Kirgiz Costume

Kirgiz Costume

"Kirgiz" means the people who live on the cliffs. Another saying is that "Kirgiz" is a group of 40 girls. This is wrong. Most Kirgiz people live in Kizilsu Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang, some scattered in Wushi, Aksu, Yingjisha, tashkergan, Pishan and other counties in southern Xinjiang, and Tekes, Zhaosu, Emin, bole, Jinghe, Gongliu and other counties and pastoral areas in Northern Xinjiang. In the form of clothing, men wear a round collar shirt with white embroidery lace on the upper body, and a long "standard loop" of sheepskin or black and blue cotton without collar. It is also made of camel hair and black cloth on the cuff. A knife, a belt, etc. Women wear a pair of skirts, wide without collar, no longer than the knee, decorated with silver, pleated skirt with fur at the bottom. There are also those who wear dresses with pleats at the lower end of the skirt and black shoulders or loops.

On November 11, 2014, Kirgiz costumes were listed in the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage list with the approval of the State Council.

Ethnic background

Mainly engaged in animal husbandry, a minority engaged in agriculture, handicraft industry, is a traditional animal husbandry nation. The origin and formation of clothing is closely related to the natural ecological environment of human living. Most of the herders of Kirgiz nationality live in yurt in summer and square earth houses in warm valley in winter. The characteristics of costumes have the commonness of grassland herdsmen and the characteristics of national costumes. The fur and wool fabrics of livestock are their main raw materials for clothing. Clothing style, men's robe style, women's skirt in the majority. Kirgiz people like red, followed by white and blue. It is shown in clothing, painting, decoration and handicrafts, which is a good reflection of the cheerful, enthusiastic and bold national character of the Kirgiz people.

Historical legend

Kirgiz people have a long history of wearing this kind of white felt hat. There is still a beautiful legend about the origin of this kind of hat among the Kirgiz people. In ancient times, there was a handsome, brave and resourceful king of the Kirgiz nationality. In the course of long-term war, he often felt that when he went to war, his military and civilian clothes and horses were different, which affected the military prestige and combat effectiveness. So, just before the expedition, he summoned 40 counsellors and ordered them to unify the colors of the horses, and asked them to prepare a uniform hat for each soldier and civilian in 40 days, which should be like a shining star, a colorful flower, a snow capped iceberg, a green mountain ring, and a shelter Shelter from rain and snow, but also to prevent sand attacks. Thirty nine days later, thirty-nine counsellors were killed one by one because their hats failed to meet the king's requirements. Finally, a talented and capable daughter of the 40th counsellor came up with this kind of white felt hat. The king was very satisfied with it, so he ordered his army and people to wear it. It has been handed down since then.

Kirgiz men and women all like to wear "Tuofu", which is made of red, purple and Blue Corduroy. In winter, men wear "taibie Taiyi" hat made of lamb or fox skin, while girls wear "kunduzi" hat made of otter or white sheep skin. In summer, men usually wear "karapak" white felt hat with a black cloth or black thread on the bottom and rolled up. The shape of the hat mainly includes left and right openings or no openings, dome or square top, and whether there are beads or spikes on the top.

custom

Men don't have beard and hair. If you are an only child, you can store your hair within 10 years old, but not all of it. You can only keep four round or semicircular hairs on the front, back, left and right sides of your head as marks. When you are 10 years old, the marks will be shaved off.

Men's hats are mostly made of red cloth (other colors are also available), and there are tassels made of velvet on the top of the hat. The tassels are decorated with beads and other ornaments, with fur hats in winter.

Among the numerous hats, the most typical and common one is the white felt hat which is often worn all year round and made of wool felt. This kind of white felt hat is the most distinctive symbol to identify the Kirgiz nationality from the clothing. The Kirgiz people cherish it very much and regard it as the "holy hat". When you don't use it on weekdays, you can hang it on a high place or put it on a quilt or pillow. You can't throw it casually, or trample it with your feet, or make fun of it.