This is a beautiful legend of the Yao people. Long ago, there lived a hardworking and thrifty old man named Chatoya in a small village. He, very good and honest, neither offended another person nor did an evil deed.
Chatoya was 60 years old, but his wife had never borne a child. They felt so anxious about this that they went to worship the Nuwa, in the hope of her bestowing a child on them. Their sincerity moved Nuwa and one night they had the following dream.
They dreamt of a clinquant peacock which said, “Ah, I want to be your daughter.” And the very next day, the wife of Chatoya discovered she was pregnant.
Later, the child was born, who turned out to be a beautiful girl. The couple named their daughter Acha Mana. She was able to walk at the age of six months, grazed the sheep at the age of three, embroidered at the age of six, did farm work at the age of seven, and had mastered all the skills in the world by the time she reached 16.
Beautiful Acha Mana was able to embroider many flowers, grasses and birds true to life with her deft hands at the age of 17. But she was not self-satisfied with this and applied herself to learning embroidery even more studiously. At the age of 18, she was able to embroider a bird which could spread its wings and fly. She embroidered 365 birds within 365 days. These birds multiplied, making the world more colorful.
Knowing this, Henlho, an amative official, wanted to take Acha Mana as his concubine. Flocks of sheep, herds of oxen and precious jewels could not move her heart. Flustered and exasperated, Henlho took Acha Mana away by force.
When her unfortunate suff ering became known among her neighbors they went to her rescue, knives and swords in hand.Henlho was killed, but Acha Mana fell from the cliff .
That evening, the dead girl turned herself into a golden peacock. From then on, there were hundreds of birds headed by the golden peacock who visited the village each year.
