Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 271 (Color Image)

0271	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

RETURN TO CHINA 195

south-west. They are looked down on by all as

a most inferior race ; and without any powers

of combining to resist and without any energy,

they have fallen into the power of the Chinese

and Nosu (Lolos). The last fight they put up

was during the Mohammedan rebellion in Yunnan.

They then fought both for and against the

Mohammedans, but were finally crushed by the

Chinese. In the north-west many have submitted

to become serfs of the surrounding Nosu chiefs,

and seem to have no power of resistance to the

ill-treatment of their masters. Some 15,000 out

of 20,000 of these Ta-hua Miao have become

Church members or inquirer probationers of the

United Methodist Mission.

Beyond these to the north-west are the Ch'uan

or River Miao, who are so called from having

come from the rivers of Szechwan. They are

probably more numerous than the Ta-hua Miao,

but so far only a few have been converted to

Christianity. Some years ago they were raided

by the independent Lolos and many were carried

off as slaves. In the evenings, across the mighty

waters of the Yangtze, voices singing the old Miao

songs could be heard. But gradually the singing

grew less and less as the slaves died, till it ceased

altogether, and not one slave ever succeeded in

escaping.

The independent Lolos in the old days used to

be much bolder than they are now, and thirty or

forty years ago they used to raid right up to Shih-

men-k'an. When opium was prohibited in China

the Chinese used to sell it to the Lolo chiefs,

and through this they deteriorated. The serfs are

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