Tajik Costume

Tajik Costume

Tajik costumes refer to the costumes with distinctive national characteristics of Chinese Tajik. Starting from the purpose of survival against the cold, the Chinese Tajiks formed the early clothing of fit, closed and narrow clothing. Its clothing is adapted to nomadic life, and its materials are mainly fur, leather, felt, self-woven cloth and silk.

Tajik costume has gone through five periods: Pre Qin, Han Tang, Song Yuan, Ming Qing and 20th century. The development of clothing is closely related to the prosperity and decline of the Silk Road trade and the integration of eastern and Western cultures. It also has a deep origin with the ancient civilization of central and Western Asia, and is an important part of the history of western region clothing.

Origin and development

In the late Paleolithic period, human activities had already taken place in the Tashkurgan area inhabited by Tajiks. According to archaeological findings, there are leather products, felt pieces and textiles unearthed from Xiabandi cemetery in Xiabandi village, Tashkurgan county. All these are related to the Bronze Age culture of Siberia and Central Asia, andronovo culture (2000-1000 BC).

In the iron age, with the increase of commercial circulation, the abundance of goods, and the convenience of business, clothing custom with decoration as the fashion has objectively formed. In xiangbaobao's tomb, the costumes of the sais, the ancestor of the Tajik people in China, were unearthed. The bronze wares include bracelets, earrings, rings, and horn shaped ornaments. The iron wares include bracelets, rings, and pear shaped ornaments made of thin gold. Some ornaments are mainly decorated with convex string pattern and nail pattern, presenting a unique style of the times.

In the pre Qin period, the Chinese Tajik ancestors had a mature life of farming and animal husbandry. They mainly used various animal skins and various colors of woolen cloth as clothing materials. Their clothing, shoes and hats had unique styles, especially the combination of trousers and boots, which had obvious regional characteristics of Central Asia. Nomadic civilization was brought about by Liangju and wool, and wool fabric became the main clothing material of Tajik Nationality in China. Different from the Chinese nation's wide clothing form, the clothing of the Chinese Tajik ancestors belongs to the narrow clothing culture. The clothing has the basic cutting, the cutting and sewing process, and the pursuit of a more suitable structure. Due to the limitation of technology, the costumes are more plain and less decorative.

During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the special geographical location of Tashkurgan and the prosperity of the silk road made a variety of cultures collide and fuse here. During this period, the Tajik costumes not only retained some of the characteristics of the region (originated from the dense decoration of the ancient two river basins), but also added the Hu costumes of the northwest people (the Hu style of tight sleeve short clothes), absorbed the characteristics of the Central Plains (splendid silk), and also showed the traditional materials of India (coarse cotton cloth), showing a colorful style. Embroidery developed from simple to complicated. The natural and unrestrained style of the pattern is less, and the trace of delicacy is heavy.

During the song and Yuan Dynasties, China's Tajik costumes were influenced by the successive rule of different nationalities, and the coexistence of various styles appeared, especially the Uighur and Mongolian costumes. In the middle of the 9th century, Uighur moved westward and appeared on the edge of Tarim Basin. In the western regions, Uighur people came into contact with their costumes, such as round necked tunic, bright red brocade and wide leather belt, which were accepted by the local people. In the 13th century, when the Mongols conquered here, Tajik costumes developed some new styles on the basis of Mongolian costumes, which was reflected in the Yuan Dynasty "gray ground inlaid with silver hunting pattern Kesi" unearthed in Lukeqin, Shanshan County, Xinjiang in 1977. The costumes of characters embroidered on Kesi are the typical style of Yuan Dynasty "braided jacket".

By the Yuan Dynasty, most of the ancient countries in the western regions on the Silk Road did not exist, and the Silk Road Post stations became relics. Tajik people have all returned to their original nomadic life, and their clothes advocate simplicity and simplicity, which is suitable for immediate living habits.

Modern Chinese Tajik costume was formed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. From the 16th century to the 19th century, the extremely cold weather in Asia and Europe, including the western part of China, caused the high altitude Pamirs to fall into a bad environment with fragile ecology. The Tajiks became the only residents here. Under the extreme cold, the social and economic development was quite slow. Because the herdsmen are poor, lack of iron, plough with wild sheep's horns, lack of livestock, no wool weaving, the production level has stagnated in a relatively extensive low state for a long time. In the early Qing Dynasty, there were some trade exchanges between selekor huizhuang and Kashgar, Yeerqiang and other places, but the Tajiks who lived hard couldn't afford cloth, so they had to wear fur. Sheep skin, deer skin and wolf skin are all made from the common animals in Tajik people's life. They are well sewn. When wearing them, the fur is facing inward and the skin is facing outward. They are not only resistant to cold but also wear-resistant. They are very suitable for grazing in high mountains. Few wealthy families have high-quality embroidery patterns, which are usually worn in Grand festivals to receive guests and visit relatives and friends. The Tajiks, who have no contact with the outside world, have fixed their costumes and become a folk custom.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been four seasons differences in Tajik clothing. Tajik women with their own wisdom and ability, sewing a variety of cotton, leather and jacket. The most distinctive are women's cotton caps and men's fur caps, which are almost inseparable. In places where clothes are easy to break, such as brim, collar, cuff, placket and hem, colored cloth or fine fur are inlaid, and embroidery and decals are carried out around them. The production skills are more exquisite than before.

Before and after the founding of the people's Republic of China, Tajik people's life and clothing changed little, and clothing also reflected the economic level of a family. Rich families wear more silk, and their headscarves are also made of silk; most families still use the old felt brown, and women's skirts and vests are only made of native cloth. Some herdsmen need to wear silk clothes when they get married, which is borrowed from rich families.

In the 1950s, there was a road from Kashgar to ta County, and the Tajiks began to communicate with the outside world. However, due to the low development of productive forces and the lack of materials, clothing is still dominated by tradition. During the period of communization in rural areas, Tajik women went out early and came back late to participate in collective labor. They had no time to do embroidery and clothes, and they had no conditions to make ethnic costumes. Tajik customs and festivals all stopped. Therefore, ethnic costumes once disappeared in people's lives during this period.

After the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee (1978), Tajik national costumes changed from time to time, and local cloth was gradually eliminated, replaced by colorful cloth, silk and nylon.