Jinxiu Yao Ethnic Museum

　　The Jinxiu Yao Ethnic Museum was built in 1991, with a construction area of over 1,300 square meters. Its main building combines architectural elements of the Yao people such as stilted houses, granaries, and bamboo-tiled roofs. The museum’s name was inscribed by Fei Xiaotong, a renowned Chinese sociologist. In December 2001, it was designated as an Autonomous Region Patriotic Education Base.

　　The museum has two levels. The lower floor mainly introduces the history and general overview of the Dayaoshan region through photos and text, displaying ancient Yao production tools, daily utensils, and stone plaques. The upper floor primarily showcases Yao ethnic costumes, handmade embroideries, and silver ornaments.

　　Spacious and bright exhibition halls present a glimpse into an ancient world:

　　Wooden rakes, mountain digging hoes, shovels, grain shears, and long machetes were tools used by the Yao people for slash-and-burn agriculture.

　　Crossbows, iron traps, bamboo fish traps, hunting spades, fishing baskets, hauling nets, - , and bird basins were ancient weapons used by the Yao for hunting and fishing.

　　Production and daily life tools of the Yao people—such as spinning wheels, looms, pounding troughs, stone gears, bamboo lunchboxes, back baskets, and lifting hammers—demonstrate the Yao’s ingenuity in their struggle for survival against a harsh environment.

　　Exquisitely crafted handicrafts and ancient-toned musical instruments such as the yellow clay drum, long drum, beehive drum, and bedside zither reflect the rich ancient culture of the Yao ethnic group. Additionally, over twenty stone plaques collected in the museum showcase the Yao’s ancient social organization—the Stone Plaque System. Since the Ming Dynasty, the Yao people in the Dayaoshan Mountains have jointly discussed and established regulations to maintain production and social order, carving them on stone slabs or copying them onto wooden boards. Over the past few hundred years, the Stone Plaque System played a significant role in maintaining social order within the Jinxiu Dayaoshan region and left a profound impact on the Yao people.

　　The second floor of the museum displays over 90 sets of Yao ethnic costumes in 58 categories from across China and overseas, making it one of the museums with the largest collection and most comprehensive variety of Yao costumes in China.