Miao (Hmong) Creation Epics

Miao (specifically, Hmub) Creation Epics, IV.1-4

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

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pp. 113-156 Part IV = "Song of the Butterfly Mother"

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(pp. 113-15 – IV.1 Birth of the Butterfly Mother)

p. 113 release of Mais Lief (‘Butterfly’)

She (Mais Lief) was within the heartwood of the Sweet-Gum tree, until "The King of the Moth-Borers opened the door to let butterfly out."

"Woodpecker flew from the East. ... he pecked at the wood, then ate the Moth-Borers."

p. 114 relatives of Mais Lief

*Tree-__*	*was her __ aunt*
Root	elder
Branch	younger
Grandfather Xan Ge named her Ban Xan.

p. 114 fishes in Ji Wi (/Jix Wib/, p. 111) Pond [named for the Ji Wi bird (p. 115)]

*fish*	*was a big as a __*
Ladybug	straw hat
Mud Eel	grain-crib post
Carp	crossbeam
"The high mountains were the umbrella ... . Beneath the umbrella the fish were boiled; Butterfly ate them". [On the 3^rd day after birth, each baby is taken out-of-doors under a paper umbrella to view the sunrise (p. 202, n. 4).]

pp. 114-115 ornaments of Butterfly-goddess; marriage of Butterfly-goddess to Wave-Foam

p. 114	While young, Butterfly wore "paper ... clothing" made by Xan Ge. {"His young sister-in-law spread out the edge of her gathered skirt and used it to wipe ... Nzhai-jio-shi-du’s brow" (AH, p. 35 – M119:61-62). With the pleats of a "gathered skirt", cf. Japanese origami paper-folding, wherein "butterflies seem to have evolved from the pleated paper covers" (OH1).}
p. 115	"Icicle made the neck rings as well as the bracelets to give to Butterfly. ... Butterfly wore them courting".
	"Butterfly and Wave Foam courted and later became a couple. ... She was married for twelve years and laid the Twelve Eggs."

OH1 = http://www.paperfolding.com/history/partone/

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(pp. 116-21 – IV.2 The 12 Eggs)

p. 116 clutches of eggs

*eggs of __*	*resembling __*	*were laid on __*	*and incubated by __*
Moth	coins	hemp paper	Stove
Mantis	wave-foam	yellow earth	Cogon-Grass
Duck	(greenish white)	(across Nan-he River)	Hen [Chicken]
Soft-shelled Turtle	round-washed stones	mud	sand

p. 116 Butterfly-goddess laid the egg of [containing] Van La (/Vanb Lax/, p. 202, n. 4, alias dictus /Jan Van/ -- /Janx Vanb/, p. 190, n. 4)

pp. 117, 119 makers of nest for, and incubator & inspector of, Butterfly-goddess’s eggs

p. 117	Ga Van [/Gab Vanx/ ‘mountain-ridge’ (p. 203, n. 5)] made the nest;
	Fu Fan lined the nest with grass;
	the Ji Wi bird incubated the eggs.
p. 119	Hsen Yen inspected the eggs ("held them up to the Sun to watch") when they were about to hatch.

pp. 119-120 caerimony-officiants into whom the eggshell-fragments transformed themselves

p.	*transformation*
119	one piece became Ga Hsan
120	two pieces became Din Wan
	three pieces became Ga Lion
	the two residual pieces became Ga Dan Hnian

p. 120 deities born from eggs

*at __ Heavenly Branch*	*deity __ was born.*	*color of deity*
1^st	Ga Hva	white
2^nd	Janx Vanb	black
3^rd	Tigre	striped
4^th	Thundre-god	bright
5^th	Water-Dragon	yellow
6^th	Snake	(long)

p. 120 what cut the umbilical cord of which deity

*the umbilical cord of __*	*was cut by means of __*
Dragon	copper ["which is why dragons fear copper" (p. 112)]
Thundre-god	torch
Cogon-grass	"itself"
Jan Van	bamboo
Snake	stone
Tigre	"Wild Grass"

p. 120 which umbilical cord transformed themselves into of which deity

*the umbilical cord of __*	*transformed itself into __*
Dragon	soft-shelled turtle
Thundre-god	Earth[-god] "then the Earth God went to live in the West side of the village."
Janx Vanb	rice; mountain ferns
Tigre	wild cats; brush wolves; foxes
Elephant	Dlian Ge ghosts ["This victim is very terrible ..., its citims dying in a short time. ... Only those associated with rich and powerful families went about killing or eating people." (p. 203, n. 13)] "who in the middle of the night eat people’s chickens."

p. 121 which deity was obtained by which family-relation

*family-relation*	*obtained __*
girl (while she was fetching water)	Snake
Father	Dlian ge ghosts
Mother	Guk Poison ["made of snakes, scorpions, toads, leeches, hornets, and so on. If a person eats ... this poison, the creatures will grow in his stomach and may pour out of his body orifices." The remedy is to eat boiled fruits. (p. 203, n. 14)]

p. 121 Approaching the nest was the laughing Gu Van. [/Guk Vanx/, who praepared curses by "tying a red thread around a crab or centipede." (p. 204, n. 15).]

p. 121 what the residues became after the hatchlings had departed from the nest

*the __*	*became __*
eggshells	dark clouds
egg-membranes	clear skies
the "bad egg"	daimon [causing a madness in sows : "sows will eat their offspring." (p. 204, n. 16)]
nest	Ve Khan [/vel khant/ the strawed sleeping-place for villagers immediately after a major sacrifice (p. 204, n. 17)]
"half a bit of eggshell"	Sacrificial Bowl ["pottery filled with vegetable oil and burned for the Ancestors" (p. 204, n. 18)]

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(pp. 122-28 – IV.3 The Brethren Divide)

pp. 122-123 burnings of houses by Jan Van

p.	*house-burning*
122	1^st house was deliberately burned by Janx Vanb because it was overpopulated; thereupon, at his behest, the house’s former inhabitants went to Nan-tu, where "Du Yen’s house is really huge."
123	Housefly reported to the other migrants : Janx Vanb is "busy gathering moxa; I’m afraid he wants to burn down some house again."

p. 123 superlative qualities of the brethren

*brother __*	*is the __*
Water Dragon	longest
Thunder God	heaviest
Tigre	fiercest
Janx Vanb	cleverest

pp. 123-124 effects of crossing the Gold Bridge in the Sky

p.	*while __ crossed*	*the bridge __*
123	Water Dragon	did not move
	Thunder God	swayed slightly
	Tigre	did not even creak
123-4	Janx Vanb	seemed to creak greatly (but the creaking was really the squawking of a ge bird)

pp. 124-125 how the deities lit their way

p.	*light*	*its location*	*of __*
124	torch	was tied to tail	Tigre
	pine sap ignited	on head	Green Snake
	pine oil ignited	Glow Worms	[who were porters for Water Dragon (p. 125)]
125	" " "	Sun King	for Janx Vanb

pp. 125-126 while toting certain implements to work-destination, another object was forgotten by traveling deity and brought by another being

p.	125	125-6
*object toted*	knife	gong & drum
*worker*	Janx Vanb	Thunder God
*destination*	uncultivated orchards	Western Sky
*object forgotten*	hoe	silk chair
*fetcher of object*	Nian Ni	grandpa Earth

p. 127-128 sources of objects (made "when the Pillars of the Sky were erected") used by the Thunder God

p.	*Thunder God’s __*	*is composed of __ (or is produced from __)*
127	voice (thundre)	hammer
	lightning	golden sparks
128	hat	nose of Ban Xan Ye
	embroidered clothing [= rosy clouds (p. 204, n. 3)]	sewn by Ni Wo Nian

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(pp. 128-35 – IV.4 Killing the Centipede)

pp. 128-129 cause for Centipede’s enmity against Janx Vanb

p.	*cause*
128	When Janx Vanb "received the Ancestors’ ancient fields", he received Z^an-xi.
129	When he was clearing the land westward "all the way to distant Zhanxi", he was warned by Centipede : "There is also my father’s grave – my father is buried over there." Heedless of this warning, Janx Vanb "dug up Centipede’s graves".

p. 130 why Janx Vanb was carried by Yu Dan’s wife

When Janx Vanb was stung at the riverbank by Centipede which was perched on floating driftwood, old man Yu Dan "told his wife : "Centipede has bitten Jang Vang’s foot; hurry and carry him home.""

In order to cure centipede-poison, "Catch a louse to come suck".

p. 131 how Centipede was captured

Ge Bo and Ge Hxu trapped Centipede in a fish-trap (weir).

pp. 131-132 ritual objects employed in order to gratify Butterfly-goddess

p.	*object*
131	*"hats" ["A special ceremonial hat, called mo liang* (mos linagx)", having hemp "tied around the point of the hat." (p. 205, n. 4)]**
132	"poles" ["the middle of the pole is dyed in black and white bands, and several pieces of cotton are tied to the top." (p. 205, n. 5)]

pp. 133-135 dealings by Janx Vanb with flying creatures

p.	*flying creature of Janx Vanb*
133	Janx Vanb "learned to dance from Honeybee."
134-5	From Woodpecker, Janx Vanb learned "to dance the drum dance."
135	"That good swimmer, Waterbug, taught him to turn; flying Honeybee taught him to circle."

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AH = Keith & Kenneth Parsons : A Hmao (Hua Miao) Songs, Stories and Legends from China. Lincom, Muenchen, 2009.

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.