Rat這個苗語語彙，在貴州東部高地村寨苗人（Hmub）的日常生活，是最常用來表述人在心情、生活上煩悶、單調、無所事事。相對於節慶儀式的熱鬧氛圍，在Hmub人的工作與休閒間，流動著的rat，是一種充份展現日常性的無聊或煩悶的情緒與身體經驗。單調與無聊的內容及其存在或依附的狀態與意義，通常被認為是工業化與資本主義社會現代人的日常生活或工作突出的特性。而在一個以農作生產為主，並又和市場經濟已有密切關連的村寨，貴州高地村寨Hmub人生活裡的rat，和工業社會裡個人或社群經驗的單調與煩悶，是否有別，如何有別。本文尤其聚焦以1998年－2000年之間筆者所書寫的田野筆記、日記等民族誌材料為基礎，描述與分析在村寨的工作與休閒脈絡裡，姑娘與男孩的遊方（制度化的談情）與無聊、煩悶情緒及身體感經驗之特性與轉變歷程。最後並藉以闡述遊方非必然附屬於婚姻：對於村寨Hmub的青年人，遊方也是一個他們可通過身體經驗與情緒展現個人與地方社群之日常與主體性的場域。

The local Miao term rat is used commonly to express personal feelings-boredom, dullness, or having nothing to do-in the daily life of the Hmub villagers in Eastern Guizhou. In contrast to the bustling of seasonal festivals or rites, rat represents a specific kind of bodily experience and feeling related to the work and leisure of Hmub that fully displays the tone of everydayness. With regard to its content, situation or meaning, boredom is often considered a distinguishing feature of people's everyday life and work in industrial or capitalized society, or simply, the West. In the highland Hmub villages, which are still based on agricultural production but have a close relationship with the local commercial market economy, is the rat of the villagers any different from the feeling of boredom in the industrial Western society? If so, what are the differences? This paper is based particularly on the ethnographic data of my field notes and diary written from 1998 to 2000. I will describe and analyze the iut fub, institutionalized courting or flirting, of Hmub youths and the features and transformation of their boredom, personal feelings and experiences of rat in the context of work and leisure in Fangf Bil village. Finally I will discuss the agency of iut fub, which for the Hmub young villagers is not necessarily followed by marriage. It is a 'zone' in the community where an individual can display their everydayness and subjectivity through experiences of physical contact and expressed feelings.