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Weaver with a backstrap loom in Hainan
Province. Jili Nationality. This young woman is doing an
elaborate brocade, such as in her skirt, using a simple
backstrap loom. By leaning forward or back, she controls the
warp tension.
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A young Dong child in southeastern
Guizhou Province wearing a spring and summer cap, with elaborate
embroidery that matches that on the equally elaborate sash.
Handwoven figured ribbons ornament the jacket. The Dong
Nationality people have produced astonishing embroideries with a
wide range of anthropomorphic figures.
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A Miao subgroup, the Ge, are superlative batik artisans.
Here, the young woman is drawing with hot wax on her
fabric. Once this is finished, the cloth will be dyed in
indigo and then finally, the wax melted and washed out to leave
the design in white on a dark blue background. Batik and
embroidery have often been combined in a single garment.
The Ge people live along the banks of the Chong-an-jiang River
in Huangping County, Guizhou Province.
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Three women of Hani Nationality in Yunnan Province.
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A young Miao girl in Yunnan Province.
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Young Miao women in Hunan Province,
where Han Chinese influences have been stronger than in
adjoining provinces. The women above are weaving figured
bands for trimming garments. For festive wear, as at the
right, embroidered aprons are worn over the usual jacket. Pants
complete the costume, while in other Miao areas elaborately
pleated skirts are the fashion.
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Miao girls of Guizhou Province doing
cross-stitch embroidery. Small embroidered panels were often
worked separately, then attached to garments--to sleeves, shoulder
areas and along the front closures. This of course allowed the
work to be done conveniently outdoors. Among this particular
Miao group,
elaborately decorated aprons have been an important costume item.
In the Chinese literature, counted thread or cross-stitch is often identified as
"hand stitching" to differentiate it from more
free-flowing embroidery techniques.
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Baby in "winter" hat. Dong
Nationality, southeastern Guizhou Province.
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Right: Miao brocade weavers
in Guang Zhuang Autonomous Region.
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Young married women of the Buyi
Nationality in Guizhou Province.
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Miao children grow up surrounded by women who enjoy
handwork. This older woman is wearing an apron embroidered
with cross stitch. The little girl's distinctive skirt is typical of
counties in the Qingshu River valley of eastern Guizhou
Province, such as Taigong.
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Young children of Zhenfeng, Guizhou
Province. How this photo reminds me of my childhood, when
my friends and I were so serious about sewing
doll clothes! In the Miao cultures, where elaborate
costumery has been accorded such importance, children developed
textile interests at especially early ages. That, unfortunately,
is changing now, as the old traditions are fading.
The typical costume of this group is dark and elegant--for
individuals of all ages. Colorful embroidery decorates
front jacket panels, while small aprons are an austere black and
white-- either brocaded or worked in cross stitch.
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Weavers of Achang Nationality in Yunnan
Province.
Right: Girls of Yao Nationality in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region.
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Deang Weaver in Yunnan Province.
Among the advantages of a backstrap loom: it can be
set up easily anywhere, to take advantage of mild
climates as in parts of Yunnan.
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Miao children on sub-tropical Hainan Island off the south China
coast. Costumes for adults
and children are the same, with decorative sashes, small
areas of embroidery, and sometimes batik.
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This young
Miao girl of Guizhou is making silk braid to be used in
embroidery. Her special stand works much like a bobbin lace
pillow. Individual silk threads are wound on bobbins, then
interlaced back and forth--crossed and twisted. Any number
of bobbins may be used, with twelve being the usual maximum.
The finished braids are stitched flat to a fabric to form the
desired decorative arrangements, or they are pleated and
attached, making highly regarded three-dimensional effects. Dong
embroiderers have used such braids for especially spectacular
results.
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Miao woman weaving waistband and
kerchief fabric. Guizhou Province.
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Qingshui River in southeastern
Guizhou Province.
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The photos on these pages are from
Yang Yuan, Chinese National Costume Culture, 1999, Beijing; The
Cultural Palace of Nationalities, ed., Clothings and Ornaments of China's Miao People, Beijing, 1985,
and Huang Shoubao, Ethnic Costume from Guizhou, Beijing,
1987.
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