The Four Seals Miao are one of the tribes of the Miao minority group in southwestern China. Without silver jewels like other tribes, the Four Seals Miao are characterized by their women’s unique garments embroidered with four colorful square patterns. Their clothes are usually blue or black. Women like wearing pleated skirts. Some women wrap their hair into a bun with a wide blue cloth at 12 meters in length.

The Four Seals Miao reside in a village called Maige, which in Miao language means a place with lots of woods. A long time ago, a tribe of Miao was forced by their enemies to move to a remote mountainous area in southwestern China. Wanting to lead a peaceful life and not be harassed by the enemies again, they decided to destroy everything that might reveal their identities. When a Shaikh was about to throw the four big seals, the symbols of the tribe, into fire, a girl stood up and said: Please print the patterns of the seals on my clothes before you burn them. This way, the soul of our nation will live forever.

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The Four Seals Miao are one of the tribes of the Miao minority group in southwestern China. Without silver jewels like other tribes, the Four Seals Miao are characterized by their women’s unique garments embroidered with four colorful square patterns. Their clothes are usually blue or black. Women like wearing pleated skirts. Some women wrap their hair into a bun with a wide blue cloth at 12 meters in length.

The Four Seals Miao reside in a village called Maige, which in Miao language means a place with lots of woods. A long time ago, a tribe of Miao was forced by their enemies to move to a remote mountainous area in southwestern China. Wanting to lead a peaceful life and not be harassed by the enemies again, they decided to destroy everything that might reveal their identities. When a Shaikh was about to throw the four big seals, the symbols of the tribe, into fire, a girl stood up and said: Please print the patterns of the seals on my clothes before you burn them. This way, the soul of our nation will live forever.

(more…)

The Four Seals Miao are one of the tribes of the Miao minority group in southwestern China. Without silver jewels like other tribes, the Four Seals Miao are characterized by their women’s unique garments embroidered with four colorful square patterns. Their clothes are usually blue or black. Women like wearing pleated skirts. Some women wrap their hair into a bun with a wide blue cloth at 12 meters in length.

A village called Maige is hometown of the Four Seals Miao. The village in Miao language means ” a place with many plants”. Long time ago, a tribe of Miao had to migrate to the mountainous areas in southwestern China after they were defeated in a war. They wanted to have a peaceful life, but not harassed by the enemies anymore, so they decided to destroy all their identity documents. When a Shaikh was ready to throw the four big seals, the symbols of the tribe, into fire, a girl stopped him: No! Before you burn the seals, please print their patterns on my clothes. So, the soul of our nation will never die.

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Residing in the mountainous areas of southwestern China, the Miao minority group are divided into many different tribes with their distinct costumes. Some tribes are famous for their beautiful silver jewelry. The Magpie Miao, with a small population of 8600, live in six villages on the mountain. They got their name magpie from their unique costume which look like the plume of a magpie.

Women’s clothes have two striking colors: black and white. Their pleated skirt from the waist to the bottom includes 3 parts. The top is blue, which stands for the sky and the sea; the batik middle part highlights various, beautiful patterns, which represent fields, rivers, and lakes of their hometown; the embroidered bottom is about 15cm long, which indicates mountains, paths, and rivers their ancestors ever crossed.

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The Four Seals Miao are one of the tribes of the Miao minority group in southwestern China. Without silver jewels like other tribes, the Four Seals Miao are characterized by their women’s unique garments embroidered with four colorful square patterns. Their clothes are usually blue or black. Women like wearing pleated skirts. Some women wrap their hair into a bun with a wide blue cloth at 12 meters in length.

The Four Seals Miao live in a beautiful village named Maige, which in Miao language means ” a place with plenty of trees”. A long time ago, a tribe of the Miao were driven by their enemy to the remote mountainous areas of southwestern China. To get rid of the enemy and lead a peaceful life, the Miao had to ruin all their identity documents. When a Shaikh was going to put the four big seals, a symbol of their tribe, into fire, a girl stood up and said, Why not print the designs of the seals onto my clothes before you ruin them? In this way, we will keep our national soul forever.

(more…)