Silver making skills (Yi People's silver making skills)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Silver making skills (Yi People's silver making skills)

Applicant: Butuo County, Sichuan Province

Project No.: 390

Project No.: VIII - 40

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Sichuan Province

Type: Extension Project

Applicant: Butuo County, Sichuan Province

Protection unit: Butuo County Cultural Center

Brief introduction of silver making skills (Yi People's silver making skills)

Applicant: Butuo County, Sichuan Province

Many ethnic minorities in China have the custom of wearing jewelry, especially the Miao and Yi people, which are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Hunan and other provinces. Miao people have a long history of making and wearing jewelry. Liu Yuxi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, was demoted to Xiangxi, where he wrote a poem describing the Miao people's wearing of "Yinchuan Jinchai". In Song Dynasty, Hong Mai's Rongzhai essays says that Miao jewelry is made of silver and tin, which is more than one foot long. In Qianji of the Ming Dynasty, it is said that Miao people in Guizhou "unmarried people use silver rings to decorate their ears, and the name is Malang, and married people take off", while Liping "rich people use gold and silver ears, most of which are up to five or six, such as Lianhuan". There are many kinds of Miao silver ornaments, including necklaces, silver brocades, silver crowns, silver flowers, silver waist chains, silver bells, silver earrings and earrings, silver collars and shawls, silver rings and buttons, etc.

Yi people are mainly distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan and other provinces, and their silver ornaments are also quite rich, including Phoenix crowns, rings, earrings, necklaces, silver bracelets, silver chains, silver buttons, etc. The Yi people usually use silver buttons for their matching clothes, among which the Silver Tiger coat button is the most famous. Its shape is tiger shaped, symbolizing dignity, auspiciousness and happiness. Every time a daughter gets married, her mother nails the silver buttons on her wedding clothes to pray for her daughter's good luck.

With the changes of social life, some minority costumes and customs are gradually modernized, and the original cultural characteristics are losing. Therefore, to protect and inherit the silver making skills of ethnic minorities is of great significance to the revitalization of national culture and the maintenance of national spirit.

Butuo County in Sichuan Province is known as the hometown of silver ornaments of Yi people. Butuo Yi silver ornaments can be divided into wine sets, tableware, jewelry, etc. Among them, the wine set includes silver wine cup, silver wine pot, etc., the tableware includes silver bowl, silver chopsticks, silver plate, etc., and there are many kinds of silver jewelry, including earrings, bracelets, buttons, rings, chest tags, collar ornaments, ear chains, earrings, headdresses, etc. These silver ornaments are made by carving, hollowing out, inlaying, hanging and other techniques in various forms and shapes.

The Butuo Yi people have loved silver ornaments since ancient times. The silver jewelry made by them is noble and elegant, realizing the perfect combination of clothing, silver jewelry and human body. The simple, elegant, dazzling and ingenious silver ornaments reflect the distinct Yi cultural tradition and unique aesthetic taste, and have the research value of ethnology, culturology, arts and crafts. The protection and utilization of Butuo Yi silver folk crafts is of great significance for promoting the national culture, adjusting the industrial structure of minority areas, and promoting the overall progress of local social economy.

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