations of an album in the British Library are not available in publication, it is possible to observe from looking at just a few choice images that one of the albums in the British Library is related to the
Penn album. While the British album illustration includes a landscape in the background, everything else is almost identical in shape and style, from the posture and facial expressions of the people, to the animals and children, to the clothing and accessories carried. Even many of the colors used are the same between the illustrations. However, there is another collection of excerpts from albums in the British Museum depicting ethnic minorities from southern China.25
None of the illustrations in this piece resemble any in the Penn album. Every album varies enough between either its illustrations or its entries about each ethnic group that two different albums will never be completely the same, but have so much content that they are almost certain to overlap in at least several places.
24 Hostetler, “Chinese Ethnography in the Eighteenth Century.” p 45. 25 Wellcome Trust (London, England), Pearls of the Orient. p 177-193.
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It is also almost certain that all of these descriptions were based upon observation at one point. However, it is more difficult to figure out if the illustrations were based on direct observation, or copied from previous descriptions. At least it is certain that the Penn album or the
British Museum album was part of a family of albums that involved copying the illustrations and text, given their resemblance and that much of the content of the Penn album comes from various historical sources. This most likely means that production happened at a remote location without access to Miao peoples for direct observation.
The variety of information the albums contain about the people they portray reveals an ethnographic process that no doubt produced them. Many albums draw on sources like the aforementioned Guizhou Gazetteer. In addition to the ethnographic component, given that government officials wrote almost all prefaces to albums, it can be said that the albums were made for Chinese officials in the government. Yet this does not answer the question as to whether or not Miao albums were applied by Chinese government officials for particular ethnographic purposes, especially in enforcing law or carrying out other administrative duties in
Miao-inhabited regions. There is one clue in the album text that might point to this and that is the instances and usage of the term hanren, or "Han People." The word han comes from an early
Chinese period known as the Han Dynasty. "Han People," who may or may not be related to the original subjects of that dynasty, now officially compose more than 90% of China's total population as its dominant ethnic group. Today, however, the term hanren has taken on new political associations with a national identity and majority ethnicity. The notion that the dual concepts of a national identity and ethnicity existed during the time in which the Miao albums were produced would be utterly fallacious. In Qing China, before Stalinist definitions of nationality and before Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan) used the idea of hanren to subvert Manchu
11 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller rulers, hanren simply meant people who more or less shared similar cultural traditions and lifestyles in mainland China.
Unfortunately, there is no indication in the Penn album that it was ever owned or used by a scholar-official in China or anyone, for that matter, who would have identified as a hanren.
There are no seals or stamps, there is no preface, and the provenance of the album is unknown.
Therefore, there is no way to determine whether or not the album was ever owned by an official on a tour of duty or otherwise. If an official in China used the Penn album, it must have been a lower official. The text is too inconsistent, and the illustrations are without any background, border, or other embellishment. Having been dated by Hostetler as being produced after 1732, the album might have belonged to an official in any of the Miao rebellions that started in the early 18th century and continued through the mid-19th century.26 These "rebellions" were actually a number of different conflicts that broke out as the combined result of poor government administration, particularly corruption, extortion, heavy taxes, and abuses by officials of their positions of power.27 Unfortunately, however, there is no evidence of an official having carried the Penn album. While the Penn album was a product of an ethnographic tradition, there is no evidence that suggests it was used for an ethnographic purpose.
The Miao Album in the Penn Museum: Content and Peculiarities
The album has 40 plates arranged in an accordion fold, each plate with two components: an illustration and text that details one or more ethnic groups. Of greatest interest is the text, its content, and its connections with other Miao albums. There are many overlaps between both the
26 It must be noted that this name is misleading. Many different ethnic groups were associated with the rebellion, especially the Han, who, despite being the majority ethnicity involved, are not usually thought of as participants. Jenks, Insurgency and Social Disorder in Guizhou. p 3. 27 Ibid. p 6.
12 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller pages of the Penn Miao album and other Miao albums, especially regarding the appearances and customs of various groups. There are also certain observations that the text makes about the ethnic groups throughout the album that are part of larger themes, including expected ones such as marriage and burial practices, but also more curious ones, such as superstitions and poison.
Furthermore, there are several key incongruities that must be discussed. Finally, there are also some bizarre characteristics that seem to only appear in this album, especially with regards to the way the text is written and composed.
As for the ethnic diversity in Guizhou, Hostetler discusses linguistic and ethnographic characteristics of the seven main ethnic groups, the Miao, Zhongjia, Gelao, Luoluo, Yao,
Zhuang, and Dong.28 As for the groups in the album, there are about 50 different names for various groups, with several mentioned more than once. Every one of these 50 or so groups is mentioned in other Miao albums.29 Other Miao albums, however, mention some groups that are not in the Penn album. Also, some of the groups have more than one name. For instance, the Bai
Luoluo (White Luoluo) are also called the Bai Man (White Barbarians).30 Some groups' names have changed over the course of history, especially after the Qing Dynasty incorporated Guizhou into its Empire. One example of this is the name Ranjia Miao. After Qing unification, their name changed to Ranjia Man.31 There are also several cases where ethnic groups' names will be collected under an additional group name. The Six-Types Miao is an example, where six groups are mentioned together: the Shui, Yang, Ling, Dong, Yao, and Zhuang.32 Finally, there are many cases where group's names are written differently between albums. For example, the Purple
28 Each of these has several other names. These names were selected because they are the names used in the album. See Hostetler, Qing Colonial Enterprise. p 105-113. 29 For a table comparing the mention of ethnic groups in the Penn album with mentions of ethnic groups in other selected albums, see Appendix II. 30 See Plate 10. 31 Li, Qian Nan Miao Man Tu Shuo Yan Jiu. See also Plate 17. 32 See Plate 20.
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Ginger Miao have their name written as both 紫姜 and 紫薑 (zǐjiāng). It should also be noted that many of these names are derived from some observation made about the Miao minority group. For instance, the Guoquan Gelao (Pot-Ring Gelao) are named such because their hair is done up into a shape like a ring.33
While their names may be interesting, they are also often extremely degrading. There are cases in which both the way the name is written and the meaning of the characters themselves are offensive. For instance, the Nong Miao are known as a farming group, and their name literally renders as "Agricultural Miao." The standard character for agriculture or farming is nong
農, but the character used in the album for their name is slightly different, a non-standard character 㺜.34 It has the radical quan 犭 to the left side of the character, which carries the meaning of dog and is a very degrading way to render the name of an ethnic group. In addition to the way characters are written, another group, the Manren, have a character in their name that literally means "barbarian," or "barbarians of the south."35 The names of the various ethnic groups are each an interesting topic unto themselves, but it is difficult to both discuss them and remain politically correct.
Besides ethnic group names, many places are mentioned in the Miao album. More than
40 different administrative units of various levels are mentioned, including provinces, prefectures, districts36, small towns, and villages.37 These names are used to provide a reference location for whichever ethnic group happens to be the subject of the text. The most commonly occurring place names are Anshun, Dading, and Qiansheng, which each appear five times.
33 See Plate 7. 34 See Plate 35. 35 See Plate 17. 36 Also referred to as county. A translation for xian 縣. 37 See Appendix I.
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Qiansheng is an older name for Guizhou province and Anshun and Dading were city-town regions both located on a river or a road. Almost all of these places can be found in the modern province of Guizhou, although many have had their names changed, especially during the transition from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China in 1911. Most of these place names are still the same and can be found today.38
While there are many different places in the album, and the names of various groups are more widely recognized as politically insensitive, the most interesting content in the album is by far the observations made about various ethnic groups. It is clear that whoever originally selected the content also made an effort to select the most memorable and distinguishing qualities of each of these ethnic groups. Overall, the most notable themes are appearance and clothing, traditions and customs, peoples' character, tools and weapons, agricultural and culinary pursuits, education or knowledge of Chinese language, and finally superstition, medicine, and poison. Each of these themes appears several times throughout the album, which often repeatedly emphasizes more unfamiliar practices.
The appearance of the Miao peoples is mentioned on almost every single page. This usually concerns the clothing of the Miao, their hairstyles, or sometimes their stature and facial features. According to the album, Miao clothing varies tremendously between groups in garment type, material, patterns, colors and dyes used, and purpose. The most frequently described attribute is color. The most common is qing 青, which literally means something approximately like "color of nature," but is somewhere between a dark green and dark blue. This color is used by many groups, including but not limited to the Datou Longjia, Bulong Miao, Guoquan Gelao,
Yao Miao, Pipao Gelao, and Gulin Miao.39 There are also combinations of colors used for
38 See Appendix V. 39 See Plates 1, 6, 7, 9, 16, and 19.
15 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller clothing, especially the "five colors," of which the Gouer Longjia, Pipao Gelao, and Gedou each made use.40 Silk, wool, and cotton cloth were all used, as well as hemp and other plant materials.
Some groups are particularly well known for their cloth, so much so that customers supposedly competed with each other to buy it at the market, as in the case of the Gulin Miao.41 Different
Miao peoples also wear different kinds of clothing. For instance, there are the Duanquan Miao, which means "Short Skirt Miao," who were unsurprisingly known for wearing revealing skirts.
Finally, Miao clothing also had different patterns. Some groups like the Gedou and Hei Miao were known for embroidery, while other groups like the Guoquan Gelao were known for their diagonal and other geometric designs.42
The most notable description for clothing production belongs to the Hua Miao, or
"Flowery Miao," who use a special dying technique. "As for their clothes, they first use wax to draw flowers on the cloth. After they have dyed them they get rid of the wax and then the flowers themselves are seen. They adorn their sleeves using brocade and are for this reason called the Hua Miao."43 This particular method for dying clothes is known as "resist dyeing." In fact, the Penn Museum has several clothing pieces from Southwest and Southeast China that feature this particular dying technique. One of the best examples is a skirt, object number 2003-
38-16, that features a resist-dyed pattern of circles and zig-zags. Overall, the variation in styles and patterns is a bit overwhelming as there is a unique description for almost every group.
Besides clothing, hair styles are also mentioned in great detail. Some groups, such as the
Songjia and Hei Miao, use hairpins to keep their hair orderly.44 Other groups grow or shave their hair in front or back. Sometimes this also depends on whether or not they have been married, as
40 See Plates 11, 16, and 18. 41 See Plate 19. 42 See Plates 7, 11, and 15. 43 See Plate 28. 44 See Plates 14 and 15.
16 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller is true for the Qing Miao. "Those of the men who have not yet married cut their hair in the back.
Once they marry, they can then grow it out."45 Other groups, like the Daya Gelao, have other reasons for their hair styles. "Moreover, they trim their front hair and keep their hair in back.
This is so they can have understanding in marriage."46 The aforementioned Gequan Gelao shape their hair like rings, and the women of the Gouer Gelao shape their hair like dog ears.47 This is presumably where the name Gouer Gelao, which means "Dog Ear Gelao," comes from. Some groups tie up their hair with string and decorate it, as is the case with the Pipao Gelao, who use cowrie shells to ornament their hair.48 Finally, other groups braid their hair, cover buns of hair with cloth, wear hair to the sides of their heads, or knot their hair.
In addition to hair, there are also a few mentions of armor and of peoples' outward appearances. The facial features, height, and skin color are described of a subset of the Luoluo.
"As for the ones that are black, their people all have deep-set eyes, tall bodies, black faces, white teeth, uniform noses, shave their mustaches but grow out their beards."49 As for armor, the Jiugu
Miao are described as wearing metal helmets, body armor, and leggings.50 Each group clearly has different practices and traditions regarding their appearances, not to mention how differently they are perceived by outside groups.
In addition to differences in appearances, many Miao groups celebrate the New Year at different times and in different ways. Some groups sacrifice to gods, such as the Liuzhong. "On the new year they make sacrifices to Panhu by blending fish, meat, wine, and rice." 51 Others play music, sing, dance, and play games like the Bulong. "They take the 12th month as their new
45 See Plate 27. 46 Part of the idiom, 舉案齊眉. Literally, "raising the tray level with the eyebrows;" it means respect in marriage. See Plate 39. 47 See Plates 7 and 11. 48 See Plate 16. 49 See Plate 13. 50 See Plate 25. 51 See Plate 20.
17 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller year, and the men and women assemble to observe the final season. They use copper drums, blow on reed and gourd (instruments), and sing, and with the music, the fathers, children, and females all throw about a ball." 52 No group seems to have their new year at the same time. Some groups have their new year on the full moon of the tenth month, others in the eleventh month, and others in the twelfth month.
Aside from their traditions and designated date for the new year, burials and mourning are frequently observed in the album. Almost every group has a different method. The Bafan hold clandestine burials. "They do not select a day for burials - at night they quietly bring the body out, saying that they cannot bear to let their relatives know about it."53 Other groups are very open about it, such as the Sheng Miao. "When people die, they use coffins made of bamboo and take clothing left behind to dress up a likeness. They strike drums, sing, and dance, which they call 'Diaogu.'54"55 Another group that is very active during their burials is the Kemeng
Guyang Miao. "When a parent dies they do not cry, but rather laugh and dance and sing loudly, calling it 'Disturbing the Corpse.'"56 Some groups like Yao Miao do not bury their dead at all; they leave their corpses in the woods. "When people die, they do not bury them. They use vines and creepers to bind them into a tree."57 Other groups like the Liu Ezi, practice "second burials,"58 which feature exhuming the body after a set period, cleaning off the remains, and reburying the bones. The lengthiest description is about the burial practices of the Chulao, who have an intriguing series of requirements for mourning and burial.
52 See Plate 6. 53 Plate 4. 54 Literally, "harmonizing the drum." 55 See Plate 8. 56 See Plate 38. 57 See Plate 9. 58 See Plate 23.
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When their father or mother dies, they have mourning clothes, but do not wear rough hemp. The elder son lives in the family59 for forty-nine days. Their faces are not washed or cleaned, when stepping, they do not cross over their lintel, and when the full period [of mourning has passed] then they invite a shaman to pray and make offerings. They call this 'freeing the spirit.'60
The most brutal burial is that of the Caijia, who bury the wife alive with the husband when he dies, unless, according to the text, the wife's family is able to stop the burial in time.61 Almost all of the burial practices that are mentioned are unique within the album.
Burial is one of the most prominent rituals, yet marriage also is one of the most frequently mentioned. There are some groups that give gifts leading up to the marriage, such as the Yanhuang, who give a dog first, among other things. The Chulao have different requirements for marriage, such as not being able to marry someone with the same surname. They also require that the woman and husband sleep apart until their first child is born. Any explanation for how this rule works or what it is supposed to achieve is unfortunately omitted from the text.62 One of the outlying practices mentioned is the use of matchmakers, or go-betweens, to facilitate a marriage, as is mentioned in the section about the Gou'er Longjia. "If they abscond together, then the household of the woman's clan uses the method of cattle or horses to buy her back, after which they then they employ the services of a matchmaker."63 There are many stories in the
Miao oral tradition about matchmakers as well. The stories describe several different processes, almost all of which involve some sort of gift exchange, including wine, animals, or the construction of buildings.64 Finally, music plays a big role in many marriage ceremonies, particularly that played on the sheng.65 "When a man and woman as a couple play music on a sheng, they are prone to accidentally giving birth. They avoid triturating and ask people for
59 Other texts have this as "guard the corpse." 60 See Plate 30. 61 See Plate 5. 62 See Plate 30. 63 See Plate 11. 64 Graham, Songs and Stories of the Ch`uan Miao. p 102-107. 65 A mouth organ made of bamboo.
19 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller gifts." In addition to the flutes mentioned in this marriage ceremony, they are also mentioned in a number of traditional Miao love songs. One describes a girl in despair who feels unloved and
66 worries that her cousin's flutes have been sold.
While some marriage descriptions include sleeping arrangements or music, others are observed as particularly violent, such as the Songjia.
When they are about to get married, the man's family is sent and they welcome the woman's family, but then collect their family and bludgeon them and cause them much pain. They call it "Plundering the Parents." At daybreak, they then bring water to wash the girl. The men and 67 women then heat water for bathing. After three days it ends.
While the Songjia have a vicious marriage process, by far the most cringe-worthy marriage tradition is that of the Daya Gelao, or Smashing Teeth Gelao. This particular group is described as chiseling the front teeth of the bride as she is about to be married. "When they are about to get married, they always first break their two front teeth for fear of undermining or injuring her husband's family. They are called "people who chisel teeth.'"68 There is even an accompanying picture that shows a bride having her teeth removed in what must have been an extremely painful manner. At least the Daya Gelao have the aforementioned "understanding in marriage" brought by the men shaving their hair after marriage.
While the burial and marriage ceremonies may say something about who the Miao are, there are numerous instances where the text explicitly describes the character, or xing 性, of a particular Miao group. The most common theme describes how violent, fierce, or uncouth various groups are. The Sheng Miao, Qing Miao, Daya Gelao, Gulin Miao, and Manren all fall into this category.69 The album also mentions which groups specifically evade the requirements
66 Graham, Songs and Stories of the Ch`uan Miao. p 100. Titled "An Unloved Girl." 67 See Plate 14. 68 See Plate 39. 69 See Plates 8, 17, 19, 27, and 39.
20 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller for corvée labor.70 This labor was part of the system that officials could use to conscript locals to perform different labor-intensive and often unsavory tasks.
The album goes even farther than negative character and mentions which groups enjoy violence. "As for the Dongren71, their nature is such that they are envious and enjoy and take pleasure in killing."72 The Dongren, in addition to taking pleasure in killing, also enjoy robbing others. "As for the ones in Hongzhou, the land is fertile so they sow many seeds and are lazy about plow work, yet they enjoy plundering, stealing, and begging."73 There are also many that are violent within their own groups, such as the Sheng Miao (Wild or Raw Miao) and the Hong
Miao (Red Miao).74 Some groups are described as deceptive, such as the Zijiang Miao. "The
Zijiang Miao... are tricky and covetous in arguments. They undervalue life and are fond of fighting."75
One the other side, there are also many groups that are described as simple or honest, and avoid violence and do not steal. Some of these groups include the Pipao Gelao, Turen, Boren, and Bai Miao.76 The album also mentions several groups, like the Gedou, who do not steal at all.77 The character of the Yao Miao receives particular attention. "Their nature is gentle and pliant. They do not enjoy fighting and are seen to be hardworking, frugal, and poor. They do not steal."78 Overall, there is a wide range of generalized character traits of Miao groups in the album.
Hand-in-hand with their character are the objects and tools that they use. The album frequently describes groups carrying various objects as they come and go. Some of these objects
70 See Plates 5, 20, 21, 22. 71 Literally, "Cave People." 72 See Plate 34. 73 See Plate 34. 74 See Plates 8 and 33. 75 See Plate 24. 76 See Plates 12, 16, 31, and 36. 77 See Plate 18. 78 See Plate 9.
21 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller are weapons and include knives, spears, swords, bows, crossbows, and even rifles.
Predominantly sporting flintlock rifles, many among the Miao made their own black powder and bullets themselves.79 The weapons they used tend to be for hunting animals, although the album clearly states that many gun-toting Miao peoples tend to be violent or fearsome within their region. The Gulin, who are said to carry crossbows and rifles, are supposedly the most feared of all.80 In general the more peaceful groups are also associated with plows. Some groups do not use plows, but use other implements to till their fields, such as the Kemeng Guyang Miao, who use an "iron hoe."81
As for the production of some of these iron items, the Miao groups seem to have ample experience. They do not mine or smelt ore themselves, but there are several groups known for forging different items. The Turen and Pipao Gelao are described as forging many plows to work the fields.82 Other groups that wear jewelry, like the Hei Miao who wear silver earrings, almost certainly make these crafts themselves.83 The most significant group, however, is the Jiugu Miao who forge iron armor.
Finally, the heaviest is the iron armor they wear on top of their bodies. It is joined at the back and stops at bottom of the breast. They forge iron and work it for a week until its form is pregnant, like a round basket. They sit it to reduce it and stand it to expand it. 84 They limit its weight to under three yong.
The Jiugu also produced metal helmets and leggings for armor, the former of which is usually slightly more complicated than producing sheets for body armor or leggings. It is clear that they have experience working metals, but their specific smithing techniques are only mentioned this one time. According to other sources, some Miao are very accomplished in metal working. First,
79 Bernatzik, Akha and Miao. p 526-527. 80 See Plate 19. 81 See Plate 38. 82 See Plates 16 and 31. 83 See Plate 17. 84 See Plate 25.
22 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller in order to acquire the material, they usually purchase low quality or scrap iron and forge it.
They also melt down silver Chinese coinage to use. They creatively employ many different objects to create the casting molds for copper, brass, lead, and silver objects, even using gourds from calabash trees.85 They also use bellows to heat their furnaces, tobacco to prevent oxidation, and crucibles, anvils, hammers, and tongs for smithing iron. In this way they are able to produce plows, bullets, springs for gun locks, and jewelry, among other things.86 There are, however, certain techniques and products that they do not use or produce. In general, Miao peoples do not use clay molds, even though clay molds have been used in China for thousands of years, at least since the Shang period, to cast ritual bronzes.87 They also did not use the wire-drawing technique and as such they did not produce nails or wire.88
In addition to the album mentioning some Miao groups and their smithing, there are also numerous instances where Miao buildings and homes are mentioned. Even though Miao smiths generally did not produce wire or nails, they still erected houses and other living spaces. The descriptions vary widely. For instance, the Yao Miao have a tradition where ladies who have reached a certain age must build a structure on their own. "The women, in their fifteenth or sixteenth year, construct bamboo huts in fields and live out in them."89 The Gemeng Guyang
Miao don't build structures, but carve them out of cliffs.
They select precarious cliffs and chisel out openings and live in these. They do not construct beds, but build sets of bamboo ladders to go up and down, the tall ones 90 occasionally reaching 100 ren.
In order to build these ladders, even if they weren't the full 100 ren as described here, this group needed woodworking skills and experience.
85 Bernatzik, Akha and Miao. p 551. 86 Ibid. p 548-552. 87 Bagley, “Shang Ritual Bronzes”; Bernatzik, Akha and Miao. p 549-551. 88 Bernatzik, Akha and Miao. p 551. 89 See Plate 9. 90 A ren 仭 is a unit of length of about 8 feet, so the taller ladders are supposedly about 800 feet. See Plate 38.
23 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
Another notable structure is a set of pipework built by the Yaoren to carry water from streams to their homes.
When building their houses, they are certain to select a place by the side of a mountain stream close to water. They then use a great [pipe made out of] tree bark to carry and ferry the water over 91 to reach their homes. They do not use buckets or earthen jars to bring out water.
This Yaoren structure is described as being made out of bark, but was also made out of halved bamboo pieces, which may be what the author tried to describe here. Other groups in Thailand use systems just like this one to bring water into their villages.92 These are halved pieces of bamboo that lead from a water source and make their way to the village on stilts.
As for the Miao groups who farm, there is also ample mention of culinary practices.
Many of the groups grow rice. The album even describes the husking process for the Bafan.
After they harvest rice on the stalk and store it as such, they hollow out logs to make a vessel 93 (to husk rice), called a 'Zhuitang.' When they are prepared to cook it, everyone starts to collect 94 handfuls of rice and set about husking and grinding it.
The Zhuitang is supposedly an ethnic word for a mortar used to husk rice. Like the Bulong, the
Hei Miao also prepare rice, but in different ways.
They eat only glutinous rice from a mortar and steam it until it is very white, it must be cooked until it is done, if their environment is cold, then they eat minor things and wild vegetation. They do not have spoons or chopsticks, they all use their hands to grasp [their food]. It is difficult 95 for them to get salt so they use a slurry of bracken ash.
While this first part is reasonably benign, there is a final description of the Hei Miao culinary pursuits that provides enough detail to make any reader queasy.
Whenever they get dead calfs, lambs, suckling pigs, chickens, dogs, birds of prey, ducks, and other things of the sort, and even hair and grease, and put them into an earthen container. Layer upon layer they press it down even more. After it has dung beetles and maggots and stinks of
91 See Plate 41. 92 Bernatzik, Akha and Miao. p 360-362. 93 A Zhuitang is described by tianrucheng 田汝成 in the yanjiaojiwen 炎徼紀聞, in a section titled manyi 蠻夷, as a mortar. 94 See Plate 4. 95 See Plate 15.
24 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
decay, then they can tell the jar is ready [to eat]. They call it yincai because they value its unique 96 flavor.
Other groups like the Bulong Miao, also have questionable foodstuffs, but they are mentioned without a detailed description. "They make a smelly concoction to eat and called it fujizhe,97 and then called it zhuyintong98 for many generations."99 Another group, the Bai Luoluo, seems to eat everything.
Everything that is approximately similar to what they like to consume, they drink and eat without plates or bowls and instead using a three-footed cauldron. Cauterized hair, biting blood, no matter if it is a rodent, bird, bug egg or larvae, they roast 100 moving animals and eat them.
The Zijiang Miao are even noted to be cannibals. "They capture their enemies and always eat their raw flesh."101 Some Miao groups apparently have very strange eating habits while other groups have no eating habits mentioned at all. Overall there are wildly different culinary traditions among Miao peoples.
According to the album, Miao peoples also have a number of religious and superstitious beliefs. For instance, the Boren practice Buddhism, but the text notes a key difference. Most
Buddhists make periodic offerings by burning something, but the Boren do not. In addition to
Buddhism, many Miao believed in ghosts or evil spirits. The fact that most Miao groups believed in ghosts is mentioned in many passages. One of these groups is the Luoluo, who are referred to by another name that reflects this. "They [believe in] ghosts,102 [and] for this reason they are also named 'Luo Gui.'103"104 Additionally, the Manren are said to sacrifice to ghosts. "They take the
96 See Plate 15. 97 Literally, "that which is rich and old." 98 The phrase zhuyintong 貯䤃桶 literally means a stored keg of fermented brew. 99 See Plate 6. 100 See Plate 10. 101 See Plate 24. 102 There is a bit missing here indicating their belief in ghosts. 103 Literally, "Luo Ghosts." 104 See Plate 13.
25 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller second and eleventh days to go to market, and in the tenth month on the new moon105 they have a day for sacrificing to ghosts and making medicine."106 Among others, the aforementioned marriage ceremony of the Gouer Longjia includes an important object called a "Ghost Pole." “In the spring season, they stand up a log in the open, calling it a 'ghost pole.'"107 In addition to ghosts, there is also reverence for the ancestors and the power they hold. There is the belief of the Liu Ezi, who say that sickness is a result of their ancestors' bones not being clean. "Whenever a family member is sick, then they say it is because their ancestors' bones are not clean."108 This superstition is given as the reason why the Liu Ezi practice what are known as second burials.
Finally, there are also several deities that several Miao groups worship, including one named Pan
Hu to whom the Liuzhong and Yaoren make sacrifices. Each superstion indicates either the most important or the strangest beliefs of these Miao groups.
The most peculiar superstition is mentioned in the Sheng Miao passage. "Every year in the 5th month on the 3rd day, husband and wife each stay in their lodgings109 and neither dare to speak nor leave their homes, not only to avoid ghosts, but also lest they cause a tiger to arrive."110 Miao peoples are famous for their oral tradition and their stories. There happen to be several stories that shed some light on this particular superstition. Many tell about humans who transform into violent tigers, while others tell about tigers scheming to steal away with the wives of Miao men.111 It seems to be that if a man is unfaithful to his wife or does not return home before a predetermined time, tigers or tiger demons will capture his wife and take her away.
105 Or the first day of the lunar month. 106 See Plate 17. 107 See Plate 11. 108 See Plate 23. 109 In other texts, this is written differently to mean that husband and wife sleep separately. See preceding footnotes. 110 See Plate 8. 111 Graham, Songs and Stories of the Ch`uan Miao. p 185-203.
26 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
In addition to superstitions, there is also another component associated with Miao culture and Miao peoples. This component is poison. The Gedou use poison on their arrows or in similar ways. "When their poison-laced arrows injure a person, they see blood and will certainly die."112
Unfortunately there is no description here of where the poison comes from, what it is called, or how it is made.
There is another significant mention of a poison that includes the answers to some of these questions. It is a type of poison that reaches a pseudo-mythical status among those having traveled through Miao lands and is called "The Golden Silkworm," or jincan.113 "There is a gu named 'The Golden Silkworm,'114 everyone uses it to poison others, so that they are not able to bite back. They also lace their arrowheads with the poison."115 This term, jincan, is actually a bit older and is a synonym for gu. Fortunately, there is excellent scholarship available that describes the many intricacies and horrific applications of this poison. According to different groups, it is made in different ways. One way is complicated and involves collecting many poisonous creatures.
The best known, which must be done secretly, involves the collecting of various venomous insects and reptiles from the mountains. These are placed together in a jar that is sealed and kept in a dark place for a year. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the jar is opened at high noon, and one can expect to find only one creature left, who has eaten all the others (though the 'survivor' will also be dead by then). The practitioner breathes in the gu within the jar, dries the corpse of the surviving creature, and mixes it together with whatever wastes there are in the jar. This powder is then slipped into food or drink, or passed on to a child by rubbing the nape of its neck with it, or even passed on to someone by brushing up against him on the roadway. It causes 116 sickness and death.
Unfortunately, there is no reason or history behind why the poisonous creatures are combined.
There are other methods described. "The other form of gu involves the keeping of a snake, toad or tortoise, or even a sparrow or turtledove, that is fed secretly and hidden in a chest or a niche in
112 See Plate 18. 113 "金蚕." 114 This is a legendary poison produced by collecting and mixing one or several venoms from different insects. 115 See Plate 6. 116 Diamond, “The Miao and Poison.” p 3.
27 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller the wall."117 The article continues to say that women are the most frequent users of the poison, who teach their daughters how to use it properly. The article also describes many uses for the poison.
One use of gu is to assure that one will not be deserted by one's husband or lover, and is, says Chen, a particular danger for Han men who become involved with Miao women. If they leave, even just to visit their kinsmen, they must promise to return by a certain time. If they fail to do so, 118 they will die from the gu. If they return in time, they will be given an antidote.
This passage bears strange similarity to a previous section regarding tiger-spirits in Miao folklore, who carried away wives if their husbands did not return home by a prescribed time.
In response to this supposed proliferous utilization of poison, the early 20th century
Chinese anthropologist Chen Guoqun recommended carrying silver-tipped chopsticks to test food and drink.119 Other anthropologists such as Li Zhijen, were skeptical, regarding it as a
'ghost story.'120 Gu has also been commented on by the famous author Shen Congwen, who was himself partly of Miao descent. He writes, "This is Miao territory in the border land, and these semi-primitive people's belief in spirits exerts a tremendous influence on everyone. There are spirits everywhere, in trees, caves, and cliffs."121 Overall, this idea of poison is noted in the album, but continues to be a popular theme, if not a stereotype, of Miao people today. Upon
Norma Diamond's return from having spent time living amongst the Miao, several Chinese expressed concern that she may have been poisoned or cursed during her stay.122
Beyond these common themes spanning many different groups, there are two specific groups that deserve mention for distinctive attributes. The first is the Liu Ezi, who practice
"second burials." This is a practice of burying the deceased and after the body has been permitted
117 Diamond, “The Miao and Poison.” p 3. 118 Ibid. p 3-4. 119 Ibid. p 4. 120 Ibid. p 4. 121 Ibid. p 5. 122 Ibid. p 1-2.
28 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller to decompose, the family returns to the burial site, exhumes the body, and re-buries it. This practice is not commonplace, but it is an ancient tradition that can be traced back thousands of years. One of the earliest instances is from the Yangshao culture, where groups around 4000
BCE practiced these burial techniques.123 There are a number of reasons why particular groups practice second burials, with the most common being a different conception of the process of death or a communal worship of a group's ancestors.124 According to the album text for the Liu
Ezi, this group practices second burials because it believes that if its ancestors' bones are not clean, then their people will get sick. Although this is just one of the many superstitious beliefs reported by the album, it stands out as possibly having a distinct connection with other groups around China who also shared the same beliefs and ritual activities like these second burials.
The second group that has to be mentioned is the Luoluo, who have a nuguan, or "female official."125 Other passages occasionally mention tribal leaders, but this is different. The nuguan is the wife of the Hei Luoluo chieftain and may serve as regent if her husband passes away.126
This particular passage is also the only passage in the whole Penn album to feature poetry. The poem is composed of three lines of fourteen characters, which can each be broken up into two parts with seven characters each. The poem, attributed to the Ming Dynasty jinshi level scholar- official Tian Wen, reads as follows:
I have seen the nuguan - it is like seeing the painting, the painting that Yanliben painted called Zhigongtu. I have seen the nuguan - it is like a unique dream, her exceptional form deceives her tribe, not one follower goes against her. I have seen the nuguan enter and desecrate a sacred place the wind is dark and people are weak and helpless- demons and monsters shout out! As for the old ghosts at night, lanterns are raised and alms bowls are standing up, the old Buddha's appearance becomes disfigured and lions and dragons are everywhere. There is a bewitching female skeleton and skull, and it is smeared black with powder,
123 Li, “Ancestor Worship: An Archaeological Investication of Ritual Activities in Neolithic North China.” p 120. 124 Ibid. p 145-146. 125 See Plate 43. 126 Hostetler, Qing Colonial Enterprise. p 144.
29 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
127 nets, armor, and helmets are repaired as a sound comes from the shenggan . The one who is female uses blue-green cloth to wrap her head of unruly hair, the one who is male has jade eyes, great strength, a mustache and beard. 128 The nuguan's qi is as robust as a husband's, water is used to wash the great cloth wrapping for her body. 129 Nine real palm [leaves] and red coral, she wears gold and jade, and oyster pearls hang from her ears. A pair of zhanlu swords hang at her waist, 130 while her embroidered skirt swishes along the ground and water lily blossoms cover her jacket.
This poem is complicated in many ways. The author, Tian Wen, has a biography in the Siku
Quanshu, also known as the Imperial Collection of Four.131 He was apparently an enthusiastic composer of poetry and wrote extensively about his travels across the Empire. This poem, however, is a fake and was not actually composed by Tian Wen. The artist mentioned in this piece, Yan Liben, was also a real person. An artist and a government official, Yan was a very popular painter of the Tang dynasty. As for the Zhigongtu, it is a kind of painting that memorializes the tribute paid by ambassadors from various ethnic groups within the Empire. If
Tian Wen had, according to the passage, seen a nuguan before without having traveled to Miao territory, then a Zhigongtu painting, especially one by Yan Liben, would have been an exceptional opportunity for him to become acquainted with the concept.
In addition to Yan Liben and Zhigongtu, there is another very important character, Zhuge
Liang. He does not appear in the poem, but appears in a number of other places in the Penn album. Referred to in the Penn album as wuhou, or the Marquis of Wu, he appears in the accounts of the Luoluo and Jiugu Miao.132 A famous general and chancellor of Shu, he is best
127 A bamboo instrument. 128 Essence and spirit. 129 籐杖 translates to a palm plant, possibly Calamus rhabdocladus Burret. 130 See Plate 43. 131 The Siku Quanshu is collection of books that was created for the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, and was the largest single collection of information in the world until Wikipedia. See Tian, Gu Huan Tang Ji. p 1-524. 132 See Plates 13 and 25.
30 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller known for his campaigns into southern China and for conquering various peoples.133 This could be inferred easily enough from the Miao album content in the Luoluo section.
In the time of Shuhan, there were those who ordered fire and followed the Marquis of Wu to attack Menghuo; they had success, and they was granted rulership over the feudal state of Luo 134 Dian.
The content in the Jiugu Miao section also indicates that Zhuge Liang was a formidable general. Menghuo was a Yi chief who was captured and eventually submitted to Zhuge Liang.135
136 When the danger of Wuhou and his southern campaign had come to an end, there only remained nine men who were called the Jiugu. They scattered, living like creeping plants who extended far and wide over the land, giving 137 rise to their own family clans.
Unfortunately, aside from the recorded prowess on the battlefield, there is little other helpful information about Zhuge Liang. An entry appears in the Qiannan zhifang jilüe that gives some more detail.
When Marquis Wu [Zhuge Liang] (181-234 A.D.) pacified the states of the South, he commanded all the heads of the great families to lead their own companies. [Luo Jihuo] of a great family of [Jianning], had his company in the region between [Zangge] and [Yelang]. This group was called by the name of [Luodian]. At the close of the Sui (581-618 A.D.) and the beginning of the [Tang] dynasty, the capable leaders among the Man people were advanced to the status of [Guizhu]. The [Luodian] people then called the Guizhu of the [Luo] family by the abbreviated term of [Luogui]. This term was 138 erroniously transformed into [Lulu] and later again into Luoluo.
Some of this passage overlaps with the Luoluo entry in the Penn album, which is clearly related.
Zhuge Liang is remembered in Miao albums as having had a huge influence on the history of
Guizhou. Overall, the Penn album includes many different greater and lesser historical figures who left their mark one way or another on the people's of Guizhou.
As for the text in the Penn album, it is certainly unique. No block of text is the same as the next, and there are no complete matches between this text and the text in other albums. Some
133 Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 2-3. 134 See Plate 13. 135 Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 14-15. 136 Zhuge Liang. 137 See Plate 25. 138 Hostetler, Qing Colonial Enterprise. p 110; Lin, “The Miao-Man Peoples of Kweichow.” p 272-274.
31 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller of this text overlaps with the text of other plates, and some plates have totally unique content.
Additionally, other albums have poems that accompany each section of text. This work features only one poem for the nuguan section. This poem's origin is unknown. There are also some interesting phrases in the text that almost certainly come from various historical works. The relation of the Luoluo entry to the Qiannan zhifang jilüe was already discussed, but there are many others. The last characters of a line in the Luoluo entry points to the Yanjiao Jiwen as well.
The phrase is about the appearances of the Luoluo. "As for the ones that are black, their people all have deep-set eyes, tall bodies, black faces, white teeth, uniform noses, shave their mustaches but grow out their beards."139 Other texts likely draw from Tian Rucheng's work as well. For instance, the mention of a "Zhuitang" in the Yanjiao Jiwen and in the description of the Bafan shows a clear relationship.140 Also, rupan is a phrase worth mentioning, as it appears in the Penn album four times. It can be translated as, "having received a formal education." Originally, it was a ritual that scholars would undergo as they entered an academy in ancient China. It is first mentioned in the Book of Rites.
Finally, there are several unexpected problems with the text of this Miao album, many of which are related to texts from which information was likely copied. There are not only inconsistencies between the writing of several characters on different plates, but there are also characters and phrases of text that are so garbled that it is impossible to translate without replacing the errors with the correct characters or phrases. For example, there is a section of the
Yanghuang peoples where the text has several errors. "In marriage and death they give each other dogs, but as the [marriage] day approaches, they then [give] clothing, hats, and other
139 Part of this phrase is from the Yanjiao Jiwen. See Plate 13. 140 See Plate 4.
32 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller cultural things one by one for prosperity."141 This section was originally copied from the seventh scroll of the Guizhou Tongzhi142, a block print book from the early Qing Dynasty, also known as the Guizhou Gazetteer. Somewhere in its transmission, however, an error was made, as one character was incorrectly copied. Here the zi 自 should be a ri 日. Another character is omitted altogether, sheng 盛. This is not an isolated incident. Another section with no identifiable source, is almost unintelligible. “分受鹵，獲，嵗饑愈甚” translates approximately to, "They divide and distribute salt, they hunt because at the harvest their degrees of starvation increase in extremity."143 This mistake makes leaves the passage unidentifiable and very confusing.
Another section is just miswritten, having a non-standard character that probably means
"pig," where there should be a phrase indicating an individual's passing. "若144彘145以牛馬皮草
裹146而焚之" translates approximately to, "If there is a pig,147 they use cattle or horse skins to bundle them up and burn them."148 Yet another entry that is miswritten concerns belief in ghosts of the Luoluo. The Chinese is"其鬼故又名羅鬼" and can be rendered as something like, "Their ghosts,149 and for this reason are also named "Luo Gui."150 It should be, "They believe in ghosts, and for this reason they are also named Luo Gui." These are just some of the examples, but there are many, many more.
While each of these incidents includes a supposed error on the copyist's behalf, there is still some doubt whether or not it was actually a mistake made by the copyist, if it was copied
141 See Plate 32. 142 《貴州通志》七卷. 143 See Plate 34. 144 苦. 145 A non-standard character without an input. 146 褁. 147 A miswriting. Should be, "If a person dies from a sickness." See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 6-7. 148 See Plate 10. 149 There is a bit missing here indicating their belief in ghosts. 150 See Plate 13.
33 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller from another album that had this mistake, or if it was a mistake made by the original composer or collector of the information. There is one error, however, that might provide insight into which of these possibilities is most likely. This is a passage about the harvesting and husking of rice, but there are so many mistakes that without referring to the source of the text, it would be impossible to even guess the meaning. The Chinese is "擭稻和諧151儲之，刳152木作臼，曰153
椎154塘." This can be rendered into English as, "After they harvest rice on the stalk and store it as such, they hollow out logs to make a vessel (to husk rice), called a "Zhuitang155."" 156 Yet seven out of the thirteen characters here are non-standard characters, miswritten or wrong. There is no certain explanation as to why this is. There are no other instances in the album where so many characters are wrong in such a short span of writing. There are also few other albums that exhibit so many errors or consistencies. It is likely that the producer of this particular album was not familiar with the text or its meaning and was a low-quality copyist.
Unfortunately, without being able to make a comparison to another album closely resembling or related to the Penn album, it is not possible to be sure about this conclusion. These instances where the text either does not make sense or exhibits multiple wrong characters do not explain why the writer wrote them this way. Nonetheless, there are enough examples to illustrate that there were mistakes made, and that theses mistakes were not isolated.
151 擭稻和諧 appears in other texts as 穫稻連稭, which means to harvest rice with it on the stalks. 152 夸. Appears in other texts as 刳. Possibly 挎 or 跨. 153 日. 154 推. 155 A Zhuitang is described by tianrucheng 田汝成 in the yanjiaojiwen 炎徼紀聞, in a section titled manyi 蠻夷, as a mortar. 156 See Plate 4.
34 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
Questions and Conclusions
A displeasing number of questions are left unanswered. Where is the album from? Who wrote it and when? Why was it written or for whom? Where do the paintings and content of the album come from? How did it end up in the Penn Museum? The Miao album in the Penn
Museum is a mystery to say the least. Fortunately, a wealth of information about other albums in collections around the world means that reasonable answers for these questions are not far away.
Hostetler mentions the Penn album in her dissertation and has postulated the date of being after 1732. There is also a note in the museum's object file, which includes an inquiry towards its purchase, dated 1929. It states that Horace Jayne, then curator of Oriental Art at the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, had suggested the unnamed buyer wait until the author of the note returned from a trip to China. Horace Jayne was an Oriental art scholar and enthusiast, and the album, with its text and illustrations would have intrigued him and anyone else with an inclination towards East Asian artwork. Yet the other people in the note remain unnamed even after investigating archival records. Unfortunately, after searching through much of the correspondence between Jayne, also then one of the administrative staff at the Penn Museum, and Helen E. Fernald, the curator of the Asian collection in 1929, no mention of the album was found. However, Helen E. Fernald was in China around 1929 and returned to work at the museum in 1930. She therefore might have been the author of the note. Another person who also made contributions of artwork, especially paintings, to the Asian collection at the Penn Museum who might have somehow been involved was Edward C. Wood. Finally, Carl Bishop, a close friend of Jayne's who had been in China and recently returned may have been the one to acquire the album for the museum. The early decades of the 20th century marked an explosion for the museum in its acquisition of Asian artwork, which included many sculptures, paintings, bronzes,
35 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller jades, and other objects of varying size and value. The collection grew from basically nothing to eventually become valued at over a million dollars. The Miao album could have easily been overlooked, misplaced, and left catalogued for all this time. Unfortunately, how the museum acquired the piece may forever remain a mystery.
After considering the content of the album, ethnography during the Qing Empire, and the growing roles of foreigners in China, possible answers to some other questions likewise start to make sense. Given the striking similarity in images between an album in the British Library and this album, it was probably copied. However, without an exhaustive comparison of their artwork and text, whether or not the album was a complete copy or contained original artwork will remain unknown. As to why the album was produced, this also remains unknown. Other albums were produced as commemorative pieces for Chinese public officials traveling through Guizhou.
This album contains so many mistakes and non-standard characters that it is doubtful any official, even of low rank, would have wanted to collect it. There is no preface and no seal on any part of the album.
Another theory is that the album may have been produced especially for sale to foreigners. As more and more Jesuit missionaries and art collectors entered China, dealers realized the new value placed on old books by Westerners, especially books with artwork and illustrations. In fact, many people from the Penn Museum traveled to Asia to collect curious objects and artwork that they believed to be valuable or beautiful, but not necessarily interesting.
The content of the book would not have been easily understood by foreigners, even if they knew how to read and write modern Chinese at the time.
As for the origins of the text, it clearly comes from many different places. It is a unique text, but has its origins in the Guizhou Gazetteer, Yanjiao Jiwen, and other literary works. The
36 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller original author of the text likely selected parts of these works and edited them into manageable passages for a Miao album. This album has so many mistakes, even in the passages that come from these sources, that the actual person who wrote this album was probably not copying it or composing it with access to the Guizhou Gazetteer. The most troubling portion of the text, however, is the poem that appears in the final section about the Luoluo nuguan. The poem in the
Miao album does not seem to exist anywhere else under the same or different title, nor does any similar poem seem to exist about the nuguan. None of the nuguan passages in other available albums exhibit this poem. There seems to be no record that Tian Wen, the purported author of the poem, ever wrote this poem, although he did supposedly write another poem in the same style about other women, titled "Chang ge ti si nu ci."157 Unfortunately, there is no way to confirm for sure if Tian Wen did write this poem or not.
Finally, there is no way to date the book with certainty. Since the book seems to have been copied with content drawn from many different sources, it could have appeared at any time later than the date in which the latest source was published. If the latest source for the text were to be found, this might provide a start date, but there is no way to know for sure. Another way to date the album would be to examine the place names and figure out when they were used in history and when they were changed. This is a very long and difficult process that requires identifying place names on historical maps as they are changed by the government administrations of different dynasties, especially before or after wars and dynastic upheaval. In
Guizhou, this process is made especially difficult because there were many conflicts of the
"Miao Rebellions" that stretched several years and recurred over the course of more than a hundred years. Thus some of the names may have changed and then even returned to their
157 《長歌題四女祠》.
37 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller previous names over the course of this period. Some of the place names mentioned in the album could not be found.
The Miao album in the Penn Museum is a unique and incredible wealth of information. It comes from a tradition of other Miao albums that are scattered around the world. It describes more than 40 different ethnic groups and touches upon a wide range of topics. Yet researching it has understandably been frustrating, as so many questions must be left unanswered. Despite translations and investigation into its acquisition, it has thus far been impossible to confidently answer questions regarding the provenance of the album. Despite these challenges and frustrations, the Miao album is an exquisite record of ethnographic artwork in Imperial China and invites its readers to marvel at the strange and mysterious character of the ethnic groups which it describes in such detail.
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Bibliography
Bagley, Robert W. “Shang Ritual Bronzes: Casting Technique and Vessel Design.” Archives of Asian Art 43 (January 1, 1990): 6–20. doi:10.2307/20111203. Bernatzik, Hugo Adolf. Akha and Miao: Problems of Applied Ethnography in Farther India. Human Relations Area Files, 1970. Chen, Xianbo. Tu Si Zheng Zhi Yu Zu Qun Li Shi: Ming Dai Yi Hou Guizhou Duliu Jiang Shang You Di Qu Yan Jiu. Li Shi, Tian Ye Cong Shu. Beijing di 1 ban: Sheng huo, du shu, xin zhi san lian shu dian, 2011. Clarke, Samuel R., and China Inland Mission. Among the Tribes in South-west China. London, Philadelphia : China Inland Mission, 1911. http://archive.org/details/amongtribesinsou00clarrich. Crossley, Pamela Kyle, Helen F. Siu, and Donald S. Sutton. Empire at the Margins: Culture, Ethnicity, and Frontier in Early Modern China. University of California Press, 2006. Diamond, Norma. “The Miao and Poison: Interactions on China’s Southwest Frontier.” Ethnology 27, no. 1 (January 1, 1988): 1–25. doi:10.2307/3773558. Elliott, Mark C. “Review of: Qing Colonial Enterprise: Ethnography and Cartography in Early Modern China by Laura Hostetler.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 46, no. 4 (January 1, 2003): 547–549. doi:10.2307/3632835. Graham, David Crockett. Songs and Stories of the Ch`uan Miao. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections v. 123, no. 1. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1954. Guy,, R. Kent. Qing Governors and Their Provinces: The Evolution of Territorial Administration in China, 1644-1796. University of Washington Press, 2010. Hostetler, Laura. “Chinese Ethnography in the Eighteenth Century: Miao Albums of Guizhou Province.” Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1995. http://search.proquest.com/docview/304208995/abstract/13A708D49462E359D9B/11?ac countid=14707. ———. Qing Colonial Enterprise: Ethnography and Cartography in Early Modern China. University of Chicago Press, 2005. ———. The Art of Ethnography: A Chinese “Miao Album.” Translated by David Michael Deal. Univ of Washington Pr, 2007. Jenks, Robert Darrah. Insurgency and Social Disorder in Guizhou : the “Miao” Rebellion, 1854- 1873. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994. Li, Delong. Qian Nan Miao Man Tu Shuo Yan Jiu. Di 1 ban. Beijing Shi: Zhong yang min zu da xue chu ban she, 2008. Li, Hanlin. Bai Miao Tu Jiao Shi. Di 1 ban. Bai Miao Tu Yan Jiu Cong Shu. Guiyang Shi: Guizhou min zu chu ban she, 2001. Li, Liu. “Ancestor Worship: An Archaeological Investication of Ritual Activities in Neolithic North China.” Journal of East Asian Archaeology 2, no. 1–2 (2000): 129–164. doi:10.1163/156852300509826. Lin, Yueh-Hwa. “The Miao-Man Peoples of Kweichow.” Ph.D., Harvard University, 1940. http://search.proquest.com/docview/301790331/13A708D49462E359D9B/17?accountid= 14707. Liu, Feng. Bai Miao Tu Shu Zheng. Di 1 ban. Xi Nan Bian Jiang Min Zu Wen Ku. Beijing Shi: Min zu chu ban she, 2004.
39 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
Tan Weihua 谭卫华, Luo Kanglong 罗康隆. “《百苗图》传世抄本收藏情况概说 The General Survey to the Collection of Handwritten Copies of ‘Bai Miao Paint’.” 贵州文史丛刊, Guizhou Culture and History no. 1 (2010). http://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/periodical_gzwsck201001024.aspx. Tian, Wen. Gu Huan Tang Ji. Si Ku Quan Shu ; Ji Bu di 1324 ce. 263. Shanghai: Shanghai gu ji chu ban she, 1987. Wellcome Trust (London, England). Pearls of the Orient: Asian Treasures from the Wellcome Library. London: Serindia, 2003. Zhongguo Li Shi Di Tu Ji / Tan Qixiang Zhu Bian = The Historical Atlas of China / Chief Editor, Tan Qi Xiang. Di 1 ban. Shanghai: Di tu chu ban she : Xin hua shu dian Shanghai fa xing suo fa xing, 1982.
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Appendix I: Place Names in the Penn Miao Album
No. Place name Pinyin Plate numbers Total 1 安顺/安順 ānshùn 1, 10, 21, 26 (same as 1), 28, 40 5 2 定番州/定番州158 dìngfānzhōu 4, 19 2 3 普定/普定 pǔdìng 10, 31 2 4 贵定/貴定 guìdìng 29, 30, 31, 36, 41 5 5 龙里/龍裡 lónglǐ 22, 32, 36 3 6 大定/大定 dàdìng 10, 13, 23, 28, 37 5 7 清镇/清鎮 qīngzhēn 37 1 8 黔省/黔省 qiánshěng (2), (20), 31, 35, 41 3 (5) 9 黔西/黔西 (州) qiánxī (zhōu) 27, 30, 36, 39 4 10 遵义/遵義 zūnyì 5, 28 2 11 广顺/廣順 (州) guǎngshùn (zhōu) 11, 31, 38 3 12 平越/平越 píngyuè 9, 21, 24, 39 4 13 黄平/黃平 huángpíng 24, 32 2 14 贵阳/貴陽 guìyáng 14, 21, 28 3 15 贵筑/貴築 guìzhù 22, 31, 37 3 16 修文/修文 xiūwén 27, 37 2 17 清平/清平 qīngpíng 22, 24, 29, 30, 37 5 18 都勻/都勻 dūyún 30, 32, 42 3 19 威宁/威寧159 wēinìng 37 1 20 丹江/丹江 dānjiāng 15, 24, 25 3 21 余庆/餘慶 yúqìng 32 1 22 黎平/黎平 lípíng 15, 29, 32 2 23 石阡/石阡 shíqián 17, 29, 32, 34 2 24 施秉/施秉 shībǐng 8, 18, 31, 32 4 25 龙泉/ 龍泉 lóngquán 5, 32 2 26 铜仁府/銅仁府 tóngrénfù 8, 33 2 27 八寨/八寨 bāzhài 15, 25, 42 3 28 镇远/鎮遠160 zhènyuǎn 15, 18 2 29 独山州/獨山州 dúshānzhōu 24 1 30 宁谷/寧谷161 nìnggǔ 40 1 31 西堡/西堡 xībǎo 40 1 32 顶营/頂營 dǐngyíng 40 1 33 南笼/南籠 nánlóng 6, 21 2
158 定畨州. 159 威寕. 160 鎮逺. 161 寕谷
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34 平远/平遠(州)162 píngyuán (zhōu) 7, 16, 27, 37 4 35 陈蒙/陳蒙 chénměng 9 1 36 普安州/普安州 pǔ'ānzhōu 12 1 37 古州/古州 gǔzhōu 15, 29 2 38 永芝/永芝 yǒngzhī 34 1 39 洪州/洪州 hóngzhōu 34 1 40 永豊州/永豊州 yǒnglǐzhōu 35 1 41 罗斛/羅斛 luóhú 35 1 42 册享/冊享 cèxiǎng 35 1 43 永宁州/永寧州163 yǒngnìngzhōu 10 1 44 水西安/水西安 shuǐxī'ān 43 1 45 烂土/爛土 lántǔ 9 1 46 天壩/天坝 tiānbà 9 1
162 平逺(州) 163 永寜州
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Appendix II: Comparison of Incidences of Mentions of Ethnic Groups in Printed Albums
Plate Name Pinyin Album 1 Album 2 Album 3 1 大頭龍家 Datou Longjia 12 12 --- 2 Front Cover 3 Front Cover Page 4 八番 Bafan 40 40 --- 5 杨保 Yangbao 37 37 --- 6 捕籠 Bulong 7 7 --- 7 鍋圈犵狫 Guojuan Gelao 28 28 28 8 生苗, 红苗 Sheng Miao, Hong Miao 14,74(62) 14,75(60) --- 9 夭苗 Yao Miao 20 21 16 10 白猓玀 Bai Luoluo 3 3 --- 11 狗耳龍家 Gou'er Longjia 10 10 --- 12 僰人 Boren 32 33 --- 13 猓玀 Luoluo 1 1 --- 14 宋家 Songjia 4 4 6 15 黒苗 Heimiao 17 17 10 16 披袍犵狫 Pipao Gelao 29 30 26 17 蠻人, 冉家蠻 Manren, Ranjia Miao 34, 51 34, 52 --- 18 (犵)兠 (Ge)dou 23(60) --- 24 19 谷藺苗 Gulin Miao 42 42 --- 20 六種: 水, 羊, 狑, 狪, 猺, 獞 26 (32,38) 30 (4) Liuzhong: Shui, Yang, Ling, Dong, Yao, Zhuang 21 狆家: 捕籠, 卡尤, 青狆 6,7,8,(63,67) 6,7,8,(64,67) --- Zhongjia: Bulong, Kayou, Qingzhong 22 東苗 Dong Miao 18 19 --- 23 六額子 Liu Ezi 49 50 --- 24 紫薑苗 Zijiang Miao 41 41 --- 25 九股苗 Jiugu Miao 39 39 --- 26 Plate 1 repeat 27 青苗 Qing Miao 16 16 8 28 花苗 Hua Miao 13 13 --- 29 剪頭犵狫，猪豕犵狫 Jiantou Gelao, Zhushi Gelao 24 18 --- 30 � 狫 Chulao 30 31 --- 31 土人 Turen 33 29 --- 32 样獚 Yanghuang 38 38 --- 33 紅苗 Hong Miao 14 14 --- 34 洞人[峒,峝] Dongren 35(44) 35 (55,82) (4) 35 㺜苗 Nong Miao 21 22 18
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36 白苗 Bai Miao 15 15 --- 37 蔡家 Caijia 5 5 --- 38 克孟拈羊苗 Kemeng Guyang Miao 43 44 --- 39 打牙犵狫 Daya Gelao 22 23 20 40 馬鐙龍家 Madeng Longjia 11 11 --- 41 猺人 Yaoren 36(61) 36 --- 42 短裙苗 Duanqun Miao 77 78 --- 43 女官 Nüguan 2 2 --- 44 Back Cover Page 45 Back Cover
Reference Album:
《全黔苗圖》 Object CG98-1-129. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Album 1:
Hostetler, Laura. The Art of Ethnography: A Chinese “Miao Album.” Translated by David Michael Deal. Univ of Washington Pr, 2007.
Album 2:
Zhong yang yan jiu yuan. Miao Man Tu Ce. Ying Yin Miao Man Tu Ji 1. Taibei: Zhong yang yan jiu yuan li shi yu yan yan jiu suo, 62.
Album 3:
Zhong yang yan jiu yuan. Fan Miao Hua Ce. Ying Yin Miao Man Tu Ji 2. Taibei: Zhong yang yan jiu yuan li shi yu yan yan jiu suo, 62.
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Appendix III: List of Miao Albums Available in US Libraries and Online
1 Full Images 《全黔苗圖》Object CG98-1-129. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Available at http://www.penn.museum/collections/object/72454.
2 Full Images, Translation, Introduction Hostetler, Laura. The Art of Ethnography: A Chinese “Miao Album.” Translated by David Michael Deal. Univ of Washington Pr, 2007.
3 Full Images, Introduction Zhong yang yan jiu yuan. Miao Man Tu Ce. Ying Yin Miao Man Tu Ji 1. Taibei: Zhong yang yan jiu yuan li shi yu yan yan jiu suo, 62. 中央研究院。苗蛮图册。台北，台湾。
4 Full Images, Introduction Zhong yang yan jiu yuan. Fan Miao Hua Ce. Ying Yin Miao Man Tu Ji 2. Taibei: Zhong yang yan jiu yuan li shi yu yan yan jiu suo, 62. 中央研究院。番苗畫冊。台北，台湾。
5 Full Images "The Life of Man." Object no. 70/11948 B. American Museum of Natural History, Division of Anthropology. Available at http://anthro.amnh.org/anthropology/databases/common/image_dup.cfm?catno=70%20%20%2F 11948%20B
6, 7, 8 Full Images Waseda University Archives. Available at: http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ni16/ni16_02301/ni16_02301_0001/ni16_02301_0001.pdf http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ni16/ni16_02532/ni16_02532.pdf http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ni16/ni16_02569/ni16_02569.pdf
9 Full Images 《苗蠻圖冊頁》Library of Congress. Available at: http://www.wdl.org/en/item/298/
10 Full Text, Selected Images Du, Wei. Bai Miao Tu Hui Kao. Di 1 ban. Bai Miao Tu Yan Jiu Cong Shu. Guiyang Shi: Guizhou min zu chu ban she, 2002.
11 Full Text, Selected Images Li, Hanlin. Bai Miao Tu Jiao Shi. Di 1 ban. Bai Miao Tu Yan Jiu Cong Shu. Guiyang Shi: Guizhou min zu chu ban she, 2001.
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Appendix IV: Bibliography for Penn Miao Album
Elliott, Mark C. “Review of: Qing Colonial Enterprise: Ethnography and Cartography in Early Modern China by Laura Hostetler.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 46, no. 4 (January 1, 2003): 547–549. doi:10.2307/3632835.
Hostetler, Laura. “Chinese Ethnography in the Eighteenth Century: Miao Albums of Guizhou Province.” Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1995.
———. Qing Colonial Enterprise: Ethnography and Cartography in Early Modern China. University of Chicago Press, 2005.
———. The Art of Ethnography: A Chinese “Miao Album.” Translated by David Michael Deal. Univ of Washington Pr, 2007.
Qi, Qingfu, Delong Li, and Hui Shi. “国内外收藏滇夷图册概说 - A Summary of Domestic and International Collections of Albums of the Yi People of Yunnan.” 思想战线 Sixiang Zhanxian 34, no. 4 (2008): 21–30.
Shi, Hui. “海外遗珍说‘苗图’ - Overseas Treasures: Miao Albums.” 中华文化画报 Chinese Cultural Pictorial (2010): 24–29.
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Appendix V: Map of Modern Guizhou and Approximate Locations of Place Names164
164 Google Maps and a historical Qing Map were consulted. See Zhongguo Li Shi Di Tu Ji / Tan Qixiang Zhu Bian = The Historical Atlas of China / Chief Editor, Tan Qi Xiang. p 50-51.
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Appendix VI: Text and Translations165
1 大頭龍家出在安順。有之多趙、謝 等姓。男人以漢人打伴166，婦人穿黒 短衣、短裙，以青布裹167頭。男子亦 有讀書入泮168者。
The Datou Longjia169 are from Anshun. There are many with the surnames of Zhao, Xie, and so forth. The men have an appearance like the Han.170 The women wear short black garments, short skirts, and wrap their heads with blue-green cloth. Among the men there are also those who have received a formal education.
165 Given the somewhat challenging state of the text, several works were consulted for assistance. See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography; Li, Bai Miao Tu Jiao Shi; Liu, Bai Miao Tu Shu Zheng. 166 Meaning 打扮, which sounds like what is actually written, 打伴. 167 褁. 168 入泮 was a tradition held for children starting school in ancient China and is mentioned in the Book of Rites (礼 记/禮記). It means to be educated at a formal institution. 169 Literally, "Big Head Longjia." Texts in other albums provide an explication as to how they received this name. They purportedly collect the hair from the manes of horses and coil it into their own hair as a supplement. See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 24-25. 170 Hostetler discusses this usage of the idea of 漢.
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4 八番171在定番172州。衣服與漢人同。其俗，女 勞男逸。婦人直頂173作髮。日出而耕，暮 入而織。擭稻和諧174儲之，刳175木作臼， 曰176椎177塘。每臨炊始取稲把入手舂之。 以寅午日為市。燕會擊其腰皷為樂。 以十月望日為嵗首。塟不擇日，夜 静出之，謂不忍使其親知之云。
The Bafan are from Dingfan District. Their clothing is the same as Han peoples' clothing. As for their customs, the women work and men shirk. The women style their hair on the tops of their heads. They plough when the sun comes out and weave when evening comes. After they harvest rice on the stalk and store it as such, they hollow out logs to make a vessel (to husk rice), called a "Zhuitang."178 When they are prepared to cook it, everyone starts to collect handfuls of rice and set about husking and grinding it. On the third and seventh days179 they go to market. At feasts and gatherings, they strike their waist-drums to make music. They have their new year on the full moon180 of the tenth month. They do not select a day for burials - at night they quietly bring the body out, saying that they cannot bear to let their relatives know about it.
171 畨. 172 畨. 173 直頂 appears in other texts as 短髮. See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 80-81. 174 擭稻和諧 appears in other texts as 穫稻連稭, which means to harvest rice with it on the stalks. See preceding footnote. 175 夸. Appears in other texts as 刳. Possibly 挎 or 跨. See preceding footnote. 176 日. 177 推. 178 A Zhuitang is described by 田汝成 tianrucheng in the 炎徼紀聞 yanjiaojiwen in a section titled 蠻夷 manyi as a mortar. 179 Of the 12 day cycle. 180 Or about the 15th day of a lunar month.
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5 楊保乃播181州之裔。多在遵義龍泉。 其婚姻喪182祭頗同漢人。亦有挽思、 哀悼之禮。但性狡而獷。間或緣 事官司差役拘提抗拒不出。
The Yangbao are the descendants of those in Bo District.183 Many are from Zunyi and Longquan. Their marriage and burial rituals are rather similar to those of the Han people. Also, they have rituals for lamenting and mourning. Yet their character is cunning and uncouth. From time to time, when the requirements for corvée labor184 are enforced by government officials, they resist and refuse to go out to participate.185
181 No horizontal stroke on top. 182 丧. 183 Bo Zhou was both a person and a place. See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 74-75. 184 Government officials often enlisted the help of locals to complete unsavory tasks. 185 See plate 21.
50 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
6 補籠在南籠安順府。属衣尚青以帕束首。 婦人多有好以青布蒙髻，長裙、袖摺多 至二十餘幅，拖腰以青布一幅不垂若綬， 仍以青布籠186衣之。以十二月為嵗首，男女聚 觀季，以銅皷吹蘆笙歌，以樂父子女人一 以拋毬。南人以女人劍187牛馬鷄犬骨以事之。 作酸臭為炊188，稱富積者，則曰貯189䤃桶幾世矣。190 婚皆苟合畜。蠱名金蚕，每以毒人否反噬 毒藥染箭鏃。出入必帶強弩利刀191，睚眦192之仇193， 必報近皆宜戢。多讀書識字者。
The Bulong194 (Miao) are from Nanlong (Prefecture) and Anshun Prefecture. They belong to (the group whose) clothes involve using blue cloth for wrapping their heads. Among the women there are many who are fond of using blue-green cloth to cover buns of hair. Their long skirts and the folds of their sleeves are as many as 20 fu195 or more. Hanging below their waists, they use one fu of green-blue cloth, which is not hand woven but rather is like a shou.196 As such the (Bu)long (Miao) use green-blue cloth to cloth themselves. They take the 12th month as their new year, and the men and women assemble to observe the final season. They use copper drums, blow on reed and gourd (instruments), and sing, and with the music, the fathers, children, and females all throw about a ball. The southerners use women's knives and the bones of cattle, horses, chicken, and dogs for this activity. They make a smelly concoction to eat and called it fujizhe,197 and then called it zhuyintong198 for many generations. They are married in uncouth ways together with animals. There is a gu named "The Golden Silkworm,"199 it is often used to poison others, so that they are not able to bite back. They also lace their arrowheads with the poison. They come and go, always with strong bows and sharp knives, and (even respond to) enmity in a malevolent look. They always announce their approach so that each suitably restrains oneself. There are many among them who are literate and study writing.
186 龍. 187 劔. 188 隹. 189 蓄 in the yanjiaojiwen. 190 This phrase appears far less garbled in the yanjiaojiwen. 191 刅. 192 Popular character, left 耳, right is sort of like a 比. 193 Popular character, extra stroke. 194 Literally, "Patching Basket Miao." 195 Width of cloth. 196 A 綬 shou was a silk ribbon attached to a seal. 197 Literally, "that which is rich and old." 198 The phrase 貯䤃桶 zhuyintong literally means a stored keg of fermented brew. 199 This is a legendary poison produced by collecting and mixing one or several venoms from different insects.
51 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
7 鍋圈犵狫200在平遠201州。男子多以葛織斜文 為衣。女人以青布束亂髮如鍋圈状。短衣 長裙，無褶。病則延鬼師以虎頭一具，用五 色絨裝飾，置簸202箕內禱之。塟則側置其 屍，謂使其不知回歸云。其俗多嗜酒惰 農業。
The Guoquan Gelao203 are from Pingyuan District. Many of the men use Kudzu204 to weave geometric patterned clothing.205 The women use green-blue cloth to bundle up unruly hair into a pot ring-like shape. They have short garments and long skirts without pleats. If they are sick, then they invite a ghost-master206 to use a tiger head as one remedy.207 They use five colors of silk to ornament it, and place it inside a winnowing basket and pray for them. As for burials, they arrange the corpse sideways, saying it is to keep the dead from knowing of their return home. Their customs are such that many are fond of wine and are too lazy to work the fields.
200 With a 呙 on the right side. 201 逺. 202 With 欠 on the right side instead of a 皮。 203 Literally, "Pot-ring Gelao." 204 A fibrous plant, Pueraria Lobata. See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 56-57. 205 The plant fibers were woven into a pattern known as "twill," which involves offsetting the weft and warp threads to produce a diagonal effect in the design. See preceding footnote. 206 Basically a shaman. 207 This tiger head was apparently made out of flour. See preceding footnote.
52 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
8 生苗在施秉縣，紅苗在銅仁府。均為一類208。 有吳、龍、石209、麻、白五姓。衣被俱用斑絲，女工 以此為服210。牲畜不宰多掊殺以火去毛，微 煮帶血而食。人死仍用棺將竹，遺衣服装 像，擊鼓歌舞名曰調鼓。每嵗五月寅日 夫婦各宿不敢言不出門戶，以避鬼恐 致虎。卜用梳。同類相殺，以婦人勸211方解。凢 出刦富者，以出牛酒，以聚衆，有獲則中 分。遇殺死側，出銀以償之。被掠212者，必索金 贖，少則加以非形213明。時屡煩征討。
The Sheng Miao214 are located in Shibing district, and the Red Miao are located in Tongren Prefecture. They both make up one group. They have the five surnames Wu, Long, Shi, Ma, and Bai. Their clothes and coverings in every case employ striped silk.215 The women work using this material to make the clothing. Their domesticated animals are not butchered, but rather in most cases beaten to death. They use fire to burn away their fur. They undercook meat to leave it bloody and eat it. When people die, they use coffins made of bamboo and take clothing left behind to dress up a likeness. They strike drums, sing, and dance, which they call "diaogu."216 Every year in the 5th month on the 3rd day, husband and wife each stay in their lodgings217 and neither dare to speak nor leave their homes, not only to avoid ghosts, but also lest they cause a tiger to arrive. When prophesizing, they use combs. Within the same group (of Miao) they fight each other. The women implore them to stop. Whenever they go out, they coerce those who are wealthy to bring out their herds of cattle and collections of wine. They pillage them and then divide the spoils among them. At this encounter they kill them, and bring out their silver valuables for the purpose of the restitution. As for those who have been plundered, they must pay a large quantity of gold. If it is less, then they add some so as to avoid penalties. Seasonally, they are again and again troublesome attacking and making demands.
208 Bottom left features a 女, not a 犬. 209 Written with an additional 丶. 210 務. 211 勧. 212 Other texts have this as 虜. 213 In other texts this is 刑. 214 Literally, "Raw Miao." As opposed to Shu Miao, see plate 15. 215 This can be rendered as woven variegated silk. See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 28-29. 216 Literally, "harmonizing the drum." 217 In other texts, this is written differently to mean that husband and wife sleep separately. See preceding footnotes.
53 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
9 夭苗在平越黄平。一名夭家。多姫姓，相傳以 為周後裔尚青。男女皆左袵，婦人紡織善 染。以十一月為嵗首。祭祖先必請家長主祭 祝讚。其性柔順，不喜鬥218，觀勤儉貧，不為盗。 近有讀書，應試者。其在陳蒙、爛土、天壩 者緝水葉為著短裙。女子年十五六 即構竹楼野外處之。人死不塟，以籐蔓 束之，樹間。
The Yao Miao219 are located in Pingyue and Huangping. Another name for them is Yaojia. Among them many are surnamed Ji. This name has been handed down and used by their ancestors after the Zhou through to the present younger generation. The men and women all wear improper clothing.220 The women spin and weave and make good dyed (products). They take the 11th month as their new year. When sacrificing to earlier generations they always ask the head of the family to oversee the sacrificial rites and to offer a well-wishing eulogy. Their nature is gentle and pliant. They do not enjoy fighting and are seen to be hardworking, frugal, and poor. They do not steal. Among them there are those who read and take exams. Those from Chen Meng, Lantu, and Tianba stich water leaves221 to make short skirts. The women, in their fifteen or sixteenth year, construct bamboo huts in fields and live out in them. When people die, they do not bury them. They use vines and creepers to bind them into a tree.
218 閗. 219 Literally, "Young Miao." 220 In other accounts, short skirts and tunics made of leaves constitute this inappropriate clothing. See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 40-41. 221 From an unspecified aquatic plant.
54 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
10 白猓玀亦在大定之水西，安順之永寜 州，皆有之。又名曰白蠻，與猓玀同而 為下姓風俗。亦略222同似嗜，飲食無盤㿻 以三足釜223灼毛齰血，無論鼠、雀、蚳、蝝、 燒224動之物攖而燔之攢食。若225彘226以牛 馬皮草裹227而焚之。居普定者為阿 和，其俗相同多販茶葉。
The Bai Luoluo228 are from both Shuixi in Dading and Yongning District in Anshun. They are also called the Bai Man, and have similarities with the Luoluo, yet make up a lower clan with inferior customs. Everything that is approximately similar to what they like to consume, they drink and eat without plates or bowls and instead using a three-footed cauldron. Cauterized hair, biting blood, no matter if it is a rodent, bird, bug egg or larvae, they roast moving animals and eat them. If there is a pig,229 they use cattle or horse skins to bundle them up and burn them. The ones who live in Puding are the A-he, and their customs are the same with many peddling tealeaves.
222 畧. 223 釡. 224 燸. 225 苦. 226 A non-standard character. 227 褁. 228 Literally, "White Luoluo." 229 A miswriting. Should be, "If a person dies from a sickness." See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 6-7.
55 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
11 狗耳龍家在廣順州康佐司。依深林 榛莽230之間，其邊溪者。入水捕魚猾若 蟂獺231。男子束髮而不冠，婦人辮髮螺 結上指若狗耳状。衣班，衣以五色藥 珠為飾。貧則以薏苡代之。春時立木於232 野，謂之鬼竿。男女旋躍而擇配。既奔 則女氏之黨以牛馬贖之方，通媒説。 死以杵擊臼和歌哭，塟之幽巖秘而 無識。
The Gou'er Longjia233 live in Guangshun District and Kangzuo locality. They are set deep in the forest in the spaces of hazelnut thickets, with their borders at the mountain streams. They enter the rivers and catch fish in crafty ways like the otter. The men tie up their hair and do not wear hats while the women braid their hair into spiral knots that on top point out like dog-ears. Their clothing is variegated; they use five colors and medicine pearls234 as decoration. If they are poor then they use Job's tears235 instead of the pearls. In the spring season, they stand up a log in the open, calling it a "ghost pole." Men and women frolic about the pole and select a match. If they abscond together, then the household of the woman's clan uses the method of cattle or horses to buy her back, after which they then employ the services of a matchmaker. When they die, they use a pestle to strike a mortar in harmony with their wailing and crying, and bury them on a secluded cliff in secret and without any marks [for remembering where they were buried].
230 莾. 231 With 虫 radical on the left side. 232 扵. 233 Literally, "Dog Ear Longjia." 234 Pearls are ground up even today in China and are believed to have various properties useful in Chinese medicine. 235 Coix lacryma-Jobi. Also known as Coixseed or Chinese pearl barley, it has various properties useful in Chinese medicine, but is not related to the barley plant.
56 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
12 僰人在普安州，土官各營。男左皆披氈236 衣，垢不沐237浴。凢猓玀狆家扢狫言語不 相諳者，常以僰人通傳聲音風俗與南 語略238同。於239六月二十四日祭天過240嵗。朔望 日不乞241火。性淳而佞佛，常持素珠誦 梵咒。
The Boren are from Pu'an District and officialdoms each have an encampment. The men are improper, and they all wear felt clothes and are dirty and do not bathe. In every case of the Luoluo, Zhongjia, and Gelao languages, they are not acquainted with each other, but these tribes often use the Boren to travel and translate and convey customs among the southern languages, as they are approximately the same. In the sixth month on the 24th day they sacrifice to heaven and pass the [new] year. On the days of the new moons and full moons242 they do not make offerings with fire.243 It is in their nature to be honest and believe in Buddhism; they often grasp white pearls and recite sutras and spells.
236 氊. 237 沭. 238 畧. 239 扵. 240 Written with the component 呙. 241 吃. 242 Or the first and fifteenth days of a lunar month. 243 This is noted because it stands out - even today many Buddhist followers do make offerings with fire. See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 64-65.
57 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
13 猓玀本盧鹿而訛為傳稱。大定竹244屬有黒白二種。 黒者，其人皆深目、長身、黒面、白歯、鈞245鼻、薙髭而 留髯。又名鳥蠻。其鬼故又名羅鬼。蜀漢時有齊火 者徔246武侯247破孟獲，有功封羅甸國王。即安氏遠248 祖也。自羅甸東西，若自祀，夜郎，牂牁，則以國名。 [若]特磨，白衣，九道，則以道[名]，皆羅羅之種也。自濟火 以来千有餘年，世長其土，勒四十八部之長曰 頭目，其等有九曰九扯，最貴者曰更苴，不名不 拜，賜[镂]銀幾249杖。凢有大事取决焉，次則慕魁自 魁以至黑乍，皆有職守。
The Luoluo250 were originally "Lulu"251 but it was incorrectly transmitted as their name. [Those of] Dading Prefecture252 belong to two types, which are the Black and the White. As for the ones that are black, their people all have deep-set eyes, tall bodies, black faces, white teeth, uniform noses, shave their mustaches but grow out their beards.253 They also go by the name of Niaoman.254 Their ghosts,255 for this reason are also named "Luo Gui."256 In the time of Shuhan, there were those who ordered fire and followed the Marquis of Wu to attack Menghuo; they had success, and they was granted rulership over the feudal state of Luo Dian.257 Also, they are the distant ancestors of the An family. If they are from the east and west of Luodian county, such as Zisi, Yelang, or Zangge, then they take their state as their name. If they are Temo, Baiyi, or Jiudao, then they take their roads for their names, but they are all a kind of Luoluo. From [the time of] Jihuo258 and a thousand and more years onwards, the ancestor and leader of their lands, the leader controlling the 48 divisions, is called the toumu,259 as for the others, they
244 Should be 府 or 者. 245 Probably 均. 246 Should be 從. 247 忠武鄉侯, the Marquis of Zhongwu Village, named Zhuge Liang. 248 逺. 249 鴋. 250 The original meaning of these two characters is not entirely clear, but was likely associated with some type of animal. 251 Literally, "Cottage Deer." 252 There is a place-word missing in the text to indicate that Dading is where they reside. 253 Part of this phrase is from the Yanjiao Jiwen. 254 Literally, "Bird Barbarians." 255 There is a bit missing here indicating their belief in ghosts. 256 Literally, "Luo Ghosts." 257 For more information about these ancient personalities, see Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 2-3. 258 Jihuo was a legendary figure in Luoluo culture. 259 Literally, "head and eyes." The ringleader.
58 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller have nine called the nine rips. The most noble of them is called the Gengju. They do not name260 and do not kowtow. They give gifts of inlaid silver into sticks.261 Whenever there are complicated affairs, they depend upon him, at that time they then desire for the chief [to decide]. From the chief they may even go to the Heizuo. They each have their duty.
260 Possibly "do not use names." 261 This sentence is corrupted and does not make sense.
59 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
14 宋家在貴陽。本中國之裔，春秋時宋為楚子。 竹蠶262食俘其民而放之南徼，遂流為夷。即宋 宣慰之祖也。頗通漢語文字。男子帽而長襟263。婦 人笄而短襟。将嫁男家遣人往264迎女家，則 率親戚棰265楚之，謂之奪親，旦則進盥於266姑，男 女則燂湯以沐267，三日而罷。喪葬268，飯蔬飯水, 二十一日封而識之若馬鬣。男女勤織，知 禮，畏去近。有讀書入泮者。
The Songjia are from Guiyang. They were originally the ancestors of the central states; in the Spring and Autumn Period the Song were Chu people. They slowly chipped away269 at them until they captured their people and banished them to the southern borderlands, where they then circulated as Yi [people]. They are ancestors of the Song Xuanwei.270 They are proficient in Han language and writing. The men wear hats and long clothes above the waist. The women wear hairpins and short clothes above the waist. When they are about to get married, the man's family is sent, and they welcome the woman's family, but then collect their family and bludgeon them and cause them much pain. They call it "Plundering the Parents." At daybreak, they then bring water to wash the girl. The men and women then heat water for bathing. After three days it ends. When they are making funeral arrangements, they cook vegetables and broth. After 21 days they seal it and record it, as if it were a horse's mane. The men and women diligently weave, understand etiquette, and fear traveling. Among them there are those who read books and have received a formal education.
262 Appears earlier as 蚕 in [4/45]. 263 衿. 264 徃. 265 箠. 266 扵. 267 沭. 268 塟. 269 Literally, "[as] a silkworm nibbles at bamboo." Silkworms do not usually eat bamboo, but the Silkworm graph could refer to another insect. 270 Literally, "Office of Song Pacification." See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 8-9.
60 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
15 黒苗在都勻之八寨、丹江、鎮逺之清江、黎平之古州。 其山居者曰山苗、高271坡苗，近河者曰洞苗，中有土司 者曰熟苗，無管者曰生苗。衣服皆尚黒，故曰黒苗。婦 人綰長簪，耳埀大環銀，頂圈。衣短以色錦綠袖。 男女皆跣足陟岡蠻躧荊蓁272捷，如猿猴。勤耕樵。女 子更勞日則出作，夜則紡績。食惟糯稻臼甚白 炊熟必成，圍冷食佐食惟野蔬，無匙箸，皆以手 掬，艱於273鹽274用蕨灰浸水。竹得死犢羔豚雞275犬鵰 鴨等類連毛膩置之甕中，層層按納，俟其螂蛆 臭腐始告缸成，名曰喑276菜珍為異味。寒無重衣，夜無臥息277。
The Hei Miao278 are from Bazhai of Duyun, Danjiang, Qingjiang of Zhenyuan, and Liping of Guzhou. Those of them who dwell in the mountains are called Shan Miao279 and Gaopo Miao.280 Those who are near the river are called Dong Miao.281 In between, there are Tusi282 called Shu Miao.283 Those without a leader are called Sheng Miao. Their clothing all tends to be black, and therefore they are all called the Hei Miao. The women bind up their hair with long pins, hang large silver rings from their ears, and wear neck rings. Their clothing is short and uses colored embroidery to make green sleeves. The men and women are all barefoot and climb hills, the Manxi, and thick brush, nimbly as if they were monkeys. They plow and gather firewood diligently. The women are more hardworking and if it is day, they go out and work, if it is night, then they spin silk fabric. They eat only glutinous rice from a mortar and steam it until it is very white. It must be cooked until it is done. If their environment is cold, then they eat minor things and wild vegetation. They do not have spoons or chopsticks, they all use their hands to grasp [their food]. It is difficult for them to get salt, so they use a slurry of bracken ash. Whenever they get dead calfs, lambs, suckling pigs, chickens, dogs, birds of prey, ducks, and other things of the sort, and even hair and grease, they put them into an earthen container. Layer upon layer they press it down even more. After it has dung beetles and maggots and stinks of
271 髙. 272 榛. 273 扵. 274 塩. 275 鷄. 276 音 but with a 酉 on the left. 277 貝. This may be wrong. 278 Literally, "Black Miao." 279 Literally, "Mountain Miao." 280 Literally, "High Slope Miao." 281 Literally, "Cave Miao." 282 Literally, "Local Leader." An indigenous and usually hereditary tribal leader. 283 Literally, "Cooked Miao." As opposed to Sheng Miao, see plate 8.
61 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller decay, then they can tell the jar is ready [to eat]. They call it yincai because they value its unique flavor. In cold they do not wear heavy clothes, and at night they do not lie down to rest.
62 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
16 披袍犵狫亦在平遠284州。男子衣服樸陋。女人以 青線紥髮，披青布袋綴海巴於285上，衣長僅尺 餘。工披以袍袍方而濶，洞其中，從286頭籠下，前 短後長、左右無袖，裙以五色羊毛織成。其性 情淳，力287耕作多鑄犁口營生。
The Pipao Gelao288 also live in Pingyuan District. The men's clothing is simple and crude. The women use blue-green thread to tie up their hair, and wear patches of blue-green clothing with haiba289 decorating the top. The patches are long pieces more than one chi290 in length. While they work they wear capes that surround them and open to leave a hole for their heads like underneath a basket.291 In the front they are short, in back they are long, and on the right and left they do not have sleeves. As for their skirts, they use five colors for their wool and knit them. It is in their nature to be simple, and they work hard plowing and forge many plows, which are created in their camps.
284 逺. 285 扵. 286 徔. 287 Other texts have 勤. 288 Literally, "Caped Gelao." 289 A cowrie shell from a shellfish. Colorful shells could be used for ornamenting clothing. 290 Unit of length about ten inches. 291 Referring to carrying baskets on the head.
63 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
17 蠻人在新添，衛丹行二司。性獷 戻。以丑戌為塲，十月朔日為節 祭鬼為樂。又有冉家蠻，在石292 阡沿河司，俗與蠻人司。
The Manren293 are from Xintian and guard the Danxing and second-tier administrative regions. It is in their nature to be vicious and uncouth. They take the second and eleventh days to go to market, and in the tenth month on the new moon294 they have a day for sacrificing to ghosts and making medicine. There are also the Ranjia Man,295 who are located in Shiqian of the Yanhe administrative region, and their customs are comparable to those in the Manren region.
292 Written with an extra 丶. 293 Literally, "Barbarian People." 294 Or the first day of the lunar month. 295 Literally, "Turtle Shell Clan of Barbarians."
64 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
18 犵296兠，鎮遠297、施秉、黄平皆有之。好居 高298坡，不仁，離不垣。男子衣類土人。女 子短衣偏髻，繡五色於299胸袖間背, 海巴蚕繭纍纍，如貫珠。人多嗜 四時（佩？）刀弩，人山逐鹿羅雀。其藥 箭傷人見血立死。然無敢為盗。
As for the Gedou, they exist in Zhenyuan, Shibing, and Huangping. They are fond of living amongst the Gaopo, who are not humane and are different in not building walls. The men wear clothing of the same type as the Turen.300 Women wear short clothes and wear their hair to the side, and embroider with five colors on their breast and sleeves, and occasionally on the back. They also wear haiba301 and string them together like silk worm cocoons as if they were sea pearls. Among them there are many who are fond of wearing a knife and crossbow about their belt all year round. People in the mountains hunt down deer and net sparrows. When their poison-laced arrows injure a person, they see blood and will certainly die. They do not participate in thievery.
296 This is different from the non-standard graph in the album. 犵 appears in other albums, so it is substituted here. 297 逺. 298 髙. 299 扵. 300 See plate number 31. 301 A cowrie shell. It had a colorful shell used for ornamenting clothing.
65 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
19 谷藺苗在定番302州。男女皆短衣，婦 人以青布蒙髻。工紡織，其布最精 宻。每遇塲期出市人争購之，有谷 藺布之名。男子性剽悍善擊， 出入必持鎗弩。諸苗皆畏之。
The Gulin303 Miao are from Dingfan District. The men and women both wear short clothes, the women use blue-green cloth to cover their hair. Their work includes weaving and spinning, and their cloth is the richest. Often when they go to forums and go out to markets, people compete to buy it, since Gulin cloth is famous. It is in the nature of the men to be swift and fierce and good at sparring. As they come and go they are certain to be holding a rifle and crossbow. All of the various Miao tribes fear them.
302 畨. 303 Literally, "Valley Soft Rushes".
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20 水羊304狑狪猺獞六種雜居荔波縣。雍正 十年，自粵西轄於黔之都勻府。其俗衣 服雖有各別語言，嗜好不甚相遠305。嵗首 致祭槃瓠306雜魚肉酒飯。男女成列連袂 而舞。相悦者負之而去遂婚媾焉。入 版籍略307供賦役。
Shui, Yang, Ling, Dong, Yao, and Zhuang, these are the Six-Types and mixed together they live in Libo County. They have harmoniously governed themselves for ten years308 and are administered from Yuexi by Guizhou's Duyun administrative unit. As for their customs and clothing, although they each have different languages, they are fond of not venturing too far. On the new year they make sacrifices to Panhu by blending fish, meat, wine, and rice. The men and women form a line and join sleeves and dance. As for the ones who are pleased with each other, they are carried off on their backs and are afterwards married to each other. This is entered into the household records to refer to for taxes and corvée labor.309
304 水 and 羊 feature the 犭 (犬) on the left. 305 逺. 306 匏. 307 畧. 308 Guangdong 廣東 and Guangxi 廣西. 309 See plate 5.
67 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
21 狆家由五代時楚王馬殷自邕管 遷来。其種有三、一曰補籠、一曰卡 尤、一曰青狆。出貴陽、平越、都勻、 安順、南籠。人亦有挽思衰悼之 禮。但性狡而獷。間或縁事官司 差役拘提輒拒不出。
As for the Zhongjia, they are from the times of the 5 Dynasties when the Chu king Mayin moved from the control of Yong.310 Among them there are three types: one is called the Bulong,311 one is called the Kayou,312 and one is called the Qingzhong.313 They are from Guiyang, Pingyue, Duyun, Anshun, and Nanlong. The people also have rituals for lamenting and mourning. Yet their character is cunning and uncouth. From time to time, when the requirements for corvée labor are enforced by government officials, they resist and refuse to go out to participate.314
310 Yong is located in Guangxi. 311 Literally, "Basket-repairing." 312 Literally, "Wart-card." 313 Literally, "Blue-green pups." 314 See plate 5.
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22 東苗在貴筑、龍里、清平。有族無姓。衣尚淺 藍色。婦人衣花衣無袖，細褶長裙。跳月315與 花苗同。以中秋祭祖及親族遠316近之。亡故者擇 牝牛以毛旋頭角正者為佳。時以水草飼之 至禾。熟牛醲酒砍牛召集親屬劇飲歌 唱。延鬼師於頭人之家以木板置酒饌。循 序而呼鬼之名竟書夜乃已。春於山獲 禽亦必以祭。畏見官長，事有不平但聼鄉 老决之，急公服役。
The Dong Miao are from Guizhu, Longli, and Qingping. They have tribes but no surnames. As for their clothes, they are a light blue color. Women wear flowery clothing without sleeves and finely pleated long skirts. Their dancing under the moon is about the same as the Huamiao. At the Mid Autumn festival they sacrifice to their ancestors and parents, and more distant and closely related ancestors. In the event that one of them dies, they select a female cow and use its hair to turn its head and horns to the right position so that it will be auspicious. According to the time they use water and grass to feed them, and even use rice plants. They cook the cow in concentrated wine and cut the cow, summoning together family for intense drinking and song singing. They invite the ghost master to the home of the headsman to use a wooden board to put out alcohol and fine food. They observe this procession and scream out the name of the spirit, which is finally written down at night and that is all. In the springtime they hunt birds in the mountains, which likewise they must use for sacrifice. They fear seeing the leader of their government and service is never fair, yet they listen to their village elder to decide about it. They are anxious about serving in the army of the duke [as corvée labor].
315 Possibly 跳跃. 316 逺.
69 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
23 六額子在大定。有黒白二種。男子結尖 髻，婦人長衣短裙。人死亦用棺塟。至年 餘即延親族至墓前，以牲酒致祭。發 開棺取枯骨刷洗至白。為度以布 裹317骨，復埋一二年餘，仍洗刷至七次乃 止。凢家人有病則謂祖先骨不潔云。 近經厳禁惡習漸息。
The Liu Ezi318 are from Dading. There are two types: white and black. The men knot their hair into a point, the women wear long clothes and short skirts. When one of them dies they then use a coffin to bury them. After about a year or more has passed they then invite relatives to go to the front of the grave and make sacrificial offerings of animals and wine. They then open the coffin and take the desiccated bones to brush and wash them until they are white. As is their practice, they use cloth to wrap the bones and once again bury them for one or two or more years, and then wash and brush them seven times and then stop. Whenever a family member is sick, then they say it is because their ancestors' bones are not clean. When they first experience this tradition, they are strictly prohibited from resentfully practicing it and gradually accept it.319
317 褁. 318 Literally, "Six Foreheads." 319 This sentence is strange.
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24 紫薑320苗在都勻、丹江、清平、與獨，山 州之九名九姓同類，但詐而饕詖， 輕生好閗，得仇321人輒生啖其肉。以 十一月為節，閉戶，把忌七日而啓犯 者以為不祥。夫死妻嫁而後塟，曰 喪322有主矣。其在黃平平越者頗通 漢語多力善戰，間入行伍。更有讀書 考試者見之不識為苗也。
The Zijiang Miao323 are from Duyun, Danjiang, Qingping, Yudu, and are similar to the Jiuming Jiuxing324 of Shanzhou but are tricky and covetous in arguments. They undervalue life and are fond of fighting. They capture their enemies and always eat their raw flesh. They take the eleventh month as their holiday and shut their doors and for seven days they are spiteful and those who open their doors and violate this are taken to be ill fated. As for death, the wife remarries and only afterwards buries the husband, which is known as "mourning with a host." Those from Huangping and Pingyue are rather proficient in the language of the Han and many are strong and good in war, occasionally entering service as part of a fireteam.325 Additionally there are those who read books and have taken the examinations. When people see them, they do not recognize them as being Miao.
320 Often rendered 紫姜. 321 Written with an extra 丶. 322 丧. 323 Literally, "Purple Ginger Miao." 324 九名九姓苗. Literally the "Nine Names and Nine Surnames Miao." 325 Here a group of about five soldiers.
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25 九股苗出興隆衛凱里司。與偏橋黒苗同類。武侯南征戮之殆盡 僅存九人遂名“九股”。散處蔓延地廣族夥。衣服、飲食、婚姻、喪 祭、概與八寨丹江苗相似，而性尤剽悍。頭頂鐵盔，後無 遮326肩，前有護面両塊即鑄於327 盔，極重身披鐵鎧上，如 背搭止及乳下。用鐵鍊週身形如圈籠。坐縮立伸。 約重三十勈下。以鐵片纏腿。健者左执木牌右持鏢桿。口 啣利刄掟。走如飛。竹用鎗鉛子俱重發至百步外着。 人立穈，洞丈有牛尾鎗，幾與內地子母砲埒。強弓名 曰“偏架”，長六七尺，三人共張，矢無不貫。前明播328州之亂 為楊龍羽翼。雖詞兵十數萬誅滅楊應龍，而九股 未剿伏莽329刦掠，时出為害由地廣330而險阻331難制伏。雍 正十年勾速。蠢動合粵，三省兵剿撫魚，施搜繳兵 甲，建城安汎焉。
The Jiugu Miao are from Xinglong, Weikai, and Lisi. Compared to the Pianqiao Hei Miao, they are about the same. When the danger of Wuhou332 and his southern campaign had come to an end, there only remained nine men who were called the Jiugu. They scattered, living like creeping plants who extended far and wide over the land, giving rise to their own family clans. Their clothing, food and drink, marriage, and burial and worship are similar to the Bazhai and Danjiang Miao, and their character is especially swift and fierce. On top of their heads they wear helmets. Behind them they do not have shoulder coverings, in front they have protection for their faces, two lumps of iron which are cast onto the helmet. Finally, the heaviest is the iron armor they wear on top of their bodies. It is joined at the back and stops at the bottom of the breast. They forge iron and work it for a week until its form is pregnant, like a round basket. They sit it to reduce it and stand it to expand it. They limit its weight to under three yong. They use iron sheets to wrap their legs. The strong ones carry a wooden shield in their left hand and a spear in their right hand. In their mouths they carry sharp knives. They run like they are flying. They also use guns and lead seeds333 which are together very heavy. When they are discharged, they reach a hundred steps.
326 This character may be wrong. 327 扵. 328 No horizontal stroke on top. 329 莾. 330 With an 耳 on the left side. 331 猝. 332 Zhuge Liang. 333 Bullets.
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The people raise millet, while the Dongzhang have cow-tail spears. Many among them in their native lands have sons and mothers who use guns. They have strong crossbows called "pianjia." Their length is 67 inches. Three men together stretch back the string. There is nothing that it cannot pierce. The war of Qianming and Fanzhou made the Yang and Long wings [to fly]. Even though the army had hundreds of thousands of troops334 and they killed and extinguished the Yang, the Long responded. And so the Jiugu hid in the bushes and robbed them. As time went on, they continued these injurious activities, and since the land was so expansive and narrow passes impede [the troops], it is difficult for the soldiers to control the crouching [Jiugu]. And so they harmoniously lived for ten years together. Chundong came together with Yue335 and these three provinces' were the ones soldiers destroyed and pacified. They delivered arms, armor, and built the town of Anfan there.
334 Literally, "tens of ten thousands." 335 Guangdong and Guangxi.
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27 青苗出修文縣鎮寕州黔西州。衣尚青。 婦人以青布覆首，男子頂竹笠躡草 履。出入佩刀。性強悍，好閗頗同猓玀，然 猶知畏法不敢為盜。其出平遠336者又名箐 苗。居依山箐，遷徙無常，不善治田禾， 惟種莜337麥稗梁衣，麻衣皆其自織。男 子未婚者剪後髮，娶乃留之。
The Qing Miao338 come from Xiuwen County, Zhenning District, and Qianxi District. As for their clothes, they are mostly blue-green. The women use blue-green cloth to cover their heads, while the men wear conical bamboo hats on the tops of their heads and walk on grass sandals. As they come and go they carry knives at their belts. It is in their nature to be strong and violent, and they are fond of fighting, rather similar to the Luoluo, and thus are like them as they know and fear law, so they do not dare to steal. Those who come from Pingyuan additionally are named the Qiang Miao.339 They live on mountains in thick bamboo and move about and migrate without any regularity. As a result, they do not order their fields of rice well, as they only plant their own aveda nuda,340 millet, beams for their houses, and clothes.341 They themselves sew their own hemp clothes. Those of the men who have not yet married cut their hair in the back. Once they marry, they can then grow it out.
336 逺. 337 荘. 338 Literally, "Blue-Green Miao." 339 Literally, "Bamboo Miao." 340 Naked oat. 341 Plant trees and hemp plants to provide these materials.
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28 花苗出貴陽安順大定遵義府属之間。無姓氏。衣 用敗布緝條以織成之，無矜竅。男以青布裹342頭，婦 人斂馬鬃343尾紥髮為髲。大如斗籠，以木梳。尚衣裳 先用蠟繪花於344布，染後去蠟則花自見，餙袖以 錦，故曰花苗。每嵗孟春俗傳跳月，合男女於345曠 野平壤鮮衣艷粧。男吹笙，女振響鈴，旋躍歌 舞謔346浪。墓絜所私，而歸比曉乃散。聘資視女 色妍，媸為盈縮。遇喪屠牛召戚遠347近攜酒，以 賻環，哭尽哀，喪不用棺斂手足而瘞之。卜地 以雞348子擲之。不破者為吉。病者不服藥，惟禱 鬼宰牲。
The Hua Miao349 are from within the administrative units of Guiyang, Anshun, Dading, and Zunyi. They do not have surnames nor do they have clan names. For their clothing, they use scraps of cloth and sew with string to weave and complete it. It is without any sense of order and has holes. The men use blue-green cloth to wrap their heads while women collect horse manes and tails and tie the hair into wigs. They (the wigs) are big as dou350-sized baskets. They use wooden combs. As for their clothes, they first use wax to draw flowers on the cloth.351 After they have dyed them, they get rid of the wax and then the flowers themselves are seen. They adorn their sleeves using brocade and are for this reason called the Hua Miao. Often in the first spring month of the year it is their custom to dance under the moon. Together, the men and women in an open field with level ground freshen their clothes and admire their clothing. The men blow on sheng, the women shake and ring bells, and they revolve and skip singing and dancing and jeering and waving. Their grave markings are private, and they return only at daybreak and scatter. They prefer wealthy people and value a woman's sexual beauty. If a woman is ugly then it decreases [her potential wealth]. When someone dies then an ox is summoned and relatives from afar come bringing wine. They also bring money and jade. They weep and are sad. The burial does not use a coffin. They fold back the hands and feet and bury it [this way].
342 褁. 343 鬉. 344 扵. 345 扵. 346 謣. 347 逺. 348 鷄. 349 Literally, "Flower Miao." 350 A Chinese measure for volume, about a peck. 351 This is known as wax-resist dying technique. The wax prevents the water-based dye from penetrating the cloth in certain areas to create lively and intricate patterns.
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They find auspicious ground by taking a chicken and tossing it. Those who are not broken [in this process] are lucky. Those who are sick do not use medicine, but only pray to ghosts and slaughter sacrificial animals.
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29 剪頭犵狫在貴定。男女畜，髮寸許。 死則集薪焚之。又有豬豕犵狫。 身面352經年不滌，與犬豕同牢，得 獸即咋食如狼。在清平者頗通 漢語聼約束。石阡之苗民司、黎 平之八丹司、古州之曺滴司，皆有之。
The Jiantou Gelao353 are from Guiding. The men and women raise animals and permit their hair to grow an inch or so. If they die, then they collect firewood and burn [the corpse]. They also have the name Zhushi Gelao.354 As for their bodies and faces, throughout the entire year they remain unwashed. They live among the dogs and pigs in the same pen. When they catch animals to eat, they devour them noisily like wolves. As for the ones in Qingping, they are rather proficient in the language of the Han and are able to hear out contracts that bind them. Miaominsi of Shiqian, Badansi of Liping, and Caodisi of Guzhou all have [Jiantou Gelao].
352 靣. 353 Literally, "Shaved Head Gelao." 354 Literally, "Pigsty Gelao."
77 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
30 � 狫355有王黎金文等姓。出貴定。黔西者娶婦 異寢，生育後乃同室。祀鬼用五彩旗遇，節歌 舞為歡亦知長幼之序。在都勻清平者衣服 類漢人。同姓不婚356，異姓不共。食犬。父母歿，喪服 無衰絰，長子居家四十九日。面357不洗濯，步不 踰戶，期滿延師巫祝薦，名曰放鬼。乃出門 長子貧不能守必長孫或次子代之，其有 子弟者亦之。延師教讀，多有泮者。
The Chulao have Wang, Li, Jin, Wen, and others as surnames. Some come from Guiding. As for the ones in Qianxi, when they marry a woman, they sleep in different places. After they have given birth to a child, then they live together. When they pray to spirits, they use five-colored flags, thereupon they then sing and dance for joy, they likewise appreciate the distinction between elders and youth. The ones who live in Duyun and Qingping wear clothing similar to Han people. As for those with the same surname, they do not marry each other. As for those with different surnames, they do not have relations with them. They eat dogs. When their father or mother dies, they have mourning clothes, but do not wear rough hemp. The elder son lives in the family358 for 49 days. Their faces are not washed or cleaned; when stepping, they do not cross over their lintel, and when the full period [of mourning has passed] then they invite a shaman to pray and make offerings. They call this "freeing the spirit." When they leave their houses, if they are lacking in elder sons and are not able to protect it, then they must leave their eldest grandson or other secondary child to stand in for him. If they have one who is a younger brother, then he must likewise do it.359 They invite teachers to instruct in reading, and there are many among them who have had a formal education.
355 Also appears as mulao 木狫. 356 昏. 357 靣. 358 Other texts have this as "guard the corpse." 359 This sentence almost certainly refers to the protection afforded to the corpse of the deceased parents.
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31 土人一種黔地。多有出廣順、貴筑、貴定、普定 者，與軍民同婚姻。嵗時禮節俱有華風。男貿 易，女耕作。種植時田歌相答，清越可聼。嵗首 迎出魈逐村屯為儺。粧擊皷以唱神歌。竹至 之家皆飲食之。出施秉者，俗以九月祀五顯 神逺近。隣人咸集吹匏笙運袂宛轉鬼。紥髮 披青布袋綴海巴於上，長僅尺餘，上披以袍 方而濶，洞其中，從頭籠下，前短後長，左右無 袖，裙以五色羊毛織成。其性情淳謹。力耕 作多鑄犁口營生。
The Turen360 are one kind [of Miao] from the Guizhou area. Among them there are many from Guangshun, Guizhu, Guiding, Puding, who are married with soldiers and commoners alike. As for annual seasonal festivities, then they all have a Chinese air to them. As for the men, they trade and barter while the women work the fields. When the fields are ready to be planted with seeds and trees, they sing and answer each other in song. Clear and piercing, it is nice to listen to. For the new year, they welcome emerging mountain spirits so they can chase them from their villages and hamlets and make exorcisms. They dress up and beat drums to sing spiritual songs. When they (the musicians) arrive at a house, they all drink and eat. As for the ones from Shibing, it is their custom in the ninth month to pray to the five most prominent spirits far and near. Neighboring people and others collect and blow gourd mouth organs, moving their sleeves as if they had a crooked spirit inside. They tie their hair with wear blue-green cloth pouches with links of Haiba on top.361 The length is just an inch or more, and on top they throw on capes that surround them and open to leave a hole for their heads like underneath a basket.362 They are short in front and long in back, are without sleeves on the left and right and for the skirts use five shades of wool to knit them. Their nature is such that they are simple and cautious. They work hard plowing and many among them cast plows which are made in their camps.
360 Literally, "Earth People," meaning "Local People." 361 See Plate 16. 362 For carrying a basket on the head.
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32 样363獚即楊荒播之遺民也。有楊、龍、張、 石、毆等姓。其種最多都勻、石阡、施秉 龍泉、黃平、餘慶、黎平、反龍里皆有之。 荊壁不塗，門戶不扃364，出入以泥封之。其 服餙婚365喪與漢人同。男子計口而耕，婦 人度身而織。暇則挟戈操筍以漁獵 為事。昏喪以犬相饋366，近則衣冠文物 日367漸[盛]矣。
The Yanghuang [Miao] are the lost people of Yang Huang.368 Among them they have the surnames Yang, Long, Zhang, Shi, Ou, and others. Of this type the greatest number of them live in Duyun, Shiqian, Shibing, Longquan, Huangping, Yuqing, Liping, and Longli, each place of which has some of them. As for the thorny parts of their houses, they do not daub over them. As for their gates and doors, they do not bar them. As they come and go, they use mud to mark them. Their clothes, ornaments, and marriage and burial ceremonies are similar to Han peoples'. The men take note of the number of mouths and farm accordingly. The women assess the number of bodies and weave accordingly. If they have leisure time, then they carry spears of drilled bamboo to fish and hunt. In marriage and death they give each other dogs, but as the [marriage] day approaches, they then [give] clothing, hats, and other cultural things one by one for prosperity.
363 Features 犭 on the left side (radical 93). 364 扄. 365 昏. 366 遺. 367 自. This and the following character sheng 盛, are not found in this text, but are from the seventh scroll of the Guizhou Tongzhi, also known as the Guizhou Gazetteer. 《貴州通志》卷七. 368 The characters are different, but the names sound similar. Yang Huang was a powerful Ming chief. See Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 76-77.
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33
紅苗在銅仁府者，多有吳、龍、石、麻、白、五姓。衣服 悉用斑369絲，女工370以此為服371。牲畜不宰皆掊殺。以火去 毛，微煮372帶血而食。人死仍用棺将竹遺衣服装 像，擊皷歌舞，名曰調皷。每嵗五月寅日夫婦 各宿不敢言，不出戶，以避鬼恐致虎傷。同類 閗殺，以婦人勸方解373。凢出刦富者出牛酒，以 集衆有獲同分自剿。撫後皆馴服矣。
As for the Hongmiao from the Dongren Administrative unit, many have one of the five surnames Wu, Long, Shi, Ma, and Bai. As for their clothes, they know how to use variegated silk.374 The women work using this material to make the clothing. Their domesticated animals are not butchered, but rather they are in most cases beaten to death. They use fire to burn away their fur. They undercook meat to leave it bloody and eat it. When people die, they use coffins made of bamboo and take clothing left behind to dress up a likeness. They strike drums, sing, and dance, which they call "diaogu."375, Every year on the third day of the fifth month, the husband and wife sleep separately and do not dare to speak, and do not leave their homes, to avoid ghosts and lest they cause a tiger to arrive and injure them. Within the same group (of Miao) they fight and kill each other. It takes the women to defuse the situation. Whenever they go out, they coerce those who are wealthy to bring out their cattle and wine and in groups plunder their own, dividing the spoils amongst themselves. After they are pacified, they are all obedient.
369 班. 370 紅. 371 務. 372 煑. 373 觧. 374 See the Sheng Miao, Plate 8. 375 Literally, "Harmonizing the Drums."
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34 洞人性多忌，喜好殺。出入夫婦必偶，挾鏢弩自 隨。飲食辟鹽376酱。冬以茅花為絮禦寒。在石 阡司、郎溪司者頗類漢人。多以苗人為姓好 弄鷹。在永芝377、諸寨者常負固自匿然少為 盜。在洪州者地肥多稼而惰於耕作，惟喜 剽刦尋。常持刀挟弩，濳伏陂塘踉蹌 篁簿中，飄勿殺越，不可踪跡。又招致四 方亡命。分受鹵，獲，嵗饑愈甚。
As for the Dongren,378 their nature is such that they are envious and enjoy and take pleasure in killing. As they come and go the husband and wife are certain to be with each other, bringing with them a spear and clasp a crossbow. When eating and drinking they avoid salty food. In wintertime, they use the flowers of rushes379 as cotton to defend against the cold. As for the ones in Shiqian and Langxi administrative units, they are rather similar to Han people. There are many among them who are like Miao people as it is in their nature to enjoy falconry. As for the ones in Yongzhi and Zhuzhai, they are often burdened and keep to themselves, thus few of them are robbers. As for the ones in Hongzhou, the land is fertile, so they sow many seeds and are lazy about plow work, yet they enjoy plundering, stealing, and begging. They often hold knives, spears, or crossbows and as they hide and crawl along dams and ponds and stumble their way through the middle of bamboo thickets, they slip by and do not kill [what they encounter], and it is not possible to track them. Also, they recruit exiled people from everywhere. They divide and distribute salt, they hunt because at the harvest their degrees of starvation increase in extremity.380
376 塩. 377 This non-standard character has a 氵 on the left side. 378 Literally, "Cave People." 379 Maybe similar to Typha cattails. 380 This part is corrupted.
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35 㺜苗在永豊州之羅斛、冊享等處。 雍正五年。自粵西改隷黔省。其俗 衣服薙髮俱效漢人。婦人短衣長 裙首蒙青花布手巾。猶循苗俗。 性獷悍嗜殺。自改土歸流漸遵禮 法。勤耕織。地有瘴氣多雨少雪， 近嵗頗得雪。
The Nong Miao381 live in Luohu and Cexiang of Yongli Prefecture. They have lived harmoniously and rightly for five years. They are from Yuexi, but changed their affiliation to Guizhou Province. Their customs, clothing, and shaving of hair are all like that of Han people. The women wear short clothing and long skirts and cover their heads with handkerchiefs of blue- green and flowery cloth. They are as if they follow the Miao customs. Their character is uncouth and vicious and have a fondness for killing. From the time when they changed lands, they have returned little by little to respect ritual and law. They diligently work the fields and weave. The land is filled with foul odor, and it rains a lot and snows little, but when it approaches the harvest, then there is rather more snow.
381 Literally, "Agricultural Miao."
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36 白苗出貴定、龍里、黔西。衣尚白，短僅反膝. 男子科頭赤足，婦人盤382髻長簪。跳月之習 與花苗同。祀祖擇大牯牛頭角端正者， 餇及茁壮即通各寨有牛者合閗於野。 以勝為吉，閗後卜日，破牛以祀祖。祭者 服白青套細褶寛腰裙。祭後合親族高383 歌暢飲。其性戇384而厲。轉徒不恆為人。僱 役墾田往往385負租逃去。
The Bai Miao386 are from Guiding, Longli, and Qianxi. Their clothing is predominantly white, and the shortness only barely reaches the knee. As for the men, they wear their hair in topknots387 and go barefoot, while the women coil their hair and use long hairpins. The practice of dancing under the moon is similar to that of the Hua Miao.388 When they pray to their ancestors, they select a great bull with an attractive head of horns. When it is ready for food and approaches being vigorous and robust, then each community that has a bull gathers together for them to fight in a field. They take the winning [bull] as lucky and after the fight divine a time for its slaughtering, and kill it to pray for the ancestors. The one who oversees the ritual wears white clothing, blue-green outer clothing, and a finely pleated, broad waist skirt. After the sacrifice, family and clan members gather together to sing loudly and drink uncontrolledly. Their nature is such that they are simpleminded like whetstones. They move and walk and are not consistent in dealings with others. When they are employed as labor to cultivate fields, they often take the lease funds and make off with them.
382 Has a 犬 in the top right. 383 髙. 384 戅. 385 徃徃. 386 Literally, "White Miao." 387 Hostetler, The Art of Ethnography. p 30-31. 388 See Plate 28.
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37 蔡家曩傳蔡人為楚子竹俘。出貴筑、修文 清平、清鎮、威寧389、大定、平遠390。男製氊為衣。 婦以毡為髻飾，以青布若牛角状高391尺， 許用長簪綰之，短衣長裙。翁媳不通言。 居喪三月不食米肉惟飲稗粥猶存 古。禮殺牛宰牲。聚親属吹笙跳舞名 曰做嘎392。夫死將婦殉塟，婦家搶去 乃免。
As for the Caijia, it has been transmitted from ancient times that they are the Cai people who were taken prisoner by the state of Chu.393 They are from Guizhu, Xiuwen, Qingping, Qingzhen, Weining, Dading, and Pingyuan. The men produce felt to make their clothing. The women use felt to decorate their hair, and use green-blue cloth [to make their hair] as if it were the appearance of a bull's horn, its height reaching a chi.394 They are permitted to use hairpins to string it together. They wear short upper clothes and long skirts. The father and daughter-in-law do not talk to each other. In a time of mourning, they do not eat rice or meat and only drink grass porridge as though they were living in old times. The ritual also calls for the killing of cattle as sacrificial animals. They assemble relatives and play the bamboo mouth organ and jump and dance, which is called "zuoga." When the husband dies, then the wife is buried alive with him, unless the wife's family can force her out and prevent it.
389 寕. 390 逺. 391 髙. 392 Without the 口 on the left. 393 An ancient Chinese state from the Spring and Autumn period. 394 Equal to ten cun. About a foot.
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38 克孟拈羊苗在廣順州之金筑司。擇懸嚴 鑿竅而居。不設床第構竹梯上下高395者或 至百仭。耕不輓犁，以鐡鋤396發土，擾而不耘。 男女儷笙而偶生子，免乳而歸其聘財。親 死不哭笑舞浩歌，謂之鬧397屍。聞杜鵑398聲則 舉號泣。曰鳥猶嵗至親不復矣。
The Kemeng Guyang Miao are from the Jinzhu Administrative Region of Guangshun District. They select precarious cliffs and chisel out openings and live in these. They do not construct beds, but build sets of bamboo ladders to go up and down, the tall ones occasionally reaching 100 ren399. When they farm, they do not pull a plow but rather use an iron hoe to open the earth. They plant but do not weed. When a man and woman as a couple play music on a sheng,400 they are prone to accidentally giving birth. They avoid triturating and ask people for gifts. When a parent dies they do not cry, but rather laugh and dance and sing loudly, calling it "Disturbing the Corpse." If they hear the call of a cuckoo, then they all rise up in wails and sobs. They have a saying, that birds are as though they arrive every year, but ancestors do not return.
395 髙. 396 鏄. 397 閙. 398 鶻. 399 A ren 仭 is a unit of length of about 8 feet, so the taller ladders are supposedly about 800 feet. 400 A mouth organ made of bamboo.
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39 打牙犵狫在平越黔西。女人以青羊毛 織為長桶裙。將嫁必先折其二歯，恐妨 害夫家。即竹謂鑿歯之民也。又剪前髮 而披後髮，取其齊眉之意。其性情，皆 剽悍，好鬥401。
The Daya Gelao402 are from Pingyue, Qianxi. The women knit blue-green wool to make long "bucket" skirts. When they are about to get married, they always first break their two front teeth for fear of undermining or injuring her husband's family. They are called "people who chisel teeth." Moreover, they trim their front hair and keep their hair in back. This is so they can have understanding in marriage.403 It is in their nature to be emotional, they are swift and fierce, with a fondness for conflict.
401 鬬. 402 Literally, "Smashing Teeth Gelao." 403 Part of the idiom 舉案齊眉. Literally, "Raising the tray level with the eyebrows." It means respect in marriage.
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40 馬鐙龍家出安順、寕谷、西堡、頂 營之間。多趙謝李等姓。衣尚白， 喪404昜以青。婦人緇布作冠若馬 鐙然。男子亦有讀書入泮者。
The Madeng Longjia come from the places of Anshun, Ninggu, Xibao, and Dingying. Many of them have the surnames of Zhao, Xie, Li, and others. As for their clothing, they prefer white, but when in mourning they change to blue-green. The women use black silk cloth to make caps like horse stirrups. Among the men there are additionally those who read books and have received a formal education.
404 丧.
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41 猺人黔省，原無自。雍正二年有自粵西 遷至貴定之平伐，居無常。廬405必擇溪邊 近水者，以大樹皮接續渡水至家，不用 桶甕出波。男女衣尚青，長不過406膝。竹祀 之神曰槃瓠407。動耕種暇則入出408採藥沿 村寨行醫。有書名榜簿，皆圓即篆 文，其義不觧，珍為密409藏。俗長410厚，見遺 不拾。
As for the Yaoren of Guizhou Province, their beginnings do not have an origin. They have lived harmoniously and rightly for two years. There are some from Yuexi who have moved to Pingfa of Guiding; they live without stability. When building their houses, they are certain to select a place by the side of a mountain stream close to water. They then use a great [pipe made out of] tree bark to carry and ferry the water over to reach their homes. They do not use buckets or earthen jars to bring out water. Men and women wear mostly blue-green clothing, the length of which does not pass their knees. They sacrifice things to a spirit called Pan-hu. If they have leisure time from the work of planting seeds, then as they come and go they collect medicinal herbs and practice medicine by the edge of the village stockade. They have a book named the bangbu, all of it in its entirety which is written in Seal Script. As for its meaning, they can not explain it, but value it, hiding it secretively. Their customs are lengthy and sincere, if they see something that has been lost, then they do not pick it up.
405 Written with a non-standard character. 406 Written with 呙 above the 辶. 407 匏. See also the Six-Type on Plate 20. 408 In other texts this is 山. Could be rendered "they go into the mountains to collect medicinal herbs." 409 宻. 410 Other texts have this as 謹, meaning sincere.
89 EALC Honors Thesis, Spring 2013 Francis Miller
42 短裙苗出思州之葛彰都勻 之八寨等處。男形類纇黒苗， 婦女用花布一幅橫掩及 骭。其性善捕魚。
The Duanqun Miao411 come from Gezhang of Sizhou, Bazhai of Duyun, and other places. The men's bodies are the same form as the blemished Hei Miao.412 The women use a strip of flowery cloth to cover themselves, reaching only down to their ribs. It is in their nature to catch fish well.
411 Literally, "Short Skirt Miao." 412 See plate 15.
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43 猓玀以女官主事，諸土府皆然。粵稽撫軍田公諱 雯《題東川女官詩》云：我觀女官如觀畵，閻立本繪 織貢圖。我觀女官如異夢，竒形詭壮非一徒。我觀 女官入破寺，隂風惨淡魍魎呼。古鬼昏燈揭鉢 立，老佛變相獅龍趋。妖娌髏髑抹粉黛，修羅 甲胄呼笙竿。雌者青毡包蓬首，雄者碧眼拳 髭鬚。女官氣概偉丈413夫，水浣大布纏其軀。九 真籐杖紅珊瑚，金環両耳垂蠙珠。腰下斜挂 雙414湛盧，繡裙拖地蓮花襦。水西安女官亦猶是也。
The Luoluo have a nuguan415 who oversee affairs in the various local administrative regions. Duke Tian Wen, of the Yue416 pacification army wrote the verse "Poem of the Dongchuan Nuguan" as follows: I have seen the nuguan - it is like seeing the painting, the painting that Yanliben painted called Zhigongtu. I have seen the nuguan - it is like a unique dream, her exceptional form deceives her tribe, not one follower goes against her. I have seen the nuguan enter and desecrate a sacred place, the wind is dark and people are weak and helpless - demons and monsters shout out! As for the old ghosts at night, lanterns are raised and alms bowls are standing up, The old Buddha's appearance becomes disfigured and lions and dragons are everywhere. There is a bewitching female skeleton and skull, and it is smeared black with powder, nets, armor, and helmets are repaired as a sound comes from the shenggan.417 The one who is female uses blue-green cloth to wrap her head of unruly hair, the one who is male has jade eyes, great strength, a mustache and beard. The nuguan's qi418 is as robust as a husband's, water is used to wash the great cloth wrapping for her body. Nine real palm [leaves]419 and red coral, she wears gold and jade, and oyster pearls hang from her ears. A pair of zhanlu swords hang at her waist, while her embroidered skirt brushes the ground and water lily blossoms adorn her jacket.
The Shui Xi'an nuguan is also like this.
413 Written with an extra 丶. 414 Written with two 又 on the bottom. 415 Literally, "Female official." 416 Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces. 417 A bamboo instrument. 418 Essence and spirit. 419 籐杖 translates to a palm plant, Calamus rhabdocladus Burret.
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