Chinese National Costume Culture -- Miao Costume Culture

The Miao nationality is a nation with a long history. Their ancestors lived in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in the pre Qin period. Their history can be traced back to the times of Yao, Shun and Yu. During the Warring States Period, Wu Qi said, "In the past, there was a house of three Miao people, a wave of Peng Li on the left, water of Dongting on the right, Wenshan Mountain in the south, and Hengshan Mountain in the north.". This region of "Three Miao" or "Three Miao Countries" is located in Jianghan, Jianghuai Plain, Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Miao ancestors living in Jingchu area were called "Jingman". The rise of the "Jing Man" force, a descendant of the "Three Miao", became one of the main residents of the later Chu State before the Shang Dynasty. From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Miao ancestors lived in Wuxi and Wuling areas and were called "Wuxi Barbarians", "Wuling Barbarians", "Changsha Barbarians", etc. In the Tang, Song and later periods, with the development of social economy and the prosperity of population, the Miao nationality once again showed its important influence in the south of the motherland, which attracted the attention of the Tang, Song and subsequent dynasties. The relationship between the central dynasties and the Miao nationality has also become closer and closer, and the understanding of the Miao nationality has also increased, so the "Miao" has been separated from the "barbarian" mixed name of several ethnic minorities, and reappeared in the literature as a single ethnic name. The current distribution of the Miao nationality took shape in the Han and Tang dynasties.

Miao costumes are divided into children's clothing, men's clothing and Women's wear 。 The color and decoration of Miao men's clothing are monotonous, not as bright and rich as women's clothing. Women's clothes can be classified into casual clothes and formal clothes. Casual clothes are clothes that are usually worn, and their color patterns and decorations are not as bright as those of wedding dresses at festivals.

If silver jewelry is the representative symbol of Miao women, then clothing represents the unique works of art of the Miao family. It is recorded in Cihai that "Miao embroidery has become a parallel income with Xiang embroidery, Su embroidery, Shu embroidery and Yue embroidery, which represent the highest level of Miao embroidery." Miao embroidery and clothing, as the famous art master Liu Haisu praised, "Miao women's embroidery is superb. Xiang embroidery and Su embroidery are more popular than others, and have great commercial development and prospects.

Miao costumes are famous for their eye-catching colors, complicated decorations and thought-provoking cultural connotations. The Miao costume pattern carries the historical responsibility of inheriting the national culture, and thus has the expression function of the text part. Due to the long history, the text functions and specific meanings represented by these patterns are also covered with mystery, which cannot be fully understood. This is also the unique charm of Miao costumes.

The Miao costume pattern is a decorative art developed with the Miao costumes. It is still used in daily costumes and daily necessities, and has the characteristics of combining practical functions and aesthetic functions. It is endowed with rich and colorful connotations and meanings such as inheriting national traditions, commemorating ancestors, and inheriting ancestral teachings, The meaning and origin behind these patterns represent the Miao people's perceptual experience and interpretation of the objective world. Miao costumes have a long history. Due to historical reasons, Miao costumes have never been recorded in any historical data. However, judging from the cultural connotation represented by the Miao costumes, the Miao costumes have a history of thousands of years. Although the Miao people do not have their own literature, they integrate the stories that have been passed down for thousands of years, the cities where the ancestors lived, the routes of migration and wandering into the clothing culture by their strong sense of identity and oral teaching from generation to generation. They also embroider the clothing into the clothing, "wear" from generation to generation and never forget it. Therefore, Miao costumes are known as "no word history books" and "history books" worn on the body. {page_break}

"Ou Ya Ga Gi Xi" - The bottom rising embroidered clothes are the most representative patterns in the white wash style Miao costumes, which are composed of two types: "Ou Ya Zi" and "Ou Ya Shan", and "Red Embroidered Flowers" and "Dark Background Embroidered Clothes" in Hanze. Both of them have no embroidery on their backs, and other patterns are the same as "Ouyan Gagei Xi". However, the most varied pattern of clothing pattern is "throwing power" - sleeve flower, whose pattern is mainly arranged in various geometric figures. In different geometric figures, various patterns are embroidered to form many different names of "throwing power" - sleeve flower. For example, "learning from Xiao Ridge" means "silk sells red flowers" in the Han Dynasty; "Throw Xilela to learn the edge" means "small red snake skin flower" in the Han Dynasty; "Throwing, supplementing and returning"; Chinese means "chicken fungus flowers"; "Throwing a knife" is translated into "flowers on the tree top"; "Throw away the branches" is translated into "fern branches and flowers"; "Throwing Nine", which is translated into Chinese as "needle flower"; Its flower is also called "throwing to catch up"; It is translated into Chinese as "Baogu flower"; "Throw the sound to learn from Jiu Duiga", which is translated into Chinese as "Sixteen hook silkworm flowers"; The Chinese translation of "throwing away the enemy" is "four small red flowers"; "Throw away the war", the Chinese translation of "four big red flowers"; It is composed of more than 40 kinds of clothing patterns, such as "throwing treasure and learning", which is translated into Chinese as "floating red flowers".

Detailed explanation of clothing

Miao costumes are also called Miao costumes. There are no less than 200 kinds of Miao costumes in Qiandongnan, which is the area with the largest variety and best preservation of Miao costumes in China and the world. It is called "Miao costumes museum". On the whole, Miao costumes maintain the traditional techniques of Chinese folk weaving, embroidery, picking and dyeing. They often use one of the main techniques, while interspersed with other techniques, either picking with embroidery, dyeing with embroidery, or combining weaving and embroidery, so that these flowers are colorful and bright National art Features. In terms of content, most of the clothing patterns are drawn from various living objects in daily life, which play an important role in representing and identifying families, branches and languages. These image records are called "epics on the body" by experts and scholars. From the perspective of modeling, it adopts the traditional Chinese line drawing style or near line drawing style, with single line as the pattern outline modeling technique. From the perspective of production skills, the five shapes in the history of clothing development, namely, knitting, sewing, splicing and tailoring, are all examples in the clothing of Miao nationality in Southeast Guizhou, with clear historical hierarchy, which can be called the exhibition hall of clothing production history. From the perspective of color, they are good at choosing a variety of strong contrast colors, and strive to pursue the rich and thick sense of beauty of colors, which are generally red, black, white, yellow and blue. From the perspective of composition, it does not emphasize the theme, but only focuses on the requirements of adapting to the overall sense of clothing. In terms of form, it can be divided into full dress and casual dress. Costumes are the costumes for festival protocol and wedding, which are complex and gorgeous, and reflect the artistic level of Miao costumes. Casual clothes are more quiet and simple than formal clothes. They use less materials and labor for daily wear. In addition to the difference between formal and casual clothes, there are also age and regional differences in Miao costumes. The casual clothes of Miao men and women in Qiandongnan are simple. Men's jackets are generally divided into three categories: left lapel jacket, double lapel jacket and left lapel gown, with double lapel jacket being the most common. The bottoms are generally large pants with a width of about one inch. Women's casual upper garment is generally divided into two categories: right lapel top and round neck chest cross upper garment, and the lower garment is various pleated trousers and trousers.

Matching men's top popular In most Miao areas in the territory, a garment consists of six parts: left and right front pieces, left and right back pieces, and left and right sleeves. Five to eleven cloth buttons shall be set on the front of the garment. The left front is a buttonhole, and the right front is a button. The front of the coat is straight and the back is curved; Open the left and right armpits. The quality of men's upper garment is generally home woven, khaki, woven gonny and shilin. The colors are mostly cyan, navy blue and blue to match; The bottoms are usually home-made trousers with large trouser legs. In recent years, most young people wear Zhongshan suits, and some young people like suits.

The left lapel jacket is popular in Miao villages in Congjiang, Rongjiang Bakai, Taijiang Wujiao, Xiangpai and Jianhe. A garment consists of a left front large front, a right front front, a back panel and two sleeves. The left front and the right front intersect in the middle of the throat, and slant along the right chest to the right armpit to the hem. Five to seven cloth buttons are set, and the front hem and back hem are straight. The left and right armpits are straight and barrel shaped. The cloth for the left lapel coat is usually home woven or Tibetan blue woven gonny, and the color is mainly cyan.

The structure of the left lapel gown is the same as that of the left lapel gown, but the difference is only from the upper garment to the instep. It is a casual dress often worn by elderly Miao men.

The men's casual bottoms are generally barrel trousers without straight leg. The leg width is about one inch. The leg is the same as the leg. It is composed of left, right front and back pieces, which is easy to make.

Women's casual tops are generally right lapel tops and neckless chest cross tops. The structure of the right lapel coat is basically the same as the left lapel coat in the men's coat, but in the opposite direction. The collar less chest cross top is called "Ed bad" (which means male clothes are men's clothes), which is a traditional Miao women's dress, such as "cassock", which has no buttons and is tied with cloth belt. The texture of Miao women's casual clothes is generally home woven cloth, corduroy, velveteen, woven gonny, shilin cloth, etc., and the color is generally green, blue, etc.

Middle aged and young Miao women in the junction area of Leishan, Kaili and Taijiang counties usually wear light colored right lapel jackets, embroidered flowers and birds, flowers and plants or bought ready-made lace along the shoulders, cuffs and the right lapel edge, wore an apron and a silver apron, wore a suit trousers, wore a high bun on the top, and wore ear pillars. Middle aged women often wrapped white towel headscarves, Young women often wear silver combs or insert silver clothes, plastic flowers and other accessories. Elderly women usually wear right lapel top or collarless cross top, ankle length blue pleated skirt, and apron with skirt length. The decoration of elderly women is usually home woven or gonny woven. The color is green and blue. {page_break}

The casual upper garment for Miao women in Zhouxi, Qingman, Tonggu in Majiang County, Baiwu in the Development Zone and Nangao in Danzhai County in Kaili City, with a lapel facing midlength garment inside, a large collar facing shirt with large sleeves and a cross chest blouse, with cross cut flower blocks at the cuff, a silver chain hanging embroidery apron, and cross cut wrist guards; Under the knee inch pleated skirt, tie a cross stitch hem leg, coat brocade style pink stockings.

The Miao women's casual clothes in Yangwu, Changqing, Paidiao and other places in Danzhai County mostly wear the right lapel facing blouse, with the front long to the lower abdomen, and the knee length trousers. The silver waistband is used for training and hanging, the trousers are long, and the legs are wrapped. The clothing of the middle-aged and the elderly is the same as that of the youth. The upper and lower garments are mostly made of home woven twill, plain cloth, corduroy, velveteen and woven gonny, and the head is covered with batik handkerchief or embroidered headband.

Miao women in Lushan, Huangping and Shibing areas of Kaili City wear cross blouses with large collars and no buttons, with cloth belts around their waists; Under the knee length blue clothes, red and white wax flower pleated skirts are worn, with purple apron pieces. Most of the materials are home woven, and the color is mainly cyan.

In Taojiang, Qiaogang, Nianxian, Luoguo, Danzhai, Danzao, Jiapei, Yangwu, Taijiang and other places in Leishan County, the Miao women's casual clothes are waist length tight green and plain with a right lapel top, five to nine inch long pleated skirts underneath, tight pants inside, a two foot square geometric pattern cross stitch apron piece tied at the front and back of the skirt, and a cross stitch shawl on the shoulder. The top materials are generally home woven fabric, velveteen cloth and corduroy, with plain green color. The cross stitch process is heavy in red, yellow and white, and embroidery crafts are rare.

The women of the Miao nationality in Rongjiang County in Bagkai, Congjiang County in Jiajiu, Zaiban, Liping County in Shuikou, Danzhai County in Yahui and other places wear casual clothes. The upper clothes wear large open necked blouses without buttons, with cross cut chest pockets inside. Before marriage, they wear knee length plain pleated skirts or trousers. After marriage, they wear knee length wax pleated skirts, which are wrapped around the waist. The tops, aprons and edges of chest pockets are decorated with cross cut lace, Prismatic armband flower block is set at the upper arm of the sleeve.

The Miao men's attire is the left lapel gown, jacket and mandarin jacket. The appearance is the same as that of casual clothes. The texture is generally silk, silk, etc., and the colors are mostly green, blue, and purple.

Generally, the dress for women is a pleated skirt, and the top is a large collar crossed "black hem" or a right lapel top with fine lace embellished with silver flakes, silver bubbles and silver flowers, and the outer cover is a satin embroidered or cross stitch apron. The "black pendulum" is generally inlaid with cross flowers all over the body, and generally inlaid with prismatic cross flowers along the shoulder, without buttons, and tied with cloth belts, waistbands, etc. Wear silver crown, silver flower or silver horn. The colors of the costumes are red, yellow, green and other warm colors.

　　 Clothes & Accessories classification

Miao costumes are divided into gender, age, formal and regular costumes, and there are regional differences. According to the Hundred Miao Painting of the Qing Dynasty, there are 83 kinds. In addition, there are more than 100 species according to the survey data.

The complicated Miao costumes can be divided into five categories and several styles, namely, western Hunan style, eastern Guizhou style, Sichuan Guizhou Yunnan style, south central Guizhou style and Hainan style.

Xiangxi type is popular in Xiangxi Prefecture of Hunan Province and the border area of Hunan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Hubei provinces. In ancient times, the custom of men and women wearing chignons has disappeared. Today, I am wearing a round neck jacket with a large front, and there are some embroidery on the shoulder and cuff; Wide leg trousers with lace on the edge of the trouser tube; Wrap a tall and large green cloth or flowered cloth headband and wear silver ornaments.

Qiandong type, popular in Qiandongnan. The men's clothes are mostly green homespun clothes and trousers, with a green headscarf. The basic style of women's clothing is the collar coat and pleated skirt. It is made of turquoise cloth and is decorated with flowers. The patterns are mostly plain embroidered dragons, phoenixes, birds, fish and flowers. The women's dress in Leigong Mountain area is unique. The Baichu skirt is very short, with the length of 30 cm and the length of less than 20 cm. The dress is decorated with various geometric patterns with colored lines. There are many silver ornaments in women's attire.

The Sichuan Guizhou Yunnan type is popular in Miao areas where western dialects are spoken in Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangxi and other provinces and regions. Women's clothes are linen clothes on the top and batik linen flower skirts on the bottom. The color is light, with few flowers and silver ornaments. In the northwest of Guizhou and the northeast of Yunnan, both men and women are decorated with woven shawls, the big ones are like bamboo hats.

The south central Guizhou type is popular in the south central Guizhou and the junction of Guizhou, Guangxi and Yunnan. Women's blouses often have collars, back handkerchiefs, etc., and a blue pleated skirt or batik skirt is installed under them. It mainly uses cross stitch and wax printing. The Huaxi style women's clothing in Guiyang, Anshun, Anlong and other places has a collar that resembles a flag, commonly known as "flag clothing", and has many decorations.

Hainan type, popular in Hainan Province. Women's clothes are mostly green cloth long dresses with right side skirts and batik tube skirts with few floral decorations.

　　 Costume cultural connotation

1、 The Miao costumes are an important part of the Miao cultural system. From the costumes, we can see the development process and cultural deposition of the Miao history, which intensively reflects the understanding and sublimation of the Miao people in the struggle with nature, and also produces the aesthetic consciousness of the Miao people. There is a saying in Wenshan: "Miao people live on the mountain, Zhuang people live in Shuitou, and Han people live on the street.". This saying roughly outlines the distribution of Wenshan ethnic minorities, and also reflects the geographical environment and conditions of Wenshan Miao nationality. The environment they live in has laid the foundation for the Miao people to change their perceptual recognition of things in the mountains into rational recognition. Costume is one of the means to identify ethnic groups, and also one of the characteristics to distinguish ethnic groups, which directly reflects a nation's aesthetic or world outlook. The Miao people in Wenshan are roughly divided into white Miao, green Miao, Huamiao, Han Miao, etc. According to the Miao experts' classification of Miao costumes, the Miao costumes in Wenshan Prefecture are the Maguan style (cross patterned pleated skirt style), Qiubei style (white skirt style) and Kaiyuan style (ribbon style) of geometric patterned cape style (Sichuan Guizhou Yunnan style). These three clothing styles include the Miao people who call themselves Mengdou, Mengzhua, Mengshi, Mengpei, Mengsou, Mengba, and Mengbrush. They all speak the Miao language of the Sichuan Guizhou Yunnan sub dialect. Their cultural customs are similar, but their clothing can also be distinguished due to subtle changes. {page_break}

Maguan style Miao costumes are distributed in Maguan, Malipo, Wenshan, Xichou County, Qiubei style is mainly distributed in Qiubei, Guangnan, Funing, Malipo, Xichou, Yanshan County, Kaiyuan style is mainly distributed in Yanshan, Qiubei, Wenshan County and Kaiyuan, Mengzi, Mile and other counties and cities in Honghe Prefecture. Although these three clothing styles have different characteristics, their patterns are mostly conceived as abstract geometric and spiral patterns based on the shape of snails, ferns, chicken beaks, crabs or some animals and plants. The dress patterns of the Miao people in Wenshan are not as realistic as those of the Miao people in southeast Guizhou and western Hunan. Wenshan is freehand and delicate. So, how can we distinguish the Maguan style, Qiubei style and Kaiyuan style? Due to historical reasons, most Miao people live in mountains with harsh environment after migrating to Wenshan area, and the difference of clothing of each branch is often related to climate and environment. For example, Maguan style clothing, because this part of Miao people live in the subtropical mountains and valleys south of the Tropic of Cancer, the climate is hot, and there are many mosquitoes. Their clothing styles are mostly right open embroidered blouses, with single-layer batik pleated skirts underneath for ventilation, and single-layer embroidered leggings are wrapped around the lower legs to prevent mosquito bites; The Miao nationality in Qiubei style, because they live in the mountainous area with high altitude north of the Tropic of Cancer, and the climate is cold in winter, their coat is split open, under which they wear double white pleated skirts and their calves are wrapped with multi-layer embroidered leggings to resist the cold; The Kaiyuan style Miao people also live in the relatively gentle mountain area north of the Tropic of Cancer. In winter, the cold wind is blowing. Their clothes are embroidered on the right front, batik pleated skirts on the lower body, and an embroidered windbreaker, which almost covers the whole body, and their waistband is wide. According to historical records, about a small number of Miao people moved into Wenshan in the Tang Dynasty. By the Ming Dynasty, Miao people began to move into Qiubei and other counties in Wenshan in large numbers. In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, due to the failure of the suppression of Miao people's uprisings against the Qing Dynasty in Hunan and Guizhou, Miao people moved into Wenshan in large quantities from Guizhou and Guangxi, and entered Southeast Asia's Vietnam, Laos and other countries. At that time, as a war refugee, the Miao nationality could only hide in the mountains and forests after arriving at Wenshan to multiply, forming a distribution pattern of "Miao people live in the mountains". It was this living environment and climate conditions that made the Miao costumes of the same culture, customs and language appear differences related to the environment and climate, and also led to the diversity of clothing styles of the Miao nationality in Wenshan. It can be seen that the difference between natural environment and climate conditions is an important factor that determines the diversity of costumes of Miao people in Wenshan.

2、 With the progress of society and Economics With the development of culture, the life of the Miao nationality is getting better and better, and their costumes are also constantly developing and changing. The clothing style has developed from the original single dark blue and black as the keynote to the colorful style, and is closer to the art stage. Miao women believe that all the colors in nature are the color materials they need, and they should wear them to form a beauty that originates from nature and transcends nature. From the development and evolution of Wenshan Miao costumes, its costume style has developed from the large, fat, wide and loose style in the 1950s and 1960s to the style that promotes the length of each branch's costumes to show the aesthetic realm of women's curvilinear beauty. This beauty is the internal and self expressive aesthetic taste engraved in the minds of Miao women and reflected in costumes. "Nature, as the opposite or supplement of life and society, is most likely to lead people into this aesthetic realm and induce aesthetic understanding. This is because the external form of nature, whether in the display of life vitality and vitality, or in the display of unique harmony and fascinating aspects in the diversity of everything, can make people feel beautiful and enter reverie."

Therefore, Miao women's understanding of all natural objects in the mountains and their understanding of the colorful colors in nature urge them to daydream about natural objects and embroider them on cloth to form perfect patterns, and obtain pleasure and satisfaction psychologically. This pleasure and satisfaction is that they feel proud and show their talents in front of the opposite sex and aim to attract the eyes of the opposite sex, which is the instinct of animals and the motivation of Miao women's dress patterns. Because Miao women must learn cross stitch from their elders when they are seven or eight years old. In their ideology, if a big girl can't cross stitch, she will be looked down upon by others, or even can't marry well. It is this ideology that has long dominated the Miao women's constant hunting, processing and sublimation of natural objects and won praise from the opposite sex or people. In addition, the Miao nationality constantly absorbs the patterns of other nationalities to enrich itself, but it is not a general copy, but a pattern suitable for the aesthetic characteristics of the Miao nationality through screening and adding. Some people say that the Miao nationality is a nation with strong adaptability. No matter how bad the natural environment is, or whether they live among other nations, they can adapt to and absorb the excellent culture of other nations and retain their own traditional culture to survive and develop. They have become a world nation today. Even the Miao people who migrated to Europe and the United States can fully retain their own traditional culture and develop rapidly with the nations in developed countries, This is the value of the Miao nationality and the way of survival of the Miao nationality. No matter what kind of environment, Miao people are proud to wear their own national costumes and show off their excellent traditional culture. Like other works of art, Miao costumes have become works of art with national characteristics through the systematic creation process of Miao women's careful design, embroidery, batik, etc. of their styles and patterns. From the form and content of the work, it has distinct aesthetic value and artistic characteristics, and has a high art collection value. {page_break}

　　 Miao Headwear

In addition to the Miao men's headwear, some adults in a small part of the country, such as Basha in Congjiang County and Jiu Gan in Jianhe County, have their hair tied in buns on their heads, most of the youth in the country keep separate heads, and the headbands wrapped in some areas are 40cm in diameter. In recent years, most elderly men wear fur hats.

Most Miao children's headdresses are left on the left and right of their heads and tied into two plaits or two handfuls, like the "general horn" of the ancient Han people.

Women's headdresses are usually tied in a high bun on the top, with silver needles, silver hairpins, silver combs, plastic combs, wood combs and other combs inserted. The junction areas of Leishan, Kaili and Taijiang counties are wrapped in white towel headscarves, and the Huangping area is worn with crinkle hats.

The hair styles of Miao women in Zhouxi, Qingman, Majiang Tonggu, Baiwu, Danzhai Nangao, Xinhua and other towns in Kaili City are different between married and unmarried. Unmarried people wear a cone bun on their head, a bottomless hat covering their forehead, and silver combs or silver flowers; Married people wear a bun on their head, wind their hair in waves and cover their forehead, and wear silver flowers or combs.

Unmarried Miao women in Lushan, Huangping and Shibing counties of Kaili City have worn flat top crinkle hats since they were seven or eight years old, wrapped with self dyed purple or white triangular scarves. Married women and elderly women have their hair coiled around their heads, put on bottomless or half bottomed crinkle hats, tied with purple handkerchiefs, and no more headdresses for casual wear.

The unmarried Miao women in Yangwu, Paidiao, Jinzhong, Changqing, Longtang and other places in Danzhai County wear a high awl bun on their head and a bottomless hat. The married women wear a flat bun on their head and wear a square handkerchief or batik towel. Miao women in Leishan Taojiang, Zhanglei, Danzhai Dangzao, Yangwu, Jiapei, Taijiang Anti Pai and other places often use tea oil or vegetable oil to wet their hair and roll it into a high bun on their heads. Tie the hair into a grid shape with wool, etc., and wear a silver or wood comb on the head.

The headdresses of Miao women in Taigong, Shidong, Liuchuan and Gedong of Jianhe are no different from those in other regions.

Miao women pay more attention to earrings, most of them wear earrings, earrings, ear pillars and other accessories. There are two kinds of earrings: solid silver earrings and hollow silver earrings. In addition, there are earrings, bubble flower earrings, etc. Earrings are mostly attached to earrings, which are mostly melon seed shaped ornaments. Ear posts are the most common earrings among Miao women, like the bobbin thread winder of a sewing machine. One end is big and the other is small. Thread is used to tie the ear posts to the ears.

Miao silverware

It is popular in southeast Guizhou and western Hunan Miao areas. There are silver crowns, silver carvings, collars, shawls, necklaces, toothpicks, buns, earrings, bracelets, rings, etc. The collar is a set of seven rings from small to large, weighing more than 2000 grams. The shape may be four ridges, spiral or slightly round, and various patterns may be carved on the plane. The collar is a must for Miao girls to love and marry. The toothpick is generally composed of several thin and transparent toothpicks, four to eight silver chains and small silver bells. Each silver chain is connected by dozens of small silver rings with a diameter of less than 2mm. Each part also weaves, chisels, and carves various patterns. The common ones are the phoenix crossing the neck, the twin phoenix rising sun, and the twin peaches, to wish happiness and good luck; Carps jump off the Dragon Gate, plum blossom everywhere, etc. to express their good wishes; Needle cylinder, monkey like peach, lion rolling embroidery ball, etc. show the interest of life; A pair of toothpicks should have the advantages of beautiful shape, bright color, crisp sound and practicality.

Miao silver comb

It is popular in the Miao nationality area in southeast Guizhou. It is called "Yenisong" and "Yini" in Miao language. Use a silver and wooden comb. It is about 16cm long. The comb surface has the pattern of three birds, as well as other patterns commensurate with it. There are eleven silver flowers on the back of the comb. A small silver chain is hung, and a trumpet shaped silver tube is hung. A slight swing will make a clang sound. There is a silver chain on the two side corners of the comb connected with a long silver needle, which is inserted on the left and right sides of the hairpin.

Miao silver bracelet

It is called "Niqiuba" in Miao language. It is a silver ornament worn by a girl on her wrist. It was made by a folk silversmith. In Miao people, silver is usually drawn into strips. The more elegant ones are decorated with decorative patterns.