The Four Seals Miao is a small tribe of the Miao minority group who inhabit the mountainous area of southwestern China. Although they don’t have silver jewels like other Miao tribes, they attract tourists home and abroad with their unique and ethnic culture.
Their beautiful hometown, a village called Maige, has many thrushes, a plump, soft-plumage bird, that are famous for their beautiful, intoxicating sounds. Every morning you can hear the birds singing loudly like a concert held in the forest. Thus the village got a nickname “home of thrushes.”
Most thrush are characterized by their yellow or brown plumage and brightly spotted breasts. The rest have pure white, silver, or red plumage. Singing lovely songs, the birds also imitate the sounds of other animals and birds. While you walk in the forest, you may here the sound of a hen, a goose, or a dog. These interesting sounds are all made by a thrush.
Thrush birds like to fight. In the mountains, they have their own territories. If one thrush’s territory is invaded by another thrush, a fight will ensue.
The local people like to raise thrush birds. Wherever they go, a market, a friend’s home, they always carry their birds with them in a cage, so that they can enjoy listening to the birds singing, and watching them fighting.
Thrush fighting competitions are fairly common here. A thrush that is raised carefully for a few months can be a great fighter and sell for a good price. This business has becoming more and more popular in the Miao area. Some birds are even sold to other areas of China and overseas.
Artists get inspiration from the thrush, and have created lots of beautiful songs and dances about the bird.
Why do the local Miao people like to raise thrushes and watch them fight? Read this story, and you will know.
Long time ago, an old couple lived harmoniously with their ten sons in a village. When the sons grew up, they were married and ten new daughters-in-law’s showed up at their home. With this, the peaceful life of the old couple was over. Everyday the women fought with one another, which eventually ruined the good relationship among the sons. So they made a decision to break up the family and live apart. Each son and his wife got some land and property. The old couple chose to live together with their youngest son and his wife.
Of the ten wives of their sons, nine were lazy and stupid. Only the one with the youngest son was smart and diligent. This diligent couple worked hard on their farmland, and began to live a prosperous life. Lazy and poor, all other sons and wives eventually had to start borrowing money from them. But the endless borrowing caused the young couple to run out all of their money and became impoverished themselves. To continue to live, the old couple had to go to the mountains to gather wild fruits for food.
One day when the old couple were in the mountain, an elderly man appeared and asked them why they had to eat wild fruits. And the couple told the man their sad story. After which he said, Just go back to your home, and you will have food.
When the old couple returned home, they were surprised to find lots of birds singing around their house. Nine sons and their wives disappeared. Only the youngest couple worked in the garden.
The elderly man that the old couple encountered in the mountain was actually the Bodhisattva, who turned the nine sons and their wives into thrush birds and gave the youngest one some rice and food.
From then on, the 18 thrushes lived around the house, singing and fighting everyday. Feeling sorry for them, the old couple built bird cages for them to stay. This was how the Miao peoples tradition of keeping thrushes started.
Once in Maige, you will like this beautiful ethnic village. You may even want to visit other Miao tribes to see their extraordinary silver jewels.