Exciting holidays among Chinese Miao ethnic group
Who are the Miao?
Residing in the mountainous south and southwestern China, the Miao minority group have holidays in each month. With friends and neighbors around, they sing, dance, and enjoy big delicious meal together. Holidays are especially a good time for youngsters to look for their significant other. Girls are especially beautiful on such occasions, with their huge sets of silver jewelry and embroidered garments.
The Miao New Year
Because they follow the lunar calendar, the Miao New Year can come in September, October, or November. With the New Year coming, the Miao will give their house a thorough clean, and prepare some specific dishes like bean curd, sausage, like sticky rice paste. Women are happy with sewing new clothing for their family, especially for their children.
On New Year’s Eve, everybody stays up until midnight, then they light firecrackers to welcome dragons into their home. A ceremony will be held at dawn to worship their forefathers. A cow is regarded as an auspicious animal, so its nose will be put some wine to show that people respect it. After breakfast, people visit neighbors to send New Year’s wishes and greetings.
On the first two days of the New Year, people are not allowed to cut wood on the mountains, or do cleaning work at home. Women don’t do housework like cooking, and men do.
Girls dress up with beautiful silver ornaments like silver earrings and embroidered garments to go to meet the boys. Some young males walk farther to other villages to attend various kinds of social activities.
The Miao New Year lasts nine days. It's the golden time for young people to get married.
Huashan Festival
There are various Huashan, or “Flower Mountain,” festivals held in different Miao areas. Some are in August, and others are in January or May of the lunar calendar.
On that day, a pole decorated with colorful flags is set up in the center of a playground. On top of the pole is a red pouch with reward inside. The pole climbing starts when a man announces the beginning of the festival. The man who first get to the top of the pole to take the small bag, and at the same time playing his Lusheng instrument, will win the reward. Climbing a pole while playing an instrument is quite difficult! The pole is smooth, tall, and slender because it's made of peeled pine wood. The winner will always win the respect of others, especially the girls.
During the festival, people also have other sports, such as archery and horse races held. Women are busy showing each other their excellent sewing skills and the men like to show off their strength and physical prowess.
By singing love songs, youngsters will use this time to look for lovers. If they find someone they are interested in, they will give each other some presents, like a silver hairpin or waistband. Elderly people go to see friends and exchange their thoughts about farming and current affairs. The festival is over in the late evening.
Sister Festival: Miao Valentine’s Day
The Miao Sister Festival is also called Miao Valentine’s Day, as it’s a holiday for single women to invite young men from other villages to meet. The festival comes in mid-March of the lunar calendar.
On March 13th, girls go to pick some specific flowers and leaves in the mountains for their food dyes. Then they are busy with preparing colorful and sweet glutinous rice. The rice has five different colors. Green symbolizes their beautiful hometown, red indicates the prosperity of their village, yellow wishes for a golden harvest, blue or violet stands for wealth, and white implies their pure and true love.
The second day they go fishing to find some shrimp and fish. In the afternoon they will be busy with preparing a luxurious meal including fish, duck, and duck eggs. The duck is a must, as a swimming duck indicates the girls have the right to get together with the men from the other side of the river.
In the evening, when the men finally come, they will dine together, then go outside to talk and sing songs to express their feelings. With sparkling silver jewelry from head to toe, the girls are just as beautiful as the bright stars in the sky.
Four days later, this Miao holiday is over. Lots of activities and games are held during that time, like dance competition, horse fighting, bullfights, etc.
Before the men go back to their home, the girls will present them bamboo baskets with duck, eggs, fish, and glutinous rice. Some specific things are placed in the basket to show their feelings of the men. Cotton means they will miss their partner. A bunch of pine leaves implies they like to have some needles and thread.
About Miao Valentine's Day and other Miao holidays, there are more fascinating stories. Go to this website to learn more about Miao culture and see beautiful pictures of fine Miao silver ornaments.
