Miao embroidery (Huaxi Miao embroidery)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Miao embroidery (Huaxi Miao embroidery)

Applicant: Guiyang City, Guizhou Province

Project No.: 321

Project No.: Ⅶ - 22

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Guizhou Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Guiyang City, Guizhou Province

Protection unit: Guiyang Huaxi District cultural relics protection and Management Office (Guiyang Huaxi District Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center)

Introduction to Miao embroidery (Huaxi Miao embroidery)

Applicant: Guiyang City, Guizhou Province

Miao embroidery refers to the embroidery skills inherited by the Miao people. Miao embroidery, which is popular in Leishan County, Guiyang city and Jianhe County of Guizhou Province, has different forms and styles.

Leishan County, Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, is located in the southeast of Guizhou Province. It is one of the main gathering places of the Miao nationality. The Miao population in the county accounts for 83.6% of the total population. Leishan Miao costumes still retain the original traditional style, the exquisite embroidery skills and dazzling silver are amazing. According to the structure and style, Leishan Miao costumes are divided into four types: long skirt, medium skirt, short skirt and super short skirt, which are also called Xijiang type, YeMeng type, Gongtong type and Datang type.

Leishan Miao clothing production process is unique, the shape is very representative, some are unique to Leishan, some other places also have, but mainly distributed in Leishan county. The embroidery process related to shape also has its own uniqueness, such as double needle lock embroidery, crepe embroidery, braid embroidery, silk wadding sticking embroidery, etc. Although there are other embroidery processes, Leishan Miao embroidery has more characteristics and diverse techniques in terms of skills. Leishan Miao embroidery patterns in the shape and modeling, the use of a variety of deformation and exaggeration, and bold use of multi-dimensional modeling and medium-sized composite means and metaphor, metaphor, metonymy, symbol and other expression techniques, reflecting the unique national style of aesthetic taste.

Guiyang Huaxi Miao cross stitch technique is representative of Guizhou Miao embroidery technique. According to historical records, Jiuli tribe, the ancestor of the Miao nationality, originally lived in the Yellow River Basin. Due to many defeats in the war with other nationalities, it gradually moved westward. Some branches entered the territory of today's Guizhou, and one of them, who called himself "Mou" (others called it "Huamiao"), settled in glogesang (today's Guiyang). Originally, this branch of Miao nationality mainly used batik to decorate itself. Later, it found that cross stitch was more colorful and expressive, so it began to carry out cross stitch on the pattern of batik. Cross stitch gradually emerged from batik, forming a unique technique of expression and artistic language. The common cross stitch patterns are pig's hoof fork, cow's hoof fork, cow's head, sheep's head, dog's head, ice snow flower, Chenopodium, duckweed, lotus, rice ear, buckwheat flower, bronze drum, lantern, silver fork, copper coin, sun, frog, water reptile, crab, swallow, pavilion, countryside, bridge, river, King Miao seal, etc.

Huaxi Miao cross stitch technique has the functions of remembering ancestors, recording history, expressing love and beautifying itself. At the same time, it has a strong decorative. With cross stitch as the basic needlework, counting the yarn and embroidering, there is no need to draft, and the special technique of looking at the front from the back makes the whole cross stitch work more beautiful and exquisite. The artistic style of Miao cross stitch in Huaxi can be divided into three periods: early, middle and late. Before 1900, it was the early period. In this period, the bottom cloth of cross stitch was self-woven cyan hemp cloth. The color was simple and elegant, with silver tone as the main color. There were small areas of color in white. The composition was rigorous, and the pattern had the characteristics of diversification and stylization. From 1900 to 1966, it was the middle period, and there were still many bottom cloth of cross stitch in this period It is cyan linen, but also a small amount of cyan cotton cloth. The color is warm and gorgeous, mainly red, with yellow, green, white and other color silk thread. The composition is lively and the pattern is more abundant than the early stage. After 1967, it is the late stage. During this period, the color and texture of cross stitch bottom cloth are diversified, with the addition of red, blue, yellow, white, black and other color woven fabrics, and even the use of plastic window screens and coarse linen In addition to silk thread, cross stitch and woolen thread are added for embroidery. The composition is more free and the patterns are more diversified. Some artists also began to imitate realistic patterns on modern fabrics to make cross stitch.

Because the Miao people have no characters, Huaxi Miao cross stitch has become the carrier of the national history and legend, and the unique cross stitch uniform has also become the identification mark and symbol of the Miao people. Cross stitch is widely used in the daily life, festivals, spouse selection, weddings and funerals, religion and other rituals of the Miao people in Huaxi, which has a strong practical value. When making cross stitch, Huaxi Miao women not only pay attention to inheriting the national art tradition, but also are good at using their imagination and boldly re creating. They can hardly find two completely identical works, which makes cross stitch have strong artistry and originality. The majority of artists and collectors cherish it, and many museums at home and abroad also collect it.

The Miao tin embroidery in Jianhe county is mainly distributed in Nanzhai, Mindong, Guanmo and other towns in Jianhe County, Guizhou Province, which has been handed down for five or six hundred years. Miao's Tin embroidery is based on Tibetan blue cotton fabric. First, cotton thread is used to cross stitch the fabric according to the traditional pattern, then metal tin strips are embroidered in the pattern, and then black, red, blue and green silk threads are used to embroider colorful flowers in the gap of the pattern. The silver white tin silk embroidered on the navy blue fabric has bright contrast, good gloss and strong texture, which makes the fabric look like silver. It matches with silver hat, silver earring, silver collar, silver chain and silver bracelet, which is extremely gorgeous and noble. Tin embroidery has unique craft, fine workmanship, clear pattern, complex workmanship and special materials, which is of high appreciation and collection value. The difference between Miao tin embroidery and other ethnic embroidery lies in that it is not made of silk thread, but of metal tin strips embroidered on the pattern of Tibetan blue cotton. Its core pattern is like a labyrinth, unpredictable, intriguing, profound and full of strong mysterious meaning.

However, with the continuous changes of people's aesthetic concepts and tastes, the market of national clothing is getting smaller and smaller, and among the young Miao people, there are fewer and fewer people wearing their own national clothing. In this situation, the number of Miao embroidery artists is decreasing. It can be said that the more developed the modern culture is, the faster the loss of traditional Miao embroidery skills is. Facing the crisis of Miao embroidery, we should take measures to solve it as soon as possible, so as to ensure the smooth inheritance of this ancient national craft.

Chinese PinYin : Miao Xiu Hua Xi Miao Xiu