Interesting stories of Chinese Miao holidays

Posted July 17th, 2009 by admin

Who are the Miao?

Residing in the mountainous south and southwestern China, the Miao minority group have holidays in each month. They sing, dance, and prepare big meals to feast on with friends and neighbors. Holidays are also the best time for young people to look for their partners. 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. Before the New Year, people have a general house-cleaning, and prepare special food like glutinous rice paste, rice wine, sausage, and bean curd. Women are happy with sewing new clothing for their family, especially for their children.

People stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve, then they go outside to light firecrackers to invite dragons into their home. They will have a ceremony held after daybreak to worship their forebears. 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 go to see their neighbors and say to each other “Happy New Year!”.

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 need to cook, but men have to do that.

Girls dress up with beautiful silver ornaments like silver earrings and embroidered garments to go to meet the boys. Some young men even walk long distances to other villages to attend all kinds of social activities.

The Miao New Year is over after nine exciting days. A lot of people choose to get married during this time.

Huashan Festival

There are various Huashan, or “Flower Mountain,” festivals held in different Miao areas. Some are in January, while others are in May or August on the lunar calendar.

On that day, a pole decorated with colorful flags is set up in the center of a playground. At the top of the pole is a little red bag with bonus inside. As a man declares the kickoff of the festival, an exciting pole climbing games starts. The man who first reach the tip of the pole and catch the small bag, while playing his Lusheng instrument, will gain the reward. It’s difficult for anyone to climb a pole whilst play an instrument! The pole, made of peeled pine wood, is tall, smooth, and thin. The champion will be able to get the respect of other people, especially the single women.

The exciting bullfights and horse races are also held during this festival. Women like to show each other their great sewing skills and the men are busy displaying their physical strength.

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 lasts a whole day and ends 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 happens in mid-March on the lunar calendar.

On March 13th, Miao girls go to climb the mountains and look for some eatable flowers and leaves to dye their food. 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 next day they go fishing to catch some fish and freshwater shrimp. In the afternoon they will be busy with preparing a luxurious meal including fish, duck, and duck eggs. The duck is needed because a swimming duck symbolizes the girls’ ability to meet men from the other side of the river.

After the men finally arrive in the evening, they will chat, sing love songs, and eat dinner together. The girls will dress them up with their glistening silver jewelry to proudly show off their beauty.

The holiday is over on March 17th. Many different kinds of activities and sports are held at this time, such as bullfight and horse races.

Before the men go back to their home, the girls will present them bamboo baskets with duck, eggs, fish, and glutinous rice. Some special things are put in the basket to show how they like the men. Cotton means they will always have their partner in their mind. A bunch of pine leaves means they want some needles and thread.

There are more beautiful stories of Miao Valentine's Day and other Miao holidays. Go to this website to learn more about Miao culture and see beautiful pictures of fine Miao siilver ornaments.

Tags: asia, Chinese holidays, Christmas, holidays, Miao culture, new year, silver jewelry, silver ornaments, Valentine's Day