Abstract: In 1956,a set of Latin alphabet was coined by the government for the common use of the Miao People in Xiangxi(the western part of Hunan Province).However,though no writing system existed and was commonly used in the area before that,five kinds of Miao characters were made in the folk society,among which four belonged to words of quadrate Chinese characters,and one belonged to alphabetic Chinese characters,each being used in different areas.The methods of coinage of Miao characters included phonetic loan characters,pictophonetic characters,associative compounds,analogy,and alphabetization.

Key words: Miao characters in the form of Chinese characters, Miao characters in Guzhang, Miao characters in Bantang, Miao characters in Laozhai, sketch Miao characters, coinage of characters