Ewenki Costume

Ewenki Costume

Ewenki people belong to Tungusic people, and their clothing materials are mainly animal skins, which is also the case with Tungusic people such as Manchu and Xibo. The big coat is slanted to the front, the sleeves are big, and the belt is long. Short leather coat, lamb fur coat, is a wedding or festival dress.

Both men and women of the Ewenki nationality use cloth or lambskin ornaments to trim the hem and collar of their clothes and wear belts. I like blue and black clothes. All kinds of leather pants are embroidered outside in cold weather. Men wear a single cloth hat in summer and a conical leather hat in winter with red tassels on the top.

Ewenki women generally wear earrings, bracelets, rings, or inlaid with coral and agate. Married women also need to wear sleeves, silver medals and silver rings.

In 2014, chenbalhu banner of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region declared that Ewenki costumes were listed in the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage list with the approval of the State Council. In November 2019, the list of national intangible cultural heritage representative project protection units was announced, and chenbalhuqi Cultural Center won the qualification of "Ewenki costumes" project protection unit.

Clothing characteristics

The characteristics of Ewenki clothing are hypertrophy, looseness, slanting placket and long belt. Before the end of Qing Dynasty, Ewenki people only used animal skin to make clothes; after the end of Qing Dynasty, they began to use cloth to make clothes. Their clothing is inseparable from leather, which is mainly engaged in animal husbandry, because of the cold climate in the region. In winter, they usually use long hair and thick fur to make clothes; in spring and autumn, they use small fur; in summer, they also use sheepskin to make clothes. Among the leather clothes, sheepskin is the most. There are many kinds of leather clothes, which vary according to different uses such as wearing, wearing, spreading and covering. Among them, leather quilt has its own characteristics.

Clothing category

Ewenki people in Ewenki banner have animal husbandry as the main economy, and their clothing is inseparable from animal skin.

Da Mao long robe (Su Weng): it is a necessary clothing for winter, both men and women.

Leather jacket (Hu Ru mu): a coat worn outside with wide sleeves. This is a kind of formal dress. It is necessary for both men and women to wear when they welcome their relatives and friends at the wedding ceremony. Small fur can be used in spring and autumn.

Lambskin jacket (hobcesuon): This is a formal dress for guests, relatives and friends or for festivals. It needs 36 pieces of lambskin and is hung with cloth or silk.

Leather pants (okui): need 4 pieces of sheepskin. Leather trousers (Suwei): in the coldest season, they are worn outside to protect against cold. Round patterns are sewn on the knees, which are strong and beautiful.

Leather Hat (ah Wen): it used to be made at home. Later, I bought more ready-made hats.

Leather boots (winter): they are often worn by Ewenki people. In the early days, they were made of cow leather as soles and sheep, calf and horse skins as waists. They can be divided into two types: winter and summer.

Belt (Umara): in the early stage, it was a self-made belt or woolen ribbon, and later it was made of cloth or silk. Every man wears a belt, otherwise it is considered impolite.

Gloves (Humala): early made of leather thumb, four fingers two petals, a few with coarse wool weaving.

Ewenki people's clothing styles and patterns are very distinctive. A few decades ago, men's robes were split at the bottom, while women's robes were not. Women's clothes are rolled up around the cuffs with the same width, which can be put down in the cold, while men's clothes protrude on the back of the hand, which is called "horseshoe sleeves", which is both beautiful and cold resistant. Both men's and women's garments are laced with lace at the hem and collar.

Patterns include "Oates" (thread), which is used in the upper part of the boot waist; "daogaogao" is a butterfly flower, which is mostly used in the middle part of the women's boot waist; "pole" (pattern) is mostly used in the lower part of the boot waist or on the knee of the pants or on the cigarette pocket; "ilaga" (flower) is mostly used in the skirt or boot waist; "adala" (lace) is mostly used in the big skirt or split of the robe.