Miao (Hmon) Creation Epics, III

Miao (specifically, Hmub) Creation Epics, III.3-5

[texts in a humorous style, publicly sung for popular entertainment : each (short) section being introduced by a quaestion]

__________________________________________________________

pp. 71-110 Part III = "Song of the Antient Sweet-Gum"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(pp. 92-103 – III.3 Ploughing and Harrowing the Earth)

p. 92 selling food in order to buy land, by Xanb Lianx

*he sold __*	*and bought __*
fern roots	wild swine’s mountains
hazelnuts	wild pheasants’ valleys

p. 93 Xanb Lianx’s 1^st "ox" (really a toad), useless for ploughing

"His ox was like a toad.

He kept it in a bamboo basket. ...

Xang Liang ... killed his ox.

He ate the ox until only its bones were left;

chewed on the jaws until only the skull was left.

Later, he threw the bones into the forest."

These toad-bones "turned into Kho Hxen. ["a ghost who specializes in making mischief." (p. 200, n. 1)]

The big hat on his head was hard to wear;

his mouth spoke endless gossip".

p. 94 metallic coin fruits used to buy bovines for ploughing

*a girl named __*	Gi Ni Wen	Gi Jen Ni
*planted a __-blossomed tree*	white	yellow
*the fruit whereof was the size of __,*	cooking crocks	rice-steamers
*fruit consisting of __*	silver	gold
*which was used to buy __*	ox	water-buffalo
*in order to plough __*	mountain[side]s	hillsides

pp. 93-96 the 2^nd ox (an actual one) used by Xanb Lianx for ploughing

p. 93	the ox was named Xiu Niu.
p. 94	It was bought in the market at Nan-tu.
p. 95	Grandpa Xon Tim was go-between in buying it.
p. 96	Magpie "brought him a jug of wine, ... to toast Xang Liang’s ox" [by sprinkling wine in its face (p. 200, n. 4)], rendering the ox’s eyen bloodshot.
	"A Dragon’s horn ... was poked" between the ox’s nostrils.

p. 96 normally, a piece of wu-bei wood would be poke between the nostrils

p. 97 normally, the plough-beam would be of willow; the share-shaft of mulberry

pp. 98-99 ploughing toward the east and toward the west, by Xanb Lianx

*ploughing __*	eastward	westward
*he obtained 9 baskets of __*	(p. 98) wild rats	(p. 99) sparrows

p. 100 how pangolins and xi-ni grass originated

*Xanb Lianx’s __*	*became __*
fishes	pangolins
duckweed	xi-ni grass

p. 201, n. 7 Whenever a pangolin is encountered, it must be regaled with a song in its honor, praising it for bestowing "the luck to ... live for a hundred years".

p. 101 animals which entered and ploughed inaccessible sites

*site*	*was entered and ploughed by __*
"the Earth God’s village, where seventy thousand persons lived."	Emmet
deep "stony gorge"	Crab
"mountain peak"	Wild Pheasant

p. 102 how various species of snakes etc. originated from the ancillaries for ploughing, by Xanb Lianx

*the __*	*became a __*
ox-hoof	wu-s^ao snake
harrow-harness	red-striped snake
ox-yoke	ge-ban snake
plough-beam	di-di bird
rope in ox’s nose	mud-dwelling eel
whip	straw-bug

The ploughshare "was taken to a mountain peak, where" it "turned into Ba Hlio ["a clever man known for his dependable wisdom" (p. 201, n. 9)], changed into Gha Xiu ["special singer who sings praise songs" (p. 201, n. 10)], who came for Ancestor sacrifices."

pp. 102-103 residual bones & paper {cf. paper worn by [Aztec] bone-god Mictlan-tecuhtli}

p. 102	"The harrow was sent to Lu Men’s ["the ghost" for whom "is buried ... the leftover bones from the sacrifice." (p. 201, n. 12)] home, where it turned into a little dog harrow and was buried crosswise in the road."
p. 103	"the ox turned into Vi Vang O Rock, and the rock wanted to eat Paper and Books." ["According to legend, when paper was first made, goupi (in Chinese) hemp (Broussonetia papyrifera) and other materials were beaten on the rock. Later, to revenge being struck, the rock began to eat paper and books." (p. 201, n. 13)]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(pp. 103-107 – III.4 Sowing the Seeds)

p. 104 animals who reported to Xanb Lianx concerning the sprouts of the tree-seeds which he had sown

WildRat

Paddy Rat

Magpie, observing from "the top of a shagbark tree".

p. 104 similitudes of the tree-sprouts

*sprouts of __ (sown by Xanb Lianx)*	*resembled shoots of __ (domesticated plants)*
sweet-gum	kapok
fir	rice
pine	chestnuts

p. 105 builders of the 4-sided pool for Xanb Lianx

*part of pool*	*its builder*
1^st side	Wan Wu
2^nd side	Ghe Lu
3^rd side	Ban Xan Ye
4^th side	Wan Nan
"the well to flood the pond"	Bo Jen Hsa
channel (from well) to flood pond	Bo Jen Hsan

pp. 105-106 parentage of the 2 Bo Jen

"green moss and blue algae"

p. 106 locales were the trees were planted

*the __ trees*	*were planted at __*
sweet-gum	roadsides
fir	mountain-valleys
pine	hillsides
camphor	mountain-roads
non ji	mountain-saddlebacks
horse-chestnut & wu-bei	from the peaks to the feet of the mountains
thorn	feet of hills

p. 201, n. 3 "sweet gum (de mang [det mangx] in Miao; fengshu in Chinese; Liquidambar formosana) ... was ... used to fasten the horns to the main house post where the ancestral memorial tablets (for human ancestors) were set."

p. 201, n. 4 non ji leaves "produce a nice sound when blown".

p. 106 apparel worn by the trees

*tree*	*its apparel*
sweet-gums	"old-fashioned tunics"
firs	eels’
pines	pangolins’

p. 107 plants planted to accompany other plants

cogon-grass with winter-grass

bamboo with sweet-gum trees

p. 107 males & females who courted together at the sweet-gum trees

a young man of Gha Lian’s family, with a young woman of Xan Lian’s family

eagles and magpies

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(pp. 108-110 – III.5 Cutting Down the Antient Sweet Gum)

pp. 108-109 erroneous accusations made by Xanb Lianx, as to the theft of his 9 fish (from out of his 4-sided pool)

p.	*accusation*
108	"A boy of Niu Liang’s family came, and a girl of Ni Liang’s family played merrily with him ... beneath the Sweet Gum Tree, making the ground bare with their dancing." Xanb Lianx at first accused them of the theft; but then
	he "looked the tree over carefully, and saw that the Sweet Gum’s leaves were covered with fish scales." [This is due to fish-eating birds "which feast on the fish and drop their scales in the tree branches." (p. 72)]
109	Xanb Lianx thereupon accused Sweet-Gum, in a law-court, of the theft.

pp. 109-110 defense-attorneys invited to defend Sweet-Gum from the criminal charge of stealing the 9 fish

p.	*the invited*	*details*
109	Jen Hson Ghan	["born in Maha (today called Majiang)" (p. 202, n. 3)]
	Wan Lu La,	who "rode up on a male tiger ... to slaughter a cow"
	Jen Hson Ghan,	who "came riding a great stallion,
110		and after arriving butchered a fat hog".

p. 100 how judgement was rendered

The judge, who was Xiu Niu, found Sweet-Gum guilty of being "the accomplice of thieves" (viz., of "Egrets and Wild Geese" – p. 109).

p. 202, n. 5 "When a wiseman decided a case he used sticks made of bamboo that he would rap on the table" {cf. European judge’s mallet}.

p. 201, n. 2 "Wisemen (lu [lul]) ... for deciding court cases."

p. 110 after Sweet-Gum was thus condemned to death and executed, there originated from that tree’s parts various species :-

*from __*	*originated __*
sawdust	fish
woodchips	honeybees
heartwood	butterflies
buds	moths
woodknots	owls
leaves	swallows, hawks, vultures
2-forked branches	Ji Wi bird

__________________________________________________

Jin Dan ("Jenb Dangk" in Miao; compiler and translator from Miao into Chinese); Ma Xueliang (editor of the Chinese version); Mark Bender (translator from the Chinese) : Butterfly Mother : Miao (Hmong) Creation Epics from Guizhou, China. Hackett Publishing Co, Indianapolis, 2006.