A Study On The Aesthetic Awareness Of The Miao Ethnic Group

The Miao Ethnic Group is a minority group with a long history in China which has a relatively large population and covers a wide area. Due to its primitive religious awareness, the historical experience in migration and the complex natural and geographical environment, the Miao Ethnic Group has developed a rich and complex ethnical culture, which influences the way the Miao people see the world and present the world, hence the unique aesthetic awareness of the Miao people. First, Miao people's belief that divinity is in everything has led to the rise of the witchcraft culture, influenced Miao people's basic view of the world, and extended the real world in Miao people's eyes in a spiritual dimension. Secondly, the Miao Ethnic Group has numerous branches, and each branch has developed its unique sub-ethnical culture, which has enriched Miao people's aesthetic culture. Thirdly, during its migration, the Miao Ethnic Group has once got integrated with other ethnic groups and then separated from them, therefore it has influenced the other ethnic groups as well as being influenced by them. This kind of cultural exchange has further brought about the complexity in the aesthetic awareness of Miao people. This dissertation, based on the rich history and culture of the Miao Ethnic Group, summarizes its aesthetic awareness, trying to investigate the various factors affecting the aesthetic awareness of Miao people, and find out the aesthetic implication from the perspective of aesthetics and anthropology. A comparative method is used in the dissertation to highlight the unique quality of the aesthetic awareness of Miao people, and the dissertation also sorts out the demonstration of the aesthetic awareness of Miao people in their folk art.First, the factors affecting the aesthetic awareness of Miao people are multiple, and the wide spread of Miao people in the southwest China is a basic condition for the diversity of the Miao culture; the tragic migration of the Miao Ethnic Group not only determines the basic style of the aesthetic awareness of Miao people, but also promotes the cultural exchange between the Miao Ethnic Group and other ethnic groups, and enriches Miao people's aesthetic culture. The remote and harsh environment, in which the Miao Ethnic Group lives, provides the soil for the belief that divinity is in everything, and the aesthetic patterns such as power-worship, the mystery, the ferocity and the feminine quality, are closely related to the living condition of Miao people. The intuitive thinking pattern and the simple analogical reasoning of the ancient Miao people are the most important means for Miao people to understand the world, and this thinking pattern plays an important role in shaping the psychology of the aesthetic subject and influences the artistic creation of Miao people.Secondly, among the basic components of the aesthetic awareness of the Miao Ethnic Group, the life-worship, the belief in sincerity and kindness, the ecological awareness and the belief in divinity and witchcraft are the most predominant ones. The life-worship derives from the pan-life concept, and the kinship between human and nature influences the relationship between the subject and object in aesthetic activities. The personalized characteristics bestowed by Miao people on nature, and Miao people's effort to make themselves the object of examination, determine to a large extent the unique aesthetic awareness of the Miao Ethnic Group. Sincerity and kindness is the value held by the Miao people which determines the meaning of their existence. When the existence and reproduction of lives becomes a cultural phenomenon appearing in people's perspective, Miao people begin to use sincerity and kindness as a criterion to judge every individual in the ethnic group and this criterion, as ethical beauty, infiltrates into the culture of the Miao Ethnic Group. The ecological awareness demonstrates the co-existential relationship between man and nature, the harmony between man and man as well as the mutual influence between the Miao Ethnic Group and the other ethnic groups, which have developed during the long-time migration of the ancestors of Miao people. The belief in divinity and witchcraft derives from the primitive religion of Miao people. In the various religious activities, whether real or illusive, the creative association which is characteristic of Miao people, makes the folk art mysterious, with an illusive beauty.Thirdly, among the various forms of folk art, the rich and complex aesthetic awareness of the Miao Ethnic Group focuses on such aesthetic patterns as power-worship, the mystery, the ferocity and the feminine quality. Power-worship is actually an ideal in the life of Miao people who have been oppressed by the harsh living condition and the threat of the other ethnic groups. To promote and stir the power of life in reality through various religious rituals and folk art, is actually a means for the depressed individuals to set their lives free. If we agree that the power-worship of Miao people is an expression of their ideal, then it is safe to say that the beauty of femininity is a demonstration of their real life. The remaining maternity-worship in the life of Miao people, the introverted tendency in personality, and the smooth and gentle style in the folk art, demonstrate the feminine beauty in contrast to the power-worship. The long-time poverty-stricken life of the people makes them regard abundance and complexity as the equivalent of beauty. They often apply this criterion to every detail of life:they regard the abundant silver accessories and their large size as beauty; they regard the density of patterns in embroidery work and the complexity in the decorative accessories as beauty, and this is the aesthetic pattern of the Miao Ethnic Group. The crude beauty in Miao culture is a kind of spontaneous, simple and pure beauty. In the life of the ancestors of Miao people, folk craftsmanship such as religious rituals, folk songs and dances, and dress making might not be seen as an artistic creation, but as a direct expression of their desire and willpower.Surely, the techniques that could be applied to the folk artistic creation at that time are limited. Generally speaking, "ferocity" means brutality and terror. For Miao people, the beauty existing in ferocity is demonstrated in their religious rituals and the decoration of their bodies. They attempted to acquire a natural divinity through the terrible scene and the fierce appearance of themselves. In a certain sense, the beauty in ferocity expresses Miao people's Totem-worship and their religious enthusiasm.Judging from the specific embodiment of the aesthetic awareness of the Miao ethnic group, we can find that the mixed and even contradictory factors co-exist in the folk art of Miao people. In the Miao ethnic group, epics and legends are the most important means of cultural transmission, meanwhile, they illustrate the aesthetic taste and value pursuit of the ancient Miao people, of which the most typical is the irrational beauty in oral narration of events. The clothes and the accessories of Miao people are material media embodying the Miao culture, which record the history of the Miao ethnic group, function as means of cultural transmission, and endow the Miao culture profundity. The contradiction between the simplicity in the overall design of clothes and the complexity in details as well as the abundance in accessories, shows the complexity in Miao people's dressing style in an aesthetic sense. It is safe to say that the rituals of Miao people is a demonstration of their living style, and the prevailing rituals have the characteristics of the primitive dramas, full of mysterious beauty and fantastic charm. The folk songs and dances are the vivid expressions of the aesthetic awareness of the Miao ethnic group. Considering the content and feelings revealed, we can find that the folk songs and dances of Miao people is a combination of sorrow and joy; and considering the expressive techniques, we can find the blending of crudeness and elegance in style.In conclusion, the aesthetic awareness of the Miao Ethnic Group is demonstrated in Miao people's religious rituals, dressing, food, housing, transportation, interpersonal communication and other aspects, and it is a major component of the Miao culture. Like this ancient ethnical culture, it is full of varieties and complexity, and even contradictions. The aesthetic awareness of Miao people provides important reference for the current study of the general aesthetic culture.