Chinese Ethnic Costume Culture -- Dongxiang Ethnic Costume Culture

1、 Ethnic Profile

Dongxiang people mainly live in Gansu In Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, the foothills to the east of the Daxia River and to the south of the Yellow River. More than half of them live in Dongxiang Autonomous County, and the rest are scattered in Lanzhou, Dingxi, Ningxia, Xinjiang and other places. The Dongxiang nationality got its name from living in Dongxiang in Linxia, Gansu Province. It was formerly called "Dongxiang Hui Hui", "Dongxiang Tu Ren", "Dongxiang Mongolian", "Mongolian Hui", etc. They call themselves "Sarta", which means "Semu people who believe in Islam in Central Asia". There are more than 373000 Dongxiang people.

Dongxiang people believe in Islam and belong to Sunni. There are three sects: the old, the new and the new. They speak Dongxiang language, belonging to the Mongolian language family of Altaic language family, which is similar to Mongolian. Most people also speak Chinese, and Chinese is commonly used, without their own national characters. The houses are mostly quadrangles with civil structure. Dongxiang people are mainly agricultural people, and animal husbandry also plays an important role in their production. Dongxiang's "three treasures", namely, peaches and apricots, melons and fruits, and big red dates, are famous throughout the country.

　 2、 Characteristic culture

Dongxiang people have a fine tradition of hospitality and etiquette. Every festival, there is a "Gulong Yijie" feast, which means "eating pasta". Dongxiang people are good at making fried food, which is not only necessary for entertaining guests on festivals, but also often used as gifts for each other. Eid al Fitr is a traditional festival among Dongxiang people. According to the Islamic regulations, every September in the Islamic calendar is the month of fast. All men and women who can take part in the fast do not eat or eat from dawn to sunset every day. The beginning and last day of this month are subject to the new moon. The next day after the end of the fast is the festival. Therefore, it is not only a national festival, but also a religious festival. During the festival, Dongxiang Muslims, like Muslims of other nationalities, bathe behind them, put on clean national costumes, worship in mosques, and listen to the teachings of religious leaders and imams. Then go to the grave separately to mourn the dead.

In the marriage custom of Dongxiang nationality, it is very interesting to "smash the pillow" in the bridal chamber. In the bridal chamber, the hilarious young men, holding the pillows already prepared, hit the veiled bride at the corner of the kang, and the girlfriends who escorted the bride formed a defense line to smash the pillows that were thrown back. The scene was very lively. After that, the girlfriends took off the bride's veil to "show up", opened the box and cage, and showed their precious dowry. Dongxiang people have rich mass entertainment activities and folk oral literature, and competitive activities mainly include horse racing, wrestling, and clod beating. "Huaer" is a form of singing and dancing that Dongxiang people like. Dongxiang people's musical instruments include "four strings", flutes, and clay blowers.

III Clothes & Accessories focusing

Constrained by Islamic rules, the headdresses of Dongxiang women are strictly distinguished according to their age and marital status. In the past, girls wore round "folding hats" before the age of seven or eight, with green or blue caps, wrinkled lace brims, tassels and colored beads as decorations. From the age of eight, girls must wear caps, which were very particular when they were young, It is made of soft and delicate green yarn. After marriage, it is changed to wear a black cap until middle age. When it is old, women wear a white cap. Women of all ages wear double braids. Now girls' hats are slightly changed from the basis of "folding hats". The crown is round, and the brim is a large round edge made of green silk, decorated with flowers and silk spikes. Young women like to wear white soft hats, Only middle-aged and elderly women still keep the habit of wearing hijabs.

In their traditional costumes, women wear large front coat and waistcoat, while men usually wear wide gowns with wide waistbands, which are hung with knives, purse, snuff bottles, glasses boxes and other things, and wear white or black flat topped soft hats. The elderly prefer to wear long gowns and "neutral white", which are usually sewn with gray or black cloth, with a facing gown. {page_break}

Most Dongxiang men wear wide gowns, girdles, waist knives, cigarette pouches, etc. Women usually wear embroidered clothes with round necks, large lapels and wide sleeves. Lower the trousers, open small slits behind the trouser sleeves. The trouser sleeves and trouser legs are inlaid or embroidered with lace. When wearing, use streamers to tie the trouser legs. On festivals, they wear embroidered skirts and embroidered shoes. Men wear flat topped white and black soft hats without eaves. Women wear embroidered caps at home and silk caps when they go out. The color of the headscarf varies according to people's identity. Girls and newlyweds wear green, middle-aged women wear black after a year of marriage, and elderly women wear white. When wearing a cap, it only shows holes, and all hair must be covered. Women's jewelry mainly consists of silver earrings, silver bracelets and agate beads.

　 Men's clothing

The middle of the men's clothing jacket is open, with a row of neat cloth buttons, and the collar is about inches high. They wear black or light blue pants with ankle length, and some wear black pants, which is no different from the pants and coats worn by Han men. In the cold season, wear a sheepskin coat without face, with a slanted front. The long coat is about the same length as the cloak, and the short coat is similar to the short coat. When wearing a short fur coat, wear a belt made of coarse cloth. The elderly usually wear a belly girdle.

In addition to the clothes and trousers made of black cloth and blue cloth, they also wear brown coats. The brown coat is sewn with brown seeds made by Dongxiang people. Brown has four colors: dark brown, beige, black and white, which are the natural colors of wool and are durable. There are two kinds of brown coats: long and short. The short brown coat is usually worn during daily labor, while the long brown coat is worn when visiting relatives and friends or going to the mosque for worship. In the 1960s, the style of the brown coat was changed into a fashionable Chinese tunic suit. Old men usually wear trousers and gowns, while Protestant men often wear uniforms and black cloth overcoats with small reverse collars.

Men like to wear numbered hats. No. hat is a flat top Soft hat It has black and white colors, and is mostly made of cloth. The rich people either sew it with silk or weave it with thread. Most black caps are clip caps, while white caps are single caps. The top of the old black hat was sewn with six pieces of cloth, while the top of the Protestant hat was sewn with a whole piece of cloth. The size cap is not big and can only cover the top of the head.

Zhongbai is a kind of dress that Dongxiang men like to wear. The "Zhongbai" style, similar to the Uighur form, is a kind of coat with a small lapel and a pair of front frocks, which is sewn with black, gray or white cloth. When people wear Zhongbai, they will feel solemn and simple. Since Zhongbai is a dress for gathering at the mosque, wedding, funeral or visiting relatives and friends, it must always be kept clean. If it is accidentally polluted by filth, it must be cleaned immediately.

When the middle-aged and elderly people go to the mosque for worship, they usually wear a kind of wrapping towel called "Taisi Dari" on their heads. The wrapping towel lasts nine and a half hours (it is equal to the length from the finger to the elbow for a time), and is usually made of white yarn, yellow yarn, or white or yellow silk. {page_break}

　　 Women's clothing

Young women wear black "uprightness" (a kind of hat), which is characterized by a binding mouth at the back of the hat, a silk thread on the brim, silk ears on both ends of the silk thread, put on the hat, bind the binding mouth, and then pin the ears on the temples.

In the 1940s, great changes took place in women's clothing. The clothing color tends to be single, mostly made of black, blue or navy cloth, and some young women wear red and green. The jacket is knee length, very wide, with the big front open on the right, the sleeve length to the wrist, and the cuff is about four to five inches. Some also add a knee length cloth shoulder on the jacket. Wear trousers dragged to the foot, with a seven inch trouser leg. In winter, wear cotton padded jacket and trousers in the same style as single clothes. Some people wear fur coats in cold weather.

Dongxiang women usually wear hijab because of religious influence. Since the Republic of China, the hair is still covered to the waist, and only the face is exposed. This is because Islamic scriptures stipulate that women's hair is shy and needs to be covered.

Young women like to wear silver earrings and bracelets. When the girl gets married, she also wears headdress, chest decoration, silver toothpick and round silver medal. If the mirror is not good, she can borrow it from a rich family and return it to the original owner when the bride returns to her mother's home for the first time. Nowadays, the bride only inserts a few silk flowers on her head and chest, and seldom wears headdress and chest dress.