Ethnic Custom: Basha Miao Village,the last tribe of gunners

Nestled in the mountainous beauty of Guizhou province, is the fascinating Biasha Miao Village. Also known as “Basha Miao”, or “Baisha Miao”, this village has remained largely untouched by modernity. 

This extraordinary Miao village is home to a group with a long history of gun ownership. The male inhabitants of Biasha Miao Village maintain their rich cultural traditions by openly carrying, making, and using their guns. World renowned as “the last gunslingers in China”, the residents proudly display their traditional ways. 

With a history spanning over 2,000 years, and tremendous cultural significance, Biasha Miao Village is an attraction that cannot be missed.The inhabitants of Biasha Miao Village have a long history with guns. The men of the village were and still are today, renowned for their marksmanship. They still make, carry and use guns to maintain their rich cultural traditions. The Miao proudly sustain their warrior past, dressing in period costumes from the Qing dynasty (1636 to 1912), complete with long rifles and sickles affixed to their belts. The Biasha inhabitants favour the powder shotgun with a range of about 20 meters.

Biasha is one of the most visited villages in the region, and the Miao capitalize on that fact. The inhabitants give folk-custom performances demonstrating various aspects of traditional life in the village, including a welcoming ceremony involving guns. This ancient custom of greeting honored guests, involves several men with long rifles from Biasha Miao Village, meeting visitors outside the village gates. The men then stand in a row, firing three shots of gunpowder (no live ammunition is used) as a means of the welcoming guests. 

The men of Biasha Miao Village, attach great importance to their hair, which is considered the embodiment of strength and power. All males in the village wear their hair shaved off all around the head, with remaining hair on the crown of the head coiled up. The Miao of Biasha refer to the hair-coil as “hugun”, and has been passed down for thousands of years. Hair is shaved off with a sickle, rather than using scissors, or clippers.

Amongst the many ancient and compelling customs of the Miao in Biasha, is the worship of trees. The inhabitants have worshipped and planted trees for generations, and many of the ceremonies take place in the surrounding forests. When a baby is born, the Biasha Miao will plant a tree. After the individual grows into adulthood, then later dies, the same tree is cut down and made into a coffin for the person’s remains. Villagers then plant another tree in memory of the departed individual, symbolic of the cycle of life.