Among the tribes in South-west China

Preface

One of the most striking features of missionary work in Asia to-day is the remarkable progress of the Gospel among the humbler races of that great Continent. In India, we are told, the great mass movements, which are either just beginning or are in full progress among the depressed classes, are at present attracting the greatest attention. In Korea, the recent history of which country has not inaptly been termed a tragedy, the progress of Christianity is one of the marvels of modern Missions. And in China, the great spiritual awakening among the despised non-Chinese races of Kweichow and Yunnan has many things in common with that in Korea.

These movements of God's Spirit cannot be accidental, though they may be like the wind which bloweth where it listeth. They consequently deserve careful consideration, for they may have valuable lessons for the student of Missions to learn. They can hardly fail to remind us that to-day, as in the days of Christ, God is pleased to reveal to babes things hidden from the wise and prudent. They may also have an important bearing upon the questions of missionary methods and missionary qualifications which are exercising the minds of not a few just now. Abovj all, they certainly emphasise the importance of belief in and dependence upon the working of the Holy Spirit.

Until the last few years, little has been known about the non - Chinese tribes of south - west China. With the friendly and even intimate relationships now established between the missionary and some of the tribes that ignorance is passing away. Hitherto, however, comparatively little has been published about them beyond a number of isolated articles in missionary magazines and some small booklets. The official reports of Mr. Colborne Baber and Mr. Consul Bourne are perhaps the chief exceptions. The present work it is therefore hoped will meet a distinct need.

The author, the Rev. Samuel R. Clarke, who for thirty-three years has been a missionary in China, by reason of a residence of more than twenty years in Kweichow, and his careful study of the tribes, their customs, and some of their languages, has special qualifications for the writing of a more detailed account. It should be mentioned that the author, when he came home on furlough, had no thought of writing a book. He has therefore not had the advantages of reference to his own library and notes. This

PREFACE vii volume, however, is his kind response to a request that he would publish the story of the work of grace among the non-Chinese tribes of Kweichow, and it will, we feel sure, find many grateful readers. The book, as it will be seen, is divided into two parts, with Appendices. Part I. deals with the Tribes and their Customs, etc., and Part II. with the work done among them. The Appendices, with their philological tables, will be of special value to the student. There may be some who may prefer to read the Second Part first, but those who may do so will hardly fail to want to know the facts about the people themselves recorded in Part I.

It is a remarkable fact that in the provinces of Kweichow and Yunnan, where work among the Chinese has been notoriously barren and unfruitful, this great work of grace among the non - Chinese tribes should have broken out. Communities which a few years ago were ignorant, degraded, and immoral, are now pure and Christian. Scores of villages have become wholly Christian, and hundreds of other villages are nominally Christian. One worker has estimated that, as the result of the work of the last seven or eight years, there are now some 50,000 of these people at least nominally Christian.

The strain upon those engaged in this work is not small. The area over which the work extends is many thousands of square miles, and the country is mountainous, some of the villages being situated about 8000 feet above sea-level. Anshunfu, with its 16 out-stations, has only 9 workers (5 men, 3 wives, and i single lady). Yet in this district, about one hundred and fifty miles from north to south, 1480 aborigines were baptized in 1906, more than 500 in 1907, 800 during 1908, 356 during 1909, and 260 during 1910. At the close of 1910 the total number of Communicants, not to speak of adherents, was 3500. What are 9 workers for the oversight of such a district, with such scattered congregations ! The district around Sapushan in Yunnan, also extending about one hundred miles from limit to limit, has 24 out-stations, but only 4 foreign workers. It may also be added that in the whole of the province of Kweichow, in which (if Shihmenkan and neighbourhood be excepted) the China Inland Mission is the only Protestant Mission, there is no medical missionary. In Yunnan the one medical missionary connected with the China Inland Mission is now away on furlough.

An hospital, however, is in course of erection in the Anshunfu district for use in the work among the tribes-people. This is being built with funds specially contributed for that purpose, though as yet there is no doctor to take charge. If the publication of this book should do nothing else than lead to this need being supplied, it would doubtless gratify the author ; but greater things than these are hoped.

PREFACE ix

The following graphic and generous description of one of the small band of workers — which may be taken as applicable to the others — written by the Rev. Samuel Pollard, of the United Methodist Mission, who has himself an intimate knowledge of the work, and who has been richly blessed in his own labours, will help the reader to picture the missionaries at their work, and show how much these interesting peoples and the self-denying workers need and deserve the support which only can be given by sympathetic prayer : —

The South Australian missionary, Rev. Arthur G. Nicholls, and his few colleagues, some Australian and some English, who are working like Trojans in the midst of God s great prairie fire, may also be reckoned among the heroes who are establishing the kingdom of heaven upon earth. I have wondered what one like Ralph Connor would do with Arthur Nicholls if he only knew his story. Loved and trusted by multitudes, despised and hated by many, cut off from the comforts and pleasures of civilisation, facing a thousand and one dangers, healing the sick, teaching the ignorant, comforting the bereaved, playing with the children, stamping out drink and opium, fighting the demon of impurity, showing a timid people how to be self-reliant and enterprising, and returning to his headquarters every few weeks, like a man who has been touching the very bedrock of humanity, Arthur Nicholls goes on his way little thinking what a hero he is, and counting himself repaid over and over again because the people love him. I wonder what the Master will by and by say to these brave workers ? "

Could the brave workers, toiling amid these overwhelming though encouraging conditions, voice what is in their hearts as a preface to this volume, they would doubtless emphasise the wonderful opportunities which now exist for work among these tribes. They might also suggest that these opportunities may not wait, though at present there seems no limit to the good which might be done if the Church of God were to adequately respond to this modern cry from another Macedonia. But whatever they might or might not say, they certainly would, out of a full heart, plead — " Brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run and be glorified."

MARSHALL BROOMHALL.

China Inland Mission, London, March 191 1.

CHAPTER II The Languages and Customs of the Miao

Chinese and non-Chinese — How named — How differentiated — Miao languages and dialects — Lack of literature — Love of litigation — Dacoits — The Black Miao — Other Miao — Moral condition . xi xii

CHAPTER III Mi AO Legends PAGE

Black Miao legends— The Creation—The Flood— The Earth repeopled — Hua Miao legends of Flood — Ya-ch*io legend of Flood — Fu-hsi — P'an-ku — Yao and Shuen's Flood .... 37

CHAPTER IV Miao Religious Beliefs and Practices

Religious beliefs of Miao — Musical festivals — Pony-running — Buffalo fights — Fear of demons — Wizards or exorcists — Soothsayers— Witchcraft — Heaven — Funeral ceremonies — Offerings to ancestors — Marriage customs — Miao tales ... 60

CHAPTER V The Chung-chia or Shan Tribes

The Chung-chia or Shans — The Nan-chao of Yunnan — Notes from Siam — Migration to Kweichow — Chung-chia claim to be Chinese — Religious ideas — Funeral customs — Animists — Their dishonesty ......... 89

Chapter VI

The Lo-lo or No-su — Other names for them — Divided into Black and White — Rev. C. E. Hicks's article — Their arrival in Chaotung district — The independent Lo-lo — Mr. C. Baber's story — The Hsi-fan — The No-su of Chaotung and Weining — A decadent race — The feudal system — The Miao tenants — Religious ideas — Legends — The Flood — Marriage customs — Demonolatry — Burial customs — Slaves . . . .112

CONTENTS xiii

Chapter VII Page

Commencement of work among the Miao — Dictionaries and primers — Mr. and Mrs. Webb at Panghai — Opposition of Chinese — Mr. and Mrs. Webb's return home — Mr. Bolton at Panghai — Dispute about market-place — Mr. Bolton leaves Panghai — Robbers burn Panghai — Murder of Mr. Fleming and Pan Sheo Shan — Purchase of land — Robbers loot Kai-li — Miao inquirers falsely accused — Investigations — Settlement of Kai-li troubles . . . . . . . -139

CHAPTER VIII A Mass Movement among the Flowery Miao

Anshunfu — Beginnings of work among Hua Miao — The Boxer year — Persecution — Missionary work recommenced — Ten-ten — Heo-er-kuan — A bonfire — Burning of opium pipes, etc. — The Ta-hua Miao — Lan-lung-chiao — Weining — Miao visit Anshunfu — Miao go to Chaotung — More persecution — Movement around Ko-pu — Mr. Adam visits Ko-pu — First baptisms at Ko-pu — Magic-lantern . . . . . . 172

Chapter IX

Mr. Curtis Waters at Anshunfu — His visit to Ko-pu — An audience of 1000 — Examining candidates — A trying ordeal — An impressive baptismal service — 1200 Communicants — Sons of God

PAGE

— At Lan-lung-chiao — A work of the Holy Spirit — The great secret — Baptisms at Ten-ten — Second visit to Ko-pu — 400 baptisms . . . . . . . . . .201

CHAPTER X A Great Work of Grace

Mr. Adam returns — Visits Ko-pu — The Hung-t'eo Miao — Persecution— Perils by water and land — More baptisms — Heo-er-kuan — Lan-lung-chiao — Translation of Scriptures — Mr. I. Page — Mr. P. O. Olesen — The writer and Mr. Adam visit Ko-pu — No-su lairds — Difficult travelling — Tenants with two landlords — More baptisms — Few cases of discipline — Contributions— Ko-pu Chapel burned — Mr. Waters's return .... 224

CHAPTER XI Fields White unto Harvest

The Miao go to Chaotung — Mr. Pollard's story — Persecution — A sad story — Mr. Pollard goes to Weining — The missionary's home — Shih-men-kan — First baptisms — ^Problems — Mr. Pollard attacked — Movement spreads southward — Mr. Nicholls goes to Shih-men-kan — The work at Wuting — Sapushan — The Harvest Thanksgiving Service — Mr. and Mrs. Porteous and Mr. Metcalf help — The Li-su, La-ka, and Kang-i — Baptisms at Sapushan — Mr. Sanders's story ..... 264

Appendices

ILLUSTRATIONS

TO FACE PAGE

A Black Miao Maiden in Festive Attire . . Frontispiece Ascending a Rapid on the Panghai River ... 7

House Boat approaching a Rapid 8

A Group of Black Miao 18

A Black Miao Mother and Daughters .... 34

A Flowery Miao Festival 65

A Group of Great Flowery Miao Hunters . . « 65 A Group of Black Miao Pipe-Players .... 66

A No-su Spirit Hamper 112

A Group of No-su Women 114

A Scene in Kweichow 139

A Black Miao Festival 151

The New Mission House at Panghai . . . . i68 The Spot where Mr. Chenery was drowned . . .170 Four West of the Water Miao Women . . . .177 A Group of Great Flowery Miao Christians . . .186

Three Great Flowery Miao Women 278

Maps .......... xvi-xviii

XV

MAP TO ILLUSTRATE "AMONG THE For the area around Sapushan

106 108

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^ tTSUNYI

/ CHEN^

Shi ping

y^t^ Hwangpin^|/ fi M hi^ ^ KWEIYANG ' Tj

P TV

fpin^sien /

^♦Tankiang ■

s I ATL^

106 108

TRIBES IN SOUTH-WEST CHINA." in Yunnan, see next page.

Map, showing Centres round Sapushan where Chapels have been built BY Miao Christians.

The names with an (L) after them are places where the Le-su tribe live. The three names underlined are occupied by La-ka, and the rest by Hwa Miao. There are about one hundred and ten villages in the whole district, where services are held every evening. Where villages are too far from Chapel centres the Christians meet in some house. The Miao and Le-su tribes have Scripture portions, and morning texts for each day in the year, in their own language. These are used by the leaders at the prayer meetings. There are nearly eight hundred Church members, and about three thousand catechumens — most of them living in Christian homes. At Sapushan the Chapel is large enough to seat eight hundred worshippers, and is built of sun-dried brick, and tiled.

PART I

THE PROVINCE OF KWEICHOW AND ITS NON-CHINESE RACES

"There is probably no family of the human race — certainly no family with such claims to consideration — of which so little is accurately known as of the non-Chinese races of Southern China. This is in great measure due to the perfect maze of senseless names, taken from the Chinese, in which the subject is involved. In the Topography of the Yunnan Province (edition of 1836) there is a catalogue of 141 classes of aborigines, each with a separate name and illustration, without any attempt to arrive at a broader classification." — Consul F. S. A. Bourne.

Chapter I The Province And Its Peoples

Ancient history — Cliinese and Miao — The Miao move westward — Kweichow — Constituted a province — General characteristics of the province — Original Chinese — New Chinese — The non-Chinese — The Keh-lao.

When the people now known as Chinese

reached the regions which at present form the

provinces of Shensi and Shansi in north China,

they found much land already occupied by

tribes not unlike themselves. These tribes were

doubtless the descendants of people who had,

at an earlier date, migrated from the west.

Those to the south were called Nan Man or

Southern Barbarians. They were also called

Miao. The character Miao, as written in the

Book of History," means tender blades of

grass or sprouts, and it is hard to decide whether

the people were so named in consequence of the

district they occupied, or whether the district

took its name from the people. The word is

I B evidently Chinese, and seems to be a natural term for all newcomers to apply to the aborigines, whom they regard as sons of the soil.

In the Canon of Shuen it is recorded that Shuen drove the San Miao into San Wei. Whether San Miao was the name of one tribe or meant three tribes^ is not clear. San Wei was a district extending from what is now Kiukiang, in the province of Kiangsi, to Yochow, at the mouth of the Tungting Lake in the province of Hunan. This was about 4000 years ago. Later on, as the Miao continued rebelUous, Yii was sent, at the command of Shuen, to correct them. For reasons which do not appear, Yii sent back his army and determined to try the effect of moral suasion on these unmanageable people, and in seventy days the Prince of the Miao came to make his submission !

From that time forth the struggle has proceeded between the ever-encroaching Chinese and the Miao, in which struggle the more civilised and better organised Chinese have always, in the end, prevailed. About 800 B.C. Shuen Wang, one of the kings of the Chow dynasty, sent an expedition against them.

1 San is Chinese for three.

Fang Shuh, who was the leader, proceeded with three thousand chariots as far as the present cities of Changsha and Changte in Hunan. Three mailed warriors rode in each chariot, and these, with other soldiers, made up a force of some thirty thousand men. The barbarians, alarmed at the news of recent Chinese victories over the Northern Tartars, and terrified by the beating of drums and cymbals, submitted without resistance.

During the reign of Shih Hwang Ti, the Emperor who built the Great Wall and overthrew the feudal system of China (200 B.C.), cities were built in what are now the southern provinces of the Empire, and the whole of that country was brought under real or nominal subjection. The wilder west was, however, still unsubdued, and into these higher and less fertile regions many of the Miao withdrew.

When the Chinese first came upon the scene, the Nan Man or Miao were probably as numerous, if not more numerous than the new arrivals. The Chinese, however, were not only more civiUsed but under one government, whereas the Miao were divided under many local kings and rulers. The inevitable result followed. The Miao were gradually destroyed, or absorbed by the conquering race, or driven to the less desirable regions of the west and south-west. This process of absorption has been going on since the days of Yao and Shuen, 2356 B.C., and may be observed at the present time in the province of Kweichow. In that province many of the Chinese have Miao wives or concubines, and the children of such marriages always claim to be and are looked upon as Chinese.

The writer has neither the intention nor the ability to recall the history of the Miao tribes from the earliest times. His purpose, so far as he is able, is to describe briefly the different peoples now inhabiting the province of Kweichow, more especially the non-Chinese peoples. West China, Tibet, Burma, Tongking, Annam, and Siam are inhabited by many tribes, and it is impossible not to ask such interesting questions as : Who are they ? Whence came they ? and When ? After a residence of more than twenty years in the province of Kweichow, where we have learned something about these tribes, it is our purpose to set down what we know.

The two characters Kwel-chow as they are now written, and have been written for about six hundred years, mean Precious or Honourable Region.*' But eighteen hundred years ago, during the Han dynasty, the name was written with the character Kwei meaning " demon " and thus would mean " Demon Region/' that is, the region inhabited by demons/' Sometimes it was written Kwei Fang, demon place " or land of demons/' The inhabitants were also called Lo-sz Kwei or Lo-si demons/' which probably had reference to the spiral form in which some of them did up their hair.

What is now Kweichow was only constituted a province, with Kweiyang Fu as its capital, about two hundred years ago. Previous to that time that portion of the present province north of the Wu-kiang or ''Crow River" was part of the province of Szechwan. South of that river were semi:- independent kingdoms ; I-chia or Lo4o who call themselves No-su in the west, and Miao-chia in the east. Hundreds of years previous to that time Chinese armies had marched into Kweichow and left garrisons in different places.

One hundred and fifty years ago, when Roman Catholic missionaries made a map of the Empire, some parts of southern Kweichow were put down as occupied by Sen Miao or Independent Miao." Evidently at that time some of the Miao were still independent, for if they had in any way admitted Chinese sovereignty they would not have been reckoned as Sen Miao. The various tribes within the Empire, and those on the border, are divided into Sen and Su tribes. Sen means raw/' and Su means ripe or cooked." The independent tribes are raw,'* and those who acknowledge Chinese sovereignty are cooked." There are no Miao, or any other tribe in Kweichow now, who claim to be independent. The last vestiges of independence passed away forty years ago when the latest Miao rebellion of any importance was put down after years of mutual slaughter. Talking recently with a Miao who remembered that time, he said, Our people were worse than the Chinese and killed more women and children than they did."

Most of Kweichow is at least three thousand feet above sea -level, the altitude constantly increasing as the traveller goes west. Weining Lake, in the north-west, a large sheet of water fifty miles long and in some places nearly twenty miles broad, is 7000 feet above sea-level. We saw no boats and there appears to be no traffic on the lake. The hills are not exceedingly high, but they are everywhere. The province is a labyrinth of hills and valleys, and probably not one-fifth of the surface of it is cultivated or cultivable.

When the traveller reaches the top of a high men on this river are nearly all Heh Miao, who convey goods to and from Hungkiang in Hunan. This stream, however, in consequence of long and diflScult rapids, is only navigable for small boats, whereas the Chenyiian branch is navigable for river boats of the largest size. This lack of waterways, and the fact that there is no road, as far as we know, in the province over which a wheeled vehicle could be drawn or driven, makes the conveyance of produce a costly undertaking. Everything has to be carried by coohes, or on the backs of ponies and mules, and consequently it doubles the cost of rice to carry it one hundred and twenty miles.

The population of Kweichow is probably between seven and ten milhons. In speaking of numbers, in the absence of trustworthy census returns, it must be understood that we are giving opinions formed from our own observation, influenced by the estimates of others who are as well qualified to judge as ourselves. In this way, then, we put the population of the province at between seven and ten millions, and reckon that one -half of these are Chinese and the rest mostly Miao and Chung-chia.

To a traveller passing through Kweichow, the Chinese would appear to greatly outnumber the non-Chinese. This is because the Chinese are mostly settled in the cities and towns, and in those districts which are nearer the cities and the great high-roads. Away from the cities and high-roads in the south-west and south-east, the non-Chinese greatly outnumber the Chinese. It must also be remembered that the Chung-chia men, and some of the men of the other tribes, dress exactly the same as Chinese peasants, and by the traveller might be taken for Chinese.

The Chinese of the province are divided into the LaO'han-ren and Keh-Ma, that is, the ''Original or Old Chinese" and the "Immigrants.'' The immigrants are very many, and the Old Chinese very few. Some of the Old Chinese claim that their ancestors settled in the province as early as the eighth and ninth centuries of our era, and others as late as the fourteenth century. These were the soldiers left in the country as the results of early conquests and occupations, who married native women and settled down as cultivators of the soil. The descendants of these now form separate communities, speaking the old dialect their forebears brought into the country, or a modification of it, and able also to speak the mandarin dialect of the New Chinese. They are a sturdy industrious race who generally own the land they cultivate, but are regarded by the New Chinese much the same as the Miao and Chung-chia.

Among these Old Chinese are the following : The P'U'ts'i or Tun-tsi, that is " Garrison people," in the Anshunfu prefecture ; the Lapa-ts'i in the western part of Anshunfu and in the Puanhsien district. The Ch'uan-chun-tst\ so called because the women wear long skirts like Miao and Chung-chia women, are found in Anshunfu, Weining, and Pingyiian districts. The Feng-t'eo-ren or Phoenix-headed, named from the style in which the women do their hair, are to be seen along the main road from Kweiyang to Anshunfu. It is not possible at present to say how many of these Old Chinese there are, but we venture to think there are only several tens of thousands of them. There may be, however, in other parts of the province other of these garrison people whom we have not seen or recognised, and of whom we have never heard. Doubtless many of these Old Chinese have, in the course of time, been absorbed among the non- Chinese or among the New Chinese.

The New Chinese are the descendants of those who settled in Kweichow when and since it was constituted a province of the Empire.

THE PROVINCE & ITS PEOPLES ii

There can be no doubt that the earUer of these immigrants were from the province of Kiangsi, and some of them at least were compelled to colonise Kweichow much against their will. Most of the Chinese now in the province would claim Kiangsi as the old home of their family. But in recent years, we do not venture to say for how many, the immigrants have nearly all been from the provinces of Hunan and Szechwan, and mostly from Szechwan. Since we first entered the province thirty years ago there has been a constant stream of people, sometimes rising and falling, flowing into Kweichow from the populous province of Szechwan.

The language spoken by the Chinese of Kweichow is good Mandarin, more hke the dialect of Peking than that of Nanking, and much better mandarin than that spoken in many parts of Hunan. As one might expect, it is most hke the Chinese spoken in Szechwan, and a man from Kweichow would be easily understood in north and central China where the Mandarin dialect is spoken.

The non- Chinese are nearly all of them cultivators of the soil, and live, as a rule, not on the land they cultivate, but, for the sake of mutual protection, in hamlets and villages.

These villages are sometimes surrounded by a wall, and sometimes by a stockade of plaited bamboos, but most of them have no sort of protection. On market-days, which are held generally once in six days, the market-places are crowded by the men and women of different tribes, which, by reason of the varied and picturesque costumes of the women, present an animated and interesting spectacle. These markets or fairs are mostly held in the towns and villages, but some of them are held in out-of-the-way places where no houses are to be seen. Here the people sell their live-stock and farm produce, and buy such necessaries as they cannot produce or make for themselves. At some of the markets we have visited, the tribes-people outnumber the Chinese by ten to one, but in some places it is the other way about.

The non-Chinese of Kweichow are the Lao or Keh-lao, the Miao-chia, the Chung-chia, and the I'Chia, And here let us explain for the reader who does not understand Chinese, that the word chia, so often occurring in the names of various tribes, means family " or tribe." Thus MiaO'Chia means the Miao tribe or tribes.*' We have heard people speak, and have met writers, who mention the Miao as Miao tsi'. That is a Chinese contemptuous way of speaking of them. People, unless they wish to be rude, should speak and write of them as Miao, or Miao-chia.

Of the four races mentioned above, the Miao-chia and Chung-chia are numerous and important, the I-chia not so numerous but still important. Later on these will be dealt with at greater length. The Keh-lao, however, are now nearly extinct ; many of them have married into Chung-chia and Old Chinese families. Some writers have spoken of them as extinct. As far as we know, there are now only several hamlets of them in the Anshun prefecture, which altogether do not number more than two or three hundred families.

These people claim, and rightly, we believe, to be the real aborigines of that region. In some parts of the province the Miao claim to be the aborigines, but where the Miao and Keh-lao occupy the same district, the Miao allow that the Keh-lao were there before themselves. From the similarity of names, we might suppose that these Lao or Keh-lao are the same as a branch of the Lao or Laos people of northern Siam, southern Yunnan, and other regions. This, however, we think is not so, as we have good reason to conclude that the Lao or Laos people of northern Siam, and elsewhere, are the same or closely related to the Chung-chia of Kweichow.

The language of the Keh-lao is quite different from every other spoken in the province, although like all the languages spoken in Kweichow it is syllabic and, we think, tonic. Most of them can also speak Chinese. The men dress as Chinese and wear the queue, but the women wear a costume peculiar to themselves, and have their hair done up in a knob at the top of their head, much like the style of a Taoist priest. Like all the other non-Chinese races the women do not bind their feet. In appearance they are, we think, most like the Miao.

All the Keh-lao we know or have heard of are in Anshun prefecture. Mr. and Mrs. Adam have visited some of them and have been kindly welcomed by them. About fifteen miles from Anshunfu, on the way to Ten-ten, an out-station among the Miao, is a Keh-lao hamlet where Mr. and Mrs. Adam always rest and have a meal, as there are no inns on the way to Ten-ten. The same family always entertains them, furnishing hot water for them, food for their coolies, and grass for their ponies. On the first occasion the old lady, when offered money for her hospitality, was quite offended, and said, " Ah well ! don't come back again." However, the difficulty was got over by always taking a present for the hostess or her grand-daughter. We have been in that hamlet, and if we had not been told they were Keh-lao, should certainly have thought they were Miao.