Across China on Foot

by Edwin John Dingle

Of the Miao, with its various sections, we know a good deal. Their real home has been pretty finally decided to be in Kwei-chow province, and they probably in former times extended far into Hu-nan, the Chinese of these provinces at the present time having undoubtedly a good deal of Miao blood in their veins. They are comparatively recent arrivals in Yün-nan, but are gradually extending farther and farther to the west, maintaining their language and their dress and customs. I personally found them as far west as thirty miles beyond Tali-fu, a little off the main road, but Major Davies found them far up on the Tibetan border. He says: "The most westerly point that I have come across them is the neighborhood of Tawnio (lat. 23° 40', long. 98° 45'). Through Central and Northern Yün-nan they do not seem to exist, but they reappear again to the north of this in Western Szech'wan, where there are a few villages in the basin of the Yalung River (lat. 28° 15', long. 101° 40')."

The Major was evidently ignorant of this Miao district of Chao-t'ong, to the north-east of the province. Stretching three days from Tong-ch'uan-fu right away on to Chao-t'ong, in a north line, Miao villages are met with fairly well the whole way; then, three days from Tong-ch'uan-fu, in a north-westerly direction, we come to the Miao village of Loh-Ïn-shan; and then, striking south-west, through country absolutely unsurveyed part of the way, Sa-pu-shan is met. This last place is the headquarters of the China Inland Mission, where, at the present rate of progress, one might modestly estimate that in twenty years there will be no less than a million people receiving Christian teaching. These are not all Miao, however; there are besides La-ka, Li-su, and many other tribes with which we have no concern at the present moment.

So that it may be seen that from Yün-nan-fu, the capital, in areas on either side of the main road leading up to the bifurcation of the Yangtze below Sui-fu, in a long, narrow neck running between the River of Golden Sand and the Kwei-chow border, Miao are met with constantly. And then, of course, over the river, in Szech'wan, they are met with again, and in Kwei-chow, farther west, we have their real home.

It is a far cry from Miao-land to Malaysia, but as I get into closer contact with the Miao people, the more do I find them in many common ways of everyday customs and points of character akin to the Malays and the Sakai (the jungle hill people of the Malay Peninsula), among whom I have traveled. Their modes of living contain many points in common. Ethnologists probably may smile at this assertion, the same as I, who have lived among the Miao, have smiled at a good deal which has come from the pens of men who have not.

In this area there are two great branches of the Miao race:—

(i) The Hua Miao—The Flowery (or White) Miao.

(ii) The Heh Miao—The Black Miao.

(Many photographs of the Hua Miao are reproduced in this volume.)

The latter are considered as the superior of the two sections, speak a different tongue, and differ more or less widely in their methods, dress and customs, a study of which would lead one into a lifetime of interminable disquisitions, at the end of which one would be little more enlightened. Those who wish to study the question of inter-racial differences of the Miao are referred to Mr. Clarke's Kwei-chow and Yün-nan Provinces, Prince Henri d'Orleans' Du Tonkin aux Indes, and Mr. Baber's works. Major Davies also gives some new information concerning this hill people, and is generally correct in what he says; but in his, as in all the books which touch upon the subject, the language tests vary considerably. In Chao-t'ong and the surrounding districts, for instance, the traveler would be unable to make any progress with the vocabulary which the Major has compiled. I was unable to make it tally with the spoken language of the people, and append a table showing the differences in the phonetic—and I do it with all respect to Major Davies. I ought to add that this is the language of the north-east corner of Yün-nan; that of Major Davies is taken from page 339 of his book. He says that the words given by him will not be found to correspond in every case with those in the Miao vocabulary in the pocket of the cover of his book, and some have been taken from other Miao dialects!. However, the comparison will be interesting:—

English Word	Major Davies's Miao	N-E. Yün-nan Miao
Man (human being)	Tan-neng, Tam-ming	Teh-neh.
Son	To, T'am-t'ong	Tu.
Eye	K'a-mwa, Mai	A-ma.
Hand	Api	Tee.
Cow	Nyaw, Nga	Niu.
Pig	Teng	Npa.
Dog	Klie, Ko	Klee.
Chicken	Ka, Kei	Ki.
Silver	Nya	Nieh.
River	Tiang	Glee.
Paddy	Mblei	Nglee.
Cooked Rice	Mao	Va.
Tree	Ndong	Ntao.
Fire	To	Teh.
Wind	Chwa, Chiang	Chta.
Earth	Ta	Ti.
Sun	Hno, Nai	Hnu.
Moon	Hla	Hlee.
Big	Hlo	Hlo.
Come	Ta	Ta.
Go	Mong	Mao.
Drink	Ho	Hao.
One	A, Yi	Ih.
Two	Ao	Ah.
Three	Pie, Po	Tsz.
Four	Pei, Plou	Glao.
Five	Pa	Peh.
Six	Chou	Glao.
Seven	Shiang, I	Shiang.
Eight	Yi, Yik	Yih.
Nine	Chio	Chia.
Ten	Ch'it	Kao.