Miao nationality is an ancient and outstanding nationality in China. As early as five or six thousand years ago, their ancestors Chiyou Jiuli and Sanmiao tribes, together with Yan Di and Huangdi tribe, developed the Yellow River Plain and the north and south of the great river, laying the initial foundation stone of Chinese civilization. In the later historical years, although forced to drift from place to place and enter the mountainous areas in the south and the southwest plateau with poor conditions, the hardworking and brave Miao people persisted in fighting and made outstanding contributions to the development of the south-central and southwest regions of the motherland and the formation and development of a unified country of the Chinese nation. The origin of Miao nationality is related to the clan or tribe called "Nan Man" who lived in the Yellow River valley to the Yangtze River valley and south of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River more than 4,000 years ago. Some people think that Chiyou in the ancient legend era is the ancestor revered by the Miao people today, which is related to the Miao people. Some people think that the ancient three seedlings have something to do with Miao. Some people think that today's "Miao" can be traced back to the ancient "fast" people. In addition, there are three theories, namely, Xiang Dou theory, Yelang theory, Ba County Nanjun people theory, Pan theory and Wu Lingren theory.

In recent years, it has been suggested that Chiyou in the legendary era, Sanmiao in the Tang Dynasty, Kuai in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, Qianzhongman or Wuling Man in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, and Qin and Han Dynasties all include Miao ancestors, which are different names for Miao ancestors in different times in history.

In short, according to historical records and legends, Miao ancestors lived in the Qingjiang River Basin in Hubei and Dongting Lake in Hunan during the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. Around the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were activities of Miao ancestors in Bashu, Yelang and Jingzhou. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, most Miao ancestors settled in Wuling County, Zhang Ke County, Yueyi County, Baxian County, Nanjun County and other areas, and a few continued to migrate to Liujiang River Basin in southeastern Guizhou. Later, due to war, famine, epidemic disease, numerous births and abandoned farmland, they continued to migrate.

According to legend, in ancient times, the stockade of Miao nationality was in the east, in a watery part of Dachuan. At first, the Miao family had no clothes to wear now, but only brought some broad leaves to avoid the cold. Many years later, under the leadership of a leader named You Gong (Chi You), the Miao family planted cotton flowers, spun yarn and woven cloth, first made a waist, and then made skirts, trousers, clothes and shoes, but it was also ugly. One day, a Miao girl named Bang and her boyfriend Niu came to the lower reaches of the big maple tree near the village. Miss Abang saw all kinds of beautiful flowers, plants, butterflies and insects around her. She naturally loves beauty, thinking, if only we could make our clothes as beautiful as those kingfishers and colorful Hua Hudie! So she told the idea to Niu Ge. He also deliberately spoiled and said: If you don't figure out a good way to make me wear beautiful clothes as soon as possible, then we can't get married. This worried the strong A Niu. He thought hard for eight days before he came up with some discolored leaves, fruits, loess and black soil to dye cotton thread. The ingenious Abang girl mobilized her sisters to work together, embroidered beautiful vests, skirts and clothes with these colorful threads in a few days, and finally put on these beautiful new clothes and married A Niu herself. The whole Miao village is boiling, and men, women and children celebrate with joy. Since then, after generations of Miao women have racked their brains and constantly improved, they have such beautiful clothing embroidery today.

Complex Miao costumes are divided into five categories: Xiangxi, Qiandong, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, central Guizhou and Hainan.

Xiangxi style is popular in Xiangxi Prefecture of Hunan and the border areas of Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Hubei provinces. In ancient times, the custom of storing vertebral buns for men and women has disappeared. Today, I wear a round neck, a big shirt and a little embroidery on my shoulders and cuffs. Wide-leg pants with lace on the edge of the pants; Wrap a tall blue cloth or printed handkerchief and wear silver ornaments. Eastern Guizhou type, popular in southeastern Guizhou. Men's clothes are mostly blue homespun clothes and trousers, covered with green hair. Women's wear is based on collared tops and pleated skirts and is made of blue homespun. They are covered with flowers, and the patterns are mostly dragons, phoenixes, birds, fish and flowers in Ping Xiu. Women in Leigong Mountain area have unique dresses, short skirts, which are 30 cm for the elderly and less than 20 cm short. The top is decorated with colored lines and various geometric patterns are selected. Women wear a lot of silver ornaments.

Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan type is popular in Miao areas where western dialects are spoken in Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangxi provinces. Women's dress has linen on top and batik linen skirt on the bottom. The color is lighter, there are not many flowers and less silver ornaments. In northwest Guizhou and northeast Yunnan, men and women are decorated with woven shawls, which are as big as hats.

South-central Guizhou type, popular in south-central Guizhou and the junction of Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan. Women's shirts usually have collars, cushions, etc. There is also a blue pleated skirt and a batik skirt below. Mainly picking flowers, but also using batik. Huaxi-style women's dresses in Guiyang, Anshun, Anlong and other places are similar to a flag, commonly known as "flag clothes", with many flowers. Hainan type, popular in Hainan Province. Women's dresses are mostly right-leaning blue robes, batik tube skirts and few flower ornaments.