Step into Yao Mountain's Qianjiadong, and approach the utopia of Panwang's descendants
Yongzhou is the ancestral home of the Yao people. In the early Zhou Dynasty, the Yao ancestors, who worshipped Panhu (the celestial dog), began to settle in Yongzhou. From the Sui and Tang dynasties to the Song Dynasty, Yongzhou was a major settlement for the Yao people. During the Song Dynasty, Yongming County (now Jiangyong) formed the Qianjiadong (Dayuandong), the four major Minyao, and the Si Gang Jiu Yuan Yao settlements.
The Qianjiadong escape incident during the Yuan Dynasty directly led to the widespread distribution of the Yao people across various provinces in southern China and many countries around the world. There is a folk rhyme that says, 'The medicinal herbs from Fuling, the grains from Qingxi, the silver from ancient tunes, and the girls from Goulan.'
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Yao people lived in various counties of Yongzhou, and their settlements were called 'Dong'. Collectively, they were known as Panyao or Panguyao, and often referred to themselves as 'Youmian'. The Pingdi Yao, who have lived with the Han people for a long time, call themselves 'Yeheni'.
The Yao people are a nation good at singing and dancing. Many folk singers improvise and are adept at using metaphors. During the lunar March 3rd Song Festival or gatherings to 'make a song hall' (burning tree branches), and on the lunar April 8th Girls' Festival, they sing for days and nights.
On the lunar October 16th 'Panwang Festival', and during the 'Return to Panwang's Wish' event, which occurs every few years, they perform the umbrella dance, hang colorful paintings, sing 'The Great Song of Panwang', and praise the merits of Panwang.
The Yao people mostly wear their own spun, woven, and dyed Dong cloth, and all of them 'favor colorful clothes', with particular attention to embroidered cuffs and brocade.
The Yao people's 'Eight Treasures Quilt' features eight different patterns: rhinoceros looking at the moon, twin lions holding a ball, qilin bringing a child, golden dragon emerging from a cave, red phoenix facing the sun, gourd hiding treasures, peaches celebrating longevity, and wealth symbolized by fish. Hence, it is collectively called the 'Eight Treasures Quilt'.