Kongshen Ultra-Short Skirt Miao Village

Kongshen Ultra-Short Skirt Miao Village

Kongshen Ultra-Short Skirt Miao Village, located in Liangwang Township, Rongjiang County, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, China, is 94 kilometers from the county seat. The village has a total of 215 households and 1,015 residents. It is known as the hometown of the world’s shortest skirts because the Miao women here have traditionally worn five-inch-long ultra-short skirts while working and living their daily lives for generations. In the Miao language, Kongshen is called “…

,” meaning “clear little stream”

. The village is built against a mountain, surrounded by rolling hills and lush forests, with a crystal-clear stream flowing nearby. The houses are well laid out, with stilted wooden buildings standing in neat rows. It has now become one of Rongjiang’s famous Miao cultural tourism villages.

Maoren Festival (The Ancient Miao Valentine’s Day)

The “Maoren Festival” is called “Laoshali” in the Miao language

, also known as “Climbing the Maoren Slope”

or “Planting Maoren.” Legend has it that in ancient times, the Short Skirt Miao had a custom where men and women from the same village could not marry each other, and marriages were arranged by parents. Many young women were married off to faraway places, separating childhood sweethearts. Every spring, those who were married away would return to their parents’ home to help with spring planting. During their free time, they would bring “March cakes” and invite unmarried girls and boys in the village to sing on the mountains. Through their songs, they expressed their sorrow at being separated from their beloveds and married off afar, advised younger sisters not to marry far away, and poured out their deep longing to their lovers. Their singing would often lead to tears and uncontrollable sobbing. To express their attachment to their hometown and lovers, they used fresh green leaves and thatch to make “Maoren” (straw figures)

of varying heights and sizes, which they tied to fir tree trunks and then planted on the highest mountain peaks. They typically planted seven, nine, eleven, or thirteen figures—always an odd number—and arranged them with the tallest in the center and shorter ones on either side. The tallest in the middle represented the eldest sister, and the others represented her younger sisters, symbolizing deep sisterly affection. Later, when Miao people from the same village were allowed to marry without having to be married off far away, this ancient custom was preserved and evolved into a Valentine’s Day for young people to court and choose partners. Every year from the lunar March to April, adult men and women from the village can go up the hill together to play, sing in antiphonal style, and make Maoren. Regardless of marital status, as long as two people are in love and mutually agreeable, they can find a private spot together.

Bride-Catching Custom

If an unmarried Miao man and woman are interested in each other, the man can also “catch the bride” by taking the woman directly to his home. He then kills a chicken and a duck, hosts a feast for family and friends, and celebrates with drinks. However, if the woman changes her mind halfway, the man must obediently take her back home.