Xiaoxi Village is located in Xiaoxi National Nature Reserve of Yongshun County, bordering Yuanling County and facing Guzhang County on one side of the Youshui River. The village is surrounded by mountains, with poor traffic conditions. A stream passes through the village, and the village houses are built against the mountains, hidden in forests.
According to experts and scholars from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiaoxi is the only natural resource treasure house that survived the attack of Quaternary glaciers in the subtropical and low-altitude evergreen broad-leaved primary secondary forests of 13 provinces in Central and Southern China.
The ethnic groups in the mountain areas of Xiangxi generally choose to live among each other, while some live in concentrated communities of their own. Each individual village is usually formed by many families of the same clan who have lived together for a long time.
The concept of patriarchal clan has taken root in the villages, so a land chief is selected to offer sacrifices to ancestors. There are only two ways for foreigners to live here. One is to hold a “family union” ceremony, give up their original clan and join the clan of the village. Another is to build a separate land hall to worship their ancestors.
The Spring Festival is the grandest festival of the Tujia people. All people in other places must return home to celebrate the New Year. Preparations for the Spring Festival begin on the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month.
The Ghost Festival is an important festival for the Tujia people in Yongshun County. There is a saying in the county that “every family has a ghost”. It’s said that on the 15th day of the seventh lunar month, the King of Hell opens the gate of hell and allows all ghosts to return home to visit their family members. Therefore, the Tujia people believe that July is the period when their ancestors return home.
Because the Tujia people have a long relationship with the Han people, they also celebrate the Qingming Festival, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-autumn Festival, the Double Ninth Festival, New Year’s Day, Labor Day, etc.
The Miao ethnic group in Xiangxi includes over 20 branches, each of which consists of several sub branches, forming different kinds of costume. The Miao costume in Xiangxi includes the headwear based on cloth winding, the shawl, the apron and shoes. The costume is decorated with hundreds of imaginative and profound patterns such as geometric patterns, animal patterns and plant patterns.
The Miao costume in Xiangxi is made with a set of traditional techniques like weaving, printing and dyeing, all of which feature unique production processes and processing methods.
