Guangxi’s “living fossil” nation “wears” history on its back and sells its costumes for tens of thousands of yuan
On the 27th, in Bawu Yao Township, Nandan County, Hechi City, Guangxi, Li Fengzhen was busy drying pieces of cloth dyed into blue. This is the headscarf worn daily by local white-pants Yao men. cloth.
“We Baikuyao admire the culture of our nation very much. When walking in the streets of Nandan, we can often see Baikuyao people wearing national costumes.” Li Fengzhen said with a hearty smile.
Baiku Yao is a branch of the Yao ethnic group. It is named after the men who wear knee-length white trousers, while the women wear colorful pleated skirts. Baikuyao is called “living fossil of human civilization” by UNESCO. It still retains a complete and ancient folk culture, and its unique Baikuyao costumes are passed down to this day.
“Girls from Baiku Yao start learning clothing making at the age of 7, so almost every household can weave and embroider.” Li Fengzhen, 50, is a native of Baiku Yao and is also a member of the national intangible cultural heritage project (Yao ethnic minority) Clothing) representative inheritor at the autonomous region level. She learned the craftsmanship of Baikuyao costumes from her grandmother and mother since she was a child, and has memorized the 36 production processes including spinning and dip-dying.
Li Fengzhen said that the materials for Baikuyao costumes are all derived from nature and are made according to the different seasons of the year. The special paste painting is what makes Bai Ku Yao costumes unique. Baiku Yao women will use a knife dipped in sticky paste to draw various exquisite patterns on white cotton cloth.
It is reported that the sticky juice comes from the “sticky tree”, which is Bai Kuyao’s common name for a tree that can only survive in Nandan. Every year in March and April, Baikuyao women begin to cut holes in the “sticky paste trees” to collect the sticky paste juice that flows out. The longer it is cut and chiselled, the more sticky paste will flow out, the better. If it is not cut down for less than a year, the “sticky paste tree” will die naturally.
“‘The sticky tree’ is our sacred tree. Around Baikuyao village, hundreds of years old ‘sticky tree’ can be seen everywhere. Every pattern we draw with sticky paste is a reference to the history of Baikuyao. Portrait.” Li Fengzhen said.
In her own workshop, Li Fengzhen is holding a paste knife and drawing a square seal on white cotton cloth. This square seal has a unique and symmetrical ancient pattern. It is often embroidered on the back of the tops of Yao women in white pants, and is called the “Yao King Seal”.
Li Fengzhen introduced that the “Yao King Seal” is the ancient totem of Baiku Yao that continues to this day. According to legend, Chieftain Mo of the Zhuang ethnic group used a trick to defraud the Yao King’s seal and attempted to occupy the Yao ethnic village. The Yao king led the Yao people to resist. During the battle, the seriously injured King Yao left ten bloody handprints on his trouser legs, and before his death, he drew the pattern of King Yao’s seal on his clothes.
“Oh yo yo… Why is there a gold seal printed on the floral vest I am wearing? It is Yahai who wants us to remember the lesson of the gold seal… Why is the white trousers I am wearing have five red lines? The five patterns are A The blood marks left by the bloody battle on the building.”
The above is a fragment of the Baiku Yao folk song “The Beginning of Heaven and Earth”. In order to commemorate King Yao, descendants of Baitong Yao will embroider ten orange stripes on men’s white trousers, and a square print will be embroidered on the back of women’s tops. They hope to remember history in this way and pray for the blessings of their ancestors.
“There is no written record of the weaving and embroidery method of the ‘Yao King Seal’, but relies on word-of-mouth transmission from generation to generation of Baiku Yao people.” Li Fengzhen said that a piece of Baiku Yao clothing requires thousands of stitches to be sewn by hand. , which takes several months to make, the Bai Ku Yao costume can be sold for tens of thousands of yuan.
At present, Baiku Yao clothing can be mass-produced by machines, but Baiku Yao people still attach great importance to hand-made production. Every time during the Nianjie Festival, the traditional festival of Baikuyao, many Baikuyao people wear hand-sewn costumes and gather together to sing antiphons, play tops, and dance with copper drums, which becomes a beautiful local scenery.
In 2006, Yao costumes were included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists, the most representative of which is the white pants Yao costume. In order to better pass on the craftsmanship of Baikuyao costumes, in 2016, with the financial support of the local Women’s Federation and the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, Li Fengzhen founded the “Fengzhen Indigo Dyeing Workshop” and “Duonu Handmade” in Nandan County. Workshop”, the two workshops have created employment for more than 120 local women.
At the “Duonu Handicraft Workshop” about 30 kilometers away from Bawu Yao Township, 26-year-old Li Qiuyi is giving a vivid speech in front of the computer. At this time, she was participating in the Guangxi District Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition as the intangible inheritor of Yao costumes.
“I learned clothing production with my mother while studying since I was a child. Now I hope that Baikuyao clothing culture can better adapt to the needs of the market.” Li Qiuyi said.
Li Qiuyi is the daughter of Li Fengzhen. The mother and daughter innovatively used the indigo dyeing process used in the production of Baikuyao clothing in the production of modern items such as backpacks and pillows, revitalizing the Baikuyao clothing culture. of vitality.
Once upon a time, most of this mysterious and ancient nation lived in the Dashi Mountains of Nandan County, living an almost isolated life. In June 2017, Nandan County launched the “Thousands of Yao Villages·Ten Thousand Households””Yao Township” concentrated resettlement project. Around the Spring Festival in 2018, 13,500 Baikuyao people moved out of the mountains and moved into new homes.
With the continuous improvement of living and transportation environment, the ancient skills passed down by Bai Ku Yao from generation to generation have not been “forgotten”, but continue to shine in this hot land.
AAA
Disclaimer:
Disclaimer: Some of the texts, pictures, audios, and videos of some articles published on this site are from the Internet and do not represent the views of this site. The copyrights belong to the original authors. If you find that the information reproduced on this website infringes upon your rights and interests, please contact us and we will change or delete it as soon as possible.
AA
