Other Minorities-Zhuang, Miao and Yao

While most of Yunnan's Zhuang live in Wenshan Prefecture, smaller communities live in scattered locations beyond the southeast. One such site is the northern half of Yuanyang County, home to ten Zhuang villages on the lower slopes of the mountains between Nansha and Yuanyang city. Materially speaking, the Zhuang have been heavily influenced by their mainly Yi neighbours. The villages employ the same kind of layout and architecture and their fields are terraced, though on gentler slopes and in bigger parcels than those higher up.

Differences exist. At one end of a Zhuang village lies a large water tank, with two sets of public taps. Near the tank is a place for slaughtering pigs over a big wok encased in a concrete block.

The Zhuang women's costume is modelled on that of the Nisu Yi, with the same components-long-sleeved blouse, trousers, belt with diamond-shaped embroidered ends and head scarf. The jacket is the same, but for a much wider band of applique or embroidery below the lapel and on the lower sleeves. The back of the jacket, over which hangs the belt ends, is decorated from waist to hem, with an attached ruff. ed strip along the bottom. Head scarf and trousers are the same, but older women may wear a different cap, embroidered and silver-studded.

Ailaoshan's Miao live in the eastern part of the range, in Jinping County and adjacent townships in Yuanyang. They belong to the branch called Mengchou, or Small Flower Miao, after the dominant motif of their embroidery style. Embroidery, applique and batik are the methods used to add colourful embellishments to a costume and the Miao women use them all. Batik is a dry season activity, applique done when assembling the final costume, but embroidery keeps them busy at spare moments throughout the year. For a proper Miao costume, lots of it is required. Miao women wear a head scarf, jacket, belt, apron, pleated skirt and leggings and every piece is bright and colourful. The head scarf con¬sists of narrow strips of cloth wrapped around a cloth patch that rests on their topknots. The jacket is usually solid colour, long-sleeved, waist-length, with coloured strips in broad bands around the shoulders, down the lapel and on the upper arms. The skirt, of hemp or cotton, is indigo-dyed in batik patterns, with colour strips and loads of embroidery over the lower third, and reaches to just below the knees. Similar bands of embroidered cloth make the belt, which has a wide front, under which a decorated apron hangs to the hem. From the waist in the back four or five strips of embroidered cloth, beaded and tasseled in the lower half, drape over the buttocks down to the hem of the skirt.

The red-hat Yao in Jinping County

In Jinping the Miao dominate the mountains south of the county seat and along the Vietnam border. But they do not confine themselves to the highlands and are just as likely to pick a valley site for settlement. In Laomeng township they live in the Tengtiao River valley right next to the Dai. Their houses do not employ the flat-roofed style, but are simple structures of mud-brick and tile. The Miao are able to wrest a living out of al-most any kind of ecological conditions in the area. Where they are favourable the Miao have large villages. Where farming land is minimal, Miao settlements will be hamlets of a handful of houses.

The last significant ethnic minority in Lower Ailaoshan is the Yao. Two branches of them live in the area. The Landian inhabit parts of Luchun and central Yuanyang County. The Hongtou reside in Jinping. The Landian are one of the most widespread Yao branches, with several sub-groups in Honghe, Qujing, Wenshan and northern Laos. Unlike the Miao, they remain in the mountains, in forested areas that isolate them from the main stream of commercial traffic. Hongtou Yao live in more accessible areas and participate to a greater extent in the county's markets. Both groups live in one-story wooden houses with tile roofs, though some of the more remote liongtou put theirs on stilts.

The costumes of the two differ considerably. The Landian prefer black as the basic colour for both men and women. The latter attach magenta thread tassels around the collar, but except for the heavy silver ornaments this is the only addition to the black of their loose jackets, gathered at the waist, and tight trousers. Young girls wear a round cap with huge red woolen pompoms on the sides and top. Married women drop this for a black cloth covering a board about 20 cm high at the back. Under this they wind a black thread coil and shave the forehead and eyebrows so that no hair shows under the hat. The rest of the hair is wound into a topknot and secured by a large and ornate silver clasp, hidden from ordinary view by the black cloth covering.

Men wear black, too, with silver studs along the lapels of the front-fastened jacket, and plain, round, flat-topped caps similar to those worn by the Hui, only black.

Hongtou women also shave their eyebrows, foreheads and temples when married, tucking the rest of the hair inside a conical red cloth cap, held in place around the base by a thick silver band. The basic colours of their clothes are also black, or deep indigo, but they embroider two strips down the front, as well as both legs, front and back, of their shin-length trousers. Unmarried women wear the same, but don a turban and don't shave their foreheads, etc. Embroidery, in the cross-stitch style, is a main feature of their shoulder bags as well. On market days in Jinping, after bringing in their firewood or vegetables for sale, Yao women embroider pieces while awaiting customers.