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Residing in southwest China, the Miao minority group are well known for their beautiful silver rings. During the Moon Dance Festival, Miao women will wear silver rings and other silver jewels to proudly display their beauty and elegance. For young people, the Moon Dance Festival is also a good time to look for their life partners. Men play their unique Lusheng musical instrument, with women singing and dancing around. The festival is held three times a year. The story below tells the origin of this festival.

A long time ago, there were two brothers who lived on the mountain. Every day, the elder brother went to hew wood, and the younger brother went fishing. Then they sold their products in the market. Their life was simple but happy.

The elder brother enjoyed music. Every time he went to hew wood, he would always look for some reed and bamboo, then make them into a pipe and play it. It sounded very beautiful. So gradually he collected many pipes. One day, he sat on a stone, and blew the pipes one by one. Each pipe made sound with various pitches. He said to himself, “If I play all these pipes together, then what music it would make?”

One day when the elder brother chopped a kiri, he found the inside of kiri was hollow. He bored some holes in one side of this kiri wood, and put the pipes into the holes. Then he blew into the kiri. Instantaneously the kiri made several different sounds at the same time. After studying this for a few days, he at last created a musical instrument which could make pleasant melodies with different tones. This instrument was later called Lusheng. The sweet music of Lusheng attracted many people. Even the birds and animals in the mountain liked this fabulous music.

A female tiger resided in a cave close by. She was intoxicated by the music, and hoped to own the elder brother. So she could enjoy the music anytime when she wanted. One day, the tiger changed into a lady with a few rings on her fingers, and walked into the brothers’ home stealthily. She ate some dried fish in the kitchen.

When the two brothers arrived home and saw the tiger, they were really not happy, ” How are you here and eat all our fish?” The tiger laughed, ” Your fish was yummy! And now you go with me. I want you to be my husband!” The tiger caught the elder brother, and ran away. The younger brother tried to fight to get his brother back, but eventually he was defeated. The elder brother was taken away. When they left, the younger brother saw there was a tail under the lady’s skirt. So he understood that the lady was actually a ferocious tiger.

The younger brother ran to call in the villagers. They took bows and arrows to seek for the elder brother everywhere in the mountains. However a few weeks passed, and they still couldn’t find the brother. Until one day, they climbed to the top of the mountain, and heard a bird twittering, ” They are here, they are here!” They followed the sound, and came to a cave where the elder brother was captured. The younger brother and villagers killed the tiger, and saved the elder brother.

The elder brother felt so happy that he played his Lusheng music excitedly. The villagers sang and danced around him to celebrate their victory.

Since then, Lusheng became one of the most important musical instruments in the Miao areas. In lunar January, June, and August, an exciting festival is held, when men play Lusheng music, and women dance to the music with glistening silver rings on their fingers. Sometimes the festival is held in a night when the moon shines brightly in the sky. So it got a name ” the Moon Dance Festival”. The festival also has another name ” Looking for Brother Festival”. The women’s silver rings are particularly beautiful in the moonlight.

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