Travel Tips

The Miao ethnic group residing in southwest China are famous for their colorful costumes and beautiful silver rings. During holidays like the Moon Dance Festival, Miao girls will wear rich attire to display their beauty and wealth. The Moon Dance Festival is also the best time for young people to look for their partners. Men play Lusheng musical instrument, while girls dance around with their glistening silver rings. The festival is held three times a year. About the origin of this festival, here is a story.

A long, long time ago, there were two brothers who resided on the mountain. To make a living, the elder brother went to chop wood everyday, and the younger brother went fishing. Then they sold their products in the market. Their life was simple but joyful.

The elder brother liked music. Once he went to chop wood, he would always find some bulrush and bamboo, then make them into a pipe and play it. It sounded really sweet. So day after day, he collected many pipes. One day, he sat on a rock, and blew the pipes one by one. Each pipe made sound with different pitches. He said to himself, “If I blow all these pipes at the same time, then what kind of music it would make?”

One day when he hewed a kiri plant, he found the inside of the kiri was empty. He drilled a few holes in one side of this kiri wood, and placed the pipes into the holes. Then he blew into the kiri. Instantly the kiri produced several different sounds simultaneously. After studying this for long time, he finally created a wonderful musical instrument which could make sweet melodies with different tones. This instrument was later named as Lusheng. People liked this Lusheng music. Even the animals and birds were allured by this sweet music.

A female tiger resided in a cave close by. She was intoxicated by the music, and hoped to own the elder brother. So she could enjoy the music anytime when she wanted. One day, the tiger changed into a lady with a few rings on her fingers, and walked into the brothers’ home stealthily. She ate some dried fish in the kitchen.

When the two brothers got home and saw the tiger, they asked in anger, ” Why do you come to our home and eat our fish?” The tiger answered, ” I like your fish, and also I like you to be my husband.” The tiger snatched the elder brother, and ran away. The younger brother got scared, and tried to get his brother back. But how could he fight against a big tiger? Eventually the elder brother was taken away. When they left, the younger brother found a tail showing under the fat lady’s skirt. So he knew the lady was in fact a tiger.

The younger brother went to call the villagers together. Arming with bows and arrows, they set out to look for the elder brother in the mountains. But one month passed, they still couldn’t find the brother. One day when they walked up to the top of the mountain, they heard a bird singing, ” Come here, come here!” They followed the sound, and got to a cave where the elder brother was kept. The younger brother and villagers killed the tiger, and rescued the elder brother.

The elder brother played the Lusheng music to express his excited feelings, with the villagers sang and danced around him.

Since then, playing Lusheng music became one of the most important part in Miao’s life. In lunar January, June, and August, people hold an exciting festival where men play Lusheng music, and women dance around with beautiful silver rings on their fingers. The festival is often held in a night when there is a bright moon in the sky. So the festival is named as ” the Moon Dance Festival”. It also has an interesting nickname ” Looking for Brother Festival”. The women’s silver rings are especially conspicuous in the moonlight.

Writer Clare L. writes about the world’s silver jewelry, especially silver rings. The Miao silver rings she specializes in are popular almost everywhere. To let her know what you think, go look at some silver rings from China. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service