Miao Zaiyan Customs
01 · Historical Records
The origin of the Miao practice of erecting stones (zaiyan) is embedded in the yilang, an organizational form of Miao society. A drum society, a single village, several villages, or even a whole region could convene a lang assembly to deliberate regulations; when deliberating, the village heads first discussed the matter, then a mass assembly was convened to announce the regulations, and once they were passed, a stone was erected at the assembly site as a marker. The Miao originally had no common writing system, so early regulations could be fixed only through oaths, stone tablets, and the oral transmission of village elders; erecting the stone was precisely the step that turned a verbal constraint into a visible piece of material evidence. It appeared after the advent of private property — it came into being only after disputes over property and marriage required evidence that could be examined repeatedly — and so its binding force was exceptionally strong.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Zaiyan among the Miao is a custom that arose from the Miao people's practice of customary law in folk society. The Miao yilang system was one form of social organization in Miao history; a yilang assembly could be formed by a single drum society, one village, several villages, or even an entire region, and Miao customary law is called the 'Yilang regulations' (yilang guiyue). Before each yilang assembly, the village heads first deliberated on the content of the regulations, then a mass assembly was convened, the agreed regulations were announced, and they were passed by the assembly. After some yilang assemblies, a stone was erected at the assembly site, signifying that the customary law was as solid as a rock and could not be changed. Yilang stone erection is the orally transmitted body of Miao clauses and regulations; it has a long history in Miao society, appeared after the society of private ownership, and is a product for regulating people's behavior, with very strong legal binding force. The purpose of the yilang was to maintain people's normal production and daily life, and its form of expression was to promulgate the clauses and regulations by means of oaths. After the clauses and regulations were promulgated, their implementation was achieved through the 'magic power' of the oaths and through the mutual influence, mutual restraint, and mutual supervision of the village elders and the masses. The stone is the carrier of the regulations. Stones erected in the past bore no writing; the regulations and clauses were announced and passed by the yilang master to the clansmen, the village elders, or the assembled group, and the regulations were then naturally preserved in people's minds. When later events or cases occurred in which the relevant regulations were violated, the clan elders or the villagers would impose fines in silver according to the gravity of the case, and in serious cases the punishment was beheading 'to repair the lang'. Yilang stone erections include those of a single village, those of several villages in alliance, and those of a region or an ethnic group. Yilang stone erections may be convened by many people or by an individual; some concern customs, friendship, or defense, and others concern exorcism or the demarcation of boundaries. Examples of single-village yilang include the yilang stone of the Baibei village head; examples of multi-village yilang include the Gaopa yilang stone, the 'Lang Regulations' stele of the Gaowu Feishan Temple, and the Gaodong divorce stone; examples of regional yilang include the 'Zhenlin wuguo' stone, the 'Bai ye ying li' stone, and the Wugong stone sung of in ancient songs. Rongjiang could not be found before; it is mentioned only in ancient songs, and no one knows what place it was. Yilang stone erection played an important role in the harmony and stability of Miao society and in promoting the development of Miao society.
Elders deliberate, then the village assembles
The village elders settle on the articles first, then the assembled villagers hear them declared and vote them in; neither step can be skipped.
Raising the stone at the meeting place
After the articles pass, a stone is raised at the meeting place as proof that they stand firm and cannot be altered.
The oath and its enforcement
The articles are promulgated under oath and enforced through the weight of the elders and mutual surveillance, with fines or, at the extreme, death.
Stele of regulations and the divorce stone
A written stele preserves the rules as text, while the divorce stone keeps its force precisely by never being altered; one carries the text, the other the witness.
Stone-placing place names in the ancient songs
The ancient songs carry only approximate place names, which line up with modern sites only after passing a certain stretch; this vagueness makes the songs a clue to where stones were raised.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The instances of stone erection within Rongjiang can be viewed in three layers: at the single-village level, the yilang stone of the Baibei village head is representative; among those of several villages in alliance are the Gaopa yilang stone, the 'Lang Regulations' stele of the Gaowu Feishan Temple, and the Gaodong divorce stone; the regional or ethnic ones include the Zhenlin wuguo stone, the Bai ye ying li stone, and the Wugong stone sung of in ancient songs. By content, there are again distinctions: those specifically stipulating customs, those specifically stipulating friendship, those specifically concerned with defense, and those for exorcism and the demarcation of boundaries; the number of people convening the assembly was also unrestricted, ranging from many-person assemblies to a single person deliberating alone. In former times no writing was carved on the erected stones, and when the song lyrics were sung as far as the Rongjiang area, often only a vague place name remained, which the village elders had to supplement with the direction; this is probably the reason why the place names in the ancient songs are difficult to pin down.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Guiyue Customs · Guiyue Customs · Guiyue Customs · Guiyue Customs · Guiyue Customs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Apart from its own legal function, yilang stone erection is also of great help in the study of Miao history, because the Miao had no writing system of their own in the past, and Miao history and much of its outstanding culture could be embodied only in ancient songs or customs. The ancient songs of yilang stone erection have been sung since remote antiquity. At present, the Miao ancient songs of stone erection are fairly well preserved among many elders within Rongjiang; the lyrics have been transmitted for a long time and involve many place names, and only after the singing reaches Rongjiang do they vaguely correspond to present-day locations.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。