Miao, an ancient nation, is scattered all over the world, mainly in China's Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Qiongzhou and other provinces, as well as Southeast Asia's Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and other countries and regions. Miao people have their own language, and Miao language belongs to the Miao branch of Miao Yao language family of Sino-Tibetan language family, which is divided into three dialects: Xiangxi, Qiandong and Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan. The total population of Miao nationality in China is 9,426,007, ranking fourth among ethnic minorities. Due to the long-term contact between Miao and Han, some Miao people are fluent in and use Chinese. Miao people's religious beliefs are mainly nature worship and ancestor worship.
In ancient times, the Miao people had the names of Jingchu, Man Jing and Naiman, which is a fact. After Yu brutally cut down three seedlings, there was no record of three seedlings in the Central Plains literature. Jingchu, Jing Chu, Man Jing and Nanman all refer to the Miao ethnic group. His predecessor was Sanmiao, and his descendants reappeared in history under the abstract guise of Jing, Chu and Man [4]? . These appellations confuse the appellations of Miao and other nationalities. After Song Dynasty, Miao was separated from some mixed names of "Man" and became a single national name.
Miao people are the earliest people who planted rice, and they planted rice in ancient times. In primitive society, Miao people took leaves as their clothes, caves or tree nests as their homes and women as their leaders, which was reflected in many Miao ancient songs. From the kinship appellation system in some areas, we can also see the evolution traces from matrilineal system to paternal system and from consanguineous marriage to pairing marriage. Judging from the distribution of Miao nationality in China, it has the characteristics of large dispersion and small settlement. Judging from the number of people, there are many people living in compact communities and scattered people.
Miao people's dietary customs have their own characteristics. The Miao people in Qiandongnan, Xiangxi and Rongshui of Hainan Island take rice as their staple food, as well as miscellaneous grains such as corn, sweet potato and millet. Miao people in northwest Guizhou, south Sichuan and northeast Yunnan live on corn, potatoes, buckwheat and oats. Besides collecting wild vegetables and engaging in fishing and hunting, there are many kinds of non-staple foods, such as livestock, poultry and fish, beans, vegetables and melons. Hot and sour taste is an indispensable thing in Miao life. In the past, due to the lack of salt in mountainous areas, many Miao people lived on light food all the year round, so they could only use hot and sour seasonings, which became a habit over time.