The Miao Arts as Old as Time

For people interested in learning more about the ethnic Miao culture, an ideal place to experience it is an ethnic Miao community in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China’s Guizhou Province. 

Named Qianhu, translated 1,000 households in English, this 2,000-year-old rural community has preserved the distinctive cultural traditions of the Miao ethnic group exhibited in the forms of architecture, arts, and daily lifestyle. It is a living monument to the history of this ethnic group. 

Sun Hao is an ink painter and a graduate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. A reputed artist whose works have been exhibited in Beijing, Hong Kong, Sao Paulo, and Sydney, Sun is fascinated by the rich cultural heritage and cultural wonders in Guizhou and loves finding inspiration by immersing himself in the environment there. In an episode of the Artistic Guizhou, a series documentary featuring arts and culture of Guizhou, Sun and Chinese popular singer Cai Guoqing explored together the local ethnic art of the Qianhu Miao community. 

A stunning view of the Qianhu Miao community. Photo by Liu Hongtao 

Being the world’s largest Miao community, Qianhu consists of a dozen smaller settlements scattered over rolling mountains. Singing is an essential part of local life. The Miao people begin to learn how to sing as early as they can speak. 

Even the most commonly seen leaves can be made into musical instruments in Miao people’s hands. Making music from leaves requires high skills. After watching the performance of local residents, Sun exclaimed, “Beautiful natural scenes are visible poems, while songs are audible pictures. Singing on the other hand is freer, broader, deeper, and more abstract than painting.” 

The Miao people are also known for making elaborate embroidery. Different from other parts of China, the themes expressed in Miao embroidery are flamboyant, imaginative, and often based on folklores. As a result, Miao embroidery has been regarded as the encyclopedia of the Miao culture. 

Miao women simply follow their intuition when matching the colors, and the seemingly casual choice creates spontaneous beauty in each of their embroidered works. From his perspective as a painter, Sun made the observation, “Green and red usually don’t match. We academicians have summed up a set of rules [for matching them]. But Miao women can effortlessly arrange these colors in a way that avoids awkwardness. This is a truly natural gift.” 

Another fine element of the Miao culture is wearing silver ornaments, a tradition which has been popular among many other ethnic groups throughout history. Miao silver ornaments are large in size, intricate in design, and diverse in motif. 

The silver ornaments worn by young Miao women arouse Cai Guoqing’s curiosity. “The patterns of racing horses and heroic scenes are rarely depicted on ornaments worn by people of other ethnic groups, but they can be found in those of Miao women. Why is that?” 

A local silversmith provided the answer, “For most of our history, the Miao people had no written language. So, we had to preserve and pass on our heritage through visual elements, like engraving history on silver ornaments. Over time, this craft has evolved into a vehicle that represents the Miao culture and spirit.” 

The Miao songs, embroidery, and silver ornaments all convey the rich, profound history of the Miao people and signify the continuity of their culture and traditions.