Dress of Menba nationality

Dress of Menba nationality

There are regional differences in the clothing of Menba people. Men and women in menyu area wear Tibetan ochre long robes and belts. Wearing a small round brown hat with orange edge and a delicate and eye-catching small gap in front, it has national characteristics. The boots are made of red and black leather with soft leather soles.

Ethnic distribution

Menba nationality is a minority in China. It mainly lives in menyu area and Motuo County of Tibet. It borders India in the south, Tibet in the north, Luoyu area in the southeast and bhutan in the West. Due to the barrier of mountains and rivers, it is difficult for outsiders to get involved. In history, the residence of Menba people was called "hiding place", and there are still many mysterious legends and myths. As a result of long-term relationship with Tibetans, while absorbing more Tibetan culture, it has also formed its own unique cultural traditions and customs.

Clothing characteristics

In the northern mountainous area of Luoyu, men wear self-woven earth white jacket, long sleeves, large double breasted, two cloth buttons on the right side, and self-woven striped flower shorts in summer; they wear self-made long robes or self-made buffalo skin shawl bought from Tibetan areas in winter. Women's summer coat with patterns, wearing white cloth shorts; winter wear with a long plaid, with a round mouth left in the middle of the shawl. On the right side of the man's waist hang a small machete and a sickle, and a sharp knife is tied horizontally in front of his waist. Both men and women have a lot of silver ornaments. They wear all the silver ornaments on festivals. The belt is quite exquisite. It is four fingers wide and has various patterns. Dragons and snakes are indispensable. It has five colors and is hung with small beads, copper bells and shells. It makes a pleasant sound when walking. Men and women are barefoot all the year round, with thick cocoons. Rich men and women all wear silver bracelets and necklaces, while the people of Lhoba only wear rattan bracelets for shaving sweat. Both men and women pierce their ears and wear gold, silver and rattan rings to show their wealth.

Men go out with a strong bow, an arrow shaft on their back, a long knife on their waist, and a bear fur hat, which is quite powerful. In the hinterland and south of Luoyu, the traffic is blocked, and the clothes still retain the ancient style. The clothes are very simple. Men and women wear white sweaters in summer, most of their bodies are naked, and they wear short sleeve collarless jackets in winter. In many villages of the Donggong tribe, such as guobu and Riga, which are known as the land dwellers, men use self-woven cloth one foot wide and three feet long to cover their ugly appearance. However, when they can see their genitals at any time, they wrap white thread around their glans to ward off evil spirits. There are also several tribes where men cover their pubic parts with grass, brown hair and animal skins, while women cover their ugliness with a piece of cloth, with their upper bodies open and their breasts exposed. Minrong and other tribal men used bamboo tubes or gourds to cover their penises. This phenomenon is not surprising to the Luoba people who worship male colonizers. In the east of Luoyu mountain area, men wear a flowered cloth coat without placket and red and green shorts. Women wear clothes with two cloth buttons on them, and the lower part of them is covered with calico and brown hair. Men wear large silver earrings, generally only three strings, each string of 20 beads. There are also those who wear lead earrings, which are most beautiful for married women.

The hair styles of the Luoba people are various. Some tribes cut their hair short; some have long hair on the back, and women's braids hang behind their shoulders; some have long hair on their heads and wear a bamboo stick; in tropical areas, they are all bald. Some people wear round hat, some wear round hat, some wear rattan hat, some wear bear fur hat. A Boar Tusk is fixed on each side of the hat. Some tribes also insert some bird feathers on the hat, which is very beautiful.

Luoba people attach great importance to mourning clothes. No matter they are close relatives or distant relatives, they can't wear hairy clothes to prevent the dead from becoming livestock. The mourning clothes are mostly white to show the innocence of the dead.

Hunter clothing is unique, showing the characteristics of hunting production of Luoba people. The fur shawl is light, warm, impermeable and moisture resistant. Wear a bear fur hat to keep out the snow and rain. Foot wear "Limu" (boots), uppers and soles are all made of "Anu" (Daphne bark) fiber, which is several times more solid than modern rubber shoes. A healthy man has been hunting for about 40 years in his life, and four pairs of "Limu" are enough to wear. Knives and scythes are indispensable tools for hunting. They are not easy to penetrate water when they are sheathed with yellow sheepskin. Warm and soft leather shorts. The clothes that hunters wear when hunting are inseparable from the animal skin, which fully shows that one of the objects of this nation's survival is the beast.

Most of the married women of the tribe consciously draw their faces, draw each other, draw two dots on both sides of the forehead, draw three transverse lines on the lower lip of the mouth, and draw a = shape pattern on the lower leg and abdomen. After drawing with charcoal, gently prick with a needle to make the black penetrate into the skin and make a mark forever. Luoba women in the heart of Luoyu regard this pattern as the most beautiful. According to legend, this is also the mark of King Gesar's punishment of impious people.