Chinanews.com, Hechi Nandan, November 27th, title: The "living fossil" nation in Guangxi "wears" history on their backs, and the price of costumes reaches tens of thousands of yuan
Author Liu Juncong Wei Guozheng
On the 27th, in Baxu Yao Township, Nandan County, Hechi City, Guangxi, Li Fengzhen was busy drying pieces of cloth dyed blue. This is the turban cloth worn by local Yao men in white trousers.
The picture shows Li Fengzhen busy drying pieces of fabric.
Wei Guozheng
"We, the Baiku Yao, admire their own culture very much. Walking in the streets and alleys of Nandan, we often see Baiku Yao people wearing national costumes." Li Fengzhen said with a hearty smile.
The picture shows Li Fengzhen showing the banners made by indigo dyeing.
Wei Guozheng
Baiku Yao is a branch of the Yao nationality, so named because the men wear knee-length white trousers, while the women wear colorful pleated skirts.
Baiku Yao is called "the living fossil of human civilization" by UNESCO. It still retains a complete and ancient folk culture, and its unique Baiku Yao costumes have been handed down to this day.
"Girls in Baiku Yao began to learn clothing making at the age of 7, so almost every household knows how to weave and embroider." Li Fengzhen, 50, is a native of Baiku Yao, and is also a national intangible cultural heritage item (Yao clothing) autonomous region Level representative inheritors.
She followed her grandmother and mother to learn the production skills of Baiku Yao clothing since she was a child, and memorized the 36 production processes such as spinning and dyeing by heart.
Li Fengzhen said that the materials for the production of Baiku Yao costumes are all taken from nature and made according to different seasons of the year.
The special sticky paste painting is what distinguishes Baiku Yao clothing.
Baiku Yao women would use a knife dipped in sticky paste to draw various exquisite patterns on white cotton cloth.
The picture shows the "Yao King Seal" on the back of the jacket of Yao women in white trousers.
Wei Guozheng
It is reported that the sticky paste juice comes from "sticky paste tree", which is the common name of Baiku Yao for a tree that can only survive in Nandan.
Every March and April, Baiku Yao women begin to cut holes on the "sticky paste tree" to collect the sticky paste juice that flows out.
The longer the chisel is cut, the more sticky paste will flow out, the better.
And if there is less than one year of chiseling, the "sticky paste tree" will die naturally.
"The 'sticky paste tree' is our sacred tree. Around the Baiku Yao village, there are hundreds of years of 'sticky paste trees' everywhere. Every pattern we draw with sticky paste is a portrayal of the history of Baiku Yao." Li Fengzhen said.
In her own workshop, Li Fengzhen is holding a paste knife and drawing a square seal on white cotton cloth.
This square seal has a strange and symmetrical ancient pattern, which is often embroidered on the back of Yao women's jackets in white trousers, and is called "Yao Wang Yin".
The picture shows Li Fengzhen drawing the "Yao Wang Seal" with a sticky knife.
Wei Guozheng
Li Fengzhen introduced that the "Yao King Seal" is an ancient totem of Baiku Yao that has continued to this day.
According to legend, the chieftain of the Mo family of the Zhuang nationality cheated the seal of the Yao king by tricks, and tried to occupy the village of the Yao nationality.
King Yao led the Yao people to rise up and resist.
During the battle, King Yao, who was seriously injured, left ten bloody handprints on his trouser legs, and drew the pattern of King Yao's seal on the lapel before he died.
"Oh yo...why is there a gold seal printed on the floral vest I'm wearing? Yahai wants us to remember the lesson of the gold seal...why are there five red stripes on the white trousers I'm wearing? The bloodstains left behind."
The above is a fragment of the Baiku Yao folk song "Song of the Beginning of Heaven and Earth".
In order to commemorate the Yao king, the white trousers of the Yao people will embroider ten orange stripes on the men's white trousers, and a square seal on the back of the women's jacket.
They hope to remember history in this way and pray for the protection of their ancestors.
The picture shows Li Qiuyi spinning.
Wei Guozheng
"There is no written record of the weaving and embroidery method of 'Yao Wangyin', but it is passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation of Baiku Yao people." It takes a month to make, and the price of white trousers Yao costumes can reach tens of thousands of yuan.
At present, Baiku Yao costumes can be mass-produced by machines, but Baiku Yao people still attach great importance to hand-made.
Every Baiku Yao's traditional festival - New Year's Street Festival, many Baiku Yao people will wear hand-sewn costumes, gather together to sing antiphonally, play spinning tops, and dance copper drums, which has become a beautiful local scenery.
In 2006, the costumes of the Yao nationality were included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists, the most representative of which is the white trousers Yao costume.
In order to better inherit the craftsmanship of Baiku Yao costumes, in 2016, with the financial support of the local Women's Federation and the Bureau of Ethnic and Religious Affairs, Li Fengzhen established "Fengzhen Indigo Dyeing Workshop" and "Duo Nu Shou" in Nandan County. Workshop", the two workshops have driven more than 120 local women to find employment.
The picture shows the production process of Baiku Yao clothing used in modern items.
Wei Guozheng
In the "Duonu Handicraft Workshop" about 30 kilometers away from Baxu Yao Township, 26-year-old Li Qiuyi is giving a vivid speech in front of the computer.
At this time, she is participating in the Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition in Guangxi as an intangible heritage inheritor of Yao costumes.
"I studied clothing making with my mother while studying since I was a child. Now I hope that the clothing culture of Baiku Yao can better adapt to the needs of the market." Li Qiuyi said.
The picture shows Yao women in white trousers dancing the "monkey stick dance", with colorful pleated skirts fluttering in the wind.
Wei Guozheng
Li Qiuyi is the daughter of Li Fengzhen. The mother and daughter innovatively used the indigo dyeing process in the production of Baiku Yao clothing to make backpacks, pillows and other modern items, giving new vitality to the Baiku Yao clothing culture.
In the past, most of this mysterious and ancient nation lived in the Dashi mountainous area of Nandan County, living a life almost isolated from the world.
In June 2017, Nandan County launched the centralized resettlement site project of "Thousands of Yao Villages Wanhu Yao Township".
Around the Spring Festival in 2018, 13,500 Baiku Yao people moved out of Dashan and moved into new homes.
With the continuous improvement of the living and transportation environment, the ancient skills passed down from generation to generation by Baiku Yao have not been "forgotten", but continue to shine in this hot land.
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