Oct 26, 2009
The Astonishing Long Horn Of The Chinese “Long Horn” Miao People Replaces Silver Jewelry
Inhabiting southwest China, the Miao minority group is well known for their elaborate silver jewelry. Throughout centuries of migration, the Miao have been divided into various tribes. The Long Horn Miao is one of them.
The Long Horn Miao are named “long horn” because of a large wooden horn that they wear in their hair. During holidays, women twist hair left by their mothers and grandmothers with black wool. They put all of the hair around the horn to make a big, striking headdress that can weigh 6 kilograms.
In a village called Suojia at 1,800 meters above sea level, there are less than 5,000 Long Horn Miao people who still live a simple, pristine life just as their ancestors did thousands of years ago. Until 1994, when a Norwegian anthropologist came here, the village was completely unknown to the outside world.
The Long Horn Miao build their houses out of dirt and couch grass. Men farm and go hunting, while women spend most of their time weaving cloth, making batik, and doing embroidery.
They have a long tradition of worshiping pheasants, as they believe pheasants helped their ancestors find corn seeds and survive in the mountainous areas. This is reflected in the women’s colorful garments. The designs on their shirts and pleated skirts imitates the feathers of a pheasant. Their black felt aprons and white leg wrappings look like the bird’s breast and legs.
Why do the local people like to put a big wooden horn in their hair? When their king died in war, they would place bows and arrows in their hair and swear to revenge the king. This custom was kept for centuries. Gradually they developed a habit of adorning their hair with a large horn.
When combing their hair, women keep their fallen hair to twist together with black wool. They give this collection to their daughters as a dowry. An outstanding hair bun kept in a local museum is made of hair from five generations of women. It weighs almost 6 kilograms.
A long horn Miao headdress looks like the number 8. It is about 15 cm high, with both ends dropping down to the shoulders. It takes at least one hour to prepare this large, complicate headdress.
More and more people are coming to visit Soujia. The tourists are impressed with the unique culture of the Long Horn Miao, and also shocked by their poverty. Without electricity, the local people still use oil lamps today.
