Looking For The Fashion Elements In National Costumes: All Embracing Yi Costumes

Women usually wear large lapels and right lapels with lace or embroidery on their upper body jacket , wearing black headgear, earrings, and silver row flower on the neckline. In addition to the skirts worn by the Yi people in Xiaoliangshan and Yunnan, Yi women in other regions wear trousers. Many branches of women's trousers also have delicate lace embroidered on their feet. Married women also have beautiful and colorful lace embroidered on their skirts, cuffs and collars, especially the embroidery on their waistband. In central and southern Yunnan, unmarried women often wear bright cockscomb hats with red tassels and beads. The cockscomb hats are often cut into cockscomb shapes with cloth shells and embroidered with tens, hundreds or even thousands of silver bubbles. The Yi people who lived in the mountains used to be men and women, They all like to wear a piece of "ear wiping tile" - sheepskin felt. It is like a cloak, woven from wool, below the knee, with hair spikes at the lower end, which is generally dark black. Before the age of 15, Yi girls wore red and white children's skirts, wore single braids, and when they were 15 years old, there was a ceremony called "Shalalo", which means "changing skirts, combing double braids, pulling ear threads" , which indicates that the girl has grown up. After 15 years old, she will wear the floor length skirt of a young girl whose middle part is black. The single braid will be combed into double braids. She will wear a headband embroidered with colorful flowers. She will tear off the old thread worn in her childhood and replace it with silver earrings. Most Yi men wear black narrow sleeved right cardigan jacket with lace and pleated wide leg trousers. There is a lock of hair about three inches long on the head, which is called "Tianbodhisattva" in Chinese and "Zier" in Yi. This is the way for Yi men to show their gods. Never touch them. Wrapped with more than ten feet of green, blue and black bandages, the front right is tied into a long vertebra shaped "Zier" with a thick thumb.

Yi men's clothing is called "hero bun". The man takes no need as beauty, and takes advantage of his leisure time to pull out his beard one by one. He wears yellow or red ear beads strung with red silk thread on his ears, and red silk thread on the bottom of the beads.

Men's wear characteristics

Most men have hair on their heads. The Yi people call it "Zier" or "Zimu". This is an ancient traditional dress. When the boy was four or five years old, he left a square piece of hair on the top of his head and pulled it into a bun when he became an adult. People regard it as the representative of the god of heaven, and believe that it can dominate good or bad luck. Therefore, it is sacred and inviolable, and no one can touch or tease it. Therefore, it is called "Heaven Bodhisattva" in Chinese. The head is wrapped with a turquoise cotton cloth or silk headband, and the head end of the headband is mostly in the shape of a sharp cone. Due to the left side of the forehead, it is called "Ziti" in Yi language and "Hero Knot" in Chinese. Young people often tie heroes to be slender and straight to show their bravery, while old people tend to be thick like a bun to show their maturity. Yi men regard needless as their beauty, and often pluck off their beards when they are young. The left ear of the baby boy is perforated and wears earrings when it is slightly longer.

Girls' clothing

Yi girls wear a single braid perpendicular to the back of their heads after their hair grows. When he was eight or nine years old, he put the Yi children's clothes with single braid around his head. The tail of the braid was decorated with red cotton thread, and the braid was sometimes buckled with bow shaped wooden combs. When getting married, they split the double braids and press the cross on the headband. Those who have not yet married but have reached adulthood can also choose a day to divide their hair into two braids. In Zhizha area, young people wear red li blue face double-layer embroidered headbands, while in Yinuo area, one or two meters of blue cloth is folded into several layers and placed on their heads. The area where it is located is a long piece of green cloth, which is tied with lace and folded on the head. In all three areas, the handkerchief was changed after the birth of a child. The Shengzha and Yinuo areas were replaced with lotus leaf shaped clip caps, and the local technology was bamboo framed green cloth dome caps. There is also a long black cloth wrapped around the head, about 3cm wide, coiled around the head, about 10cm. The greater the prominence, the more expensive it will be. For example, in the past, black Yi aristocratic women were used regardless of whether they were adults or child-bearing. Before a woman was a teenager, she often hung red green beads on her ears, which were as big as peas. Four beads were strung together with iron wires, measuring 34 cm long. Red cotton thread was tied to her ears. Or wear a small red stone ring, thread it into the ring, and hang it on the ear. Earrings should only be worn as adults or when wearing double braids. The earrings are coral, silver bubble, stone ear beads, jade, shell, and white fungus, most of which are round stars. There are many silver or copper patterns. The most common is the triple or quadruple combined flower bud, with medium inlaid red beans. In the old days, black Yi aristocratic women often wore inverted flower pedicels. There were five thin ribbons made of silver silk hanging down, each with a round pendant at the end, which swayed chic. The collar is a separate one, not connected with the coat, decorated with silver bud bubble flowers, and there is a rectangular or plum shaped collar at the front middle button.

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Women's clothing

The Yi women's dress is decorated with patterns on colored threads. The neckline is decorated with gold, silver, jewelry and jade. Some are decorated with turnbuckles and wrapped with colored silk threads, which are ingenious in different shapes. Ganluo Yi women's clothing has many middle plackets, which is unique. The rabbit fur vest in Shengzha area is unique, that is, a circle of snow-white rabbit fur is inlaid at the bottom of the cuff cage with blue background and colorful flowers, which is gorgeous. Women wear pleated skirts, which are made of wide cloth and narrow cloth. Children's skirts are mainly red, white or several colors, young people are mainly red, blue, white or red, blue and white, and old people are mainly blue, blue or blue. Children's skirts are short, usually two sections, with small waist and large hem. For adults, there are three segments, the upper segment is the waist, the middle segment is straight and barrel shaped, and the lower segment is finely grained. The feature of the long skirt is the folds in the lower section, so it is commonly known as "pleated skirt", and the pleats are the most expensive. The length of the old skirt is related to the identity. The black Yi women's long skirt mops the floor, and the dust flies when they walk, to show their dignity. The wool skirt in the region where it is located is soft, thick and elegant. The middle part is barrel shaped, narrow and long, red, and the lower part is even and neat with blue fine folds. The lower horizontal part is red, white, and black thin stripes, and the color is harmonious. The lower part is cyan, and the knee is full of folds, forming a trumpet shape. The lines are wrinkled and flashing, light and elegant. Yi women use needle tubes, mouth strings, and deer teeth and musk for avoiding evil spirits. The triangular purse is hung at the waist, with various patterns of fine decoration on the surface, sewn with different wrapping cloth, with an opening at the upper end and five colored ribbons at the lower end. It is practical and beautiful to hang at the left waist. The wrist is decorated with gold, silver, copper, jade and stone bracelets, and the gold and silver or stone rings are inlaid with gold and silver saddle shaped and cat's eye shaped rings. Ladies also wear gold, silver, copper chains, locks, pendants and other head, chest and back decorations.

Yi nationality Clothing type

Chuxiong style Yi costumes

This kind of dress is mainly popular in all counties and neighboring areas of Yunnan Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture. This is the place where the ancient Yi people moved from place to place. Now it is the intersection of the six major dialects of the East, South, West, North and Central Yi languages, so its costumes are particularly colorful. On the whole, the basic style of modern women's clothing is to wear a right lapel jacket and trousers. Women's tops are decorated with many colorful flowers. The pattern is dominated by flowers such as cloud patterns and cherry blossoms. They are mostly decorated on the chest, shoulder and other specific parts of the blouse. Patching and plain embroidery are common techniques. Women's headwear can generally be divided into three categories: wrapping, wrapping, and wearing embroidered hats. If subdivided, there are more than 40 kinds of headwear, and each kind of headwear often becomes the symbol of the Yi people in a certain area. The men's clothing is becoming more and more Chinese and fashionable, but the custom of wearing sheepskin coats, fire grass and linen clothes still remains in many areas, which is rare for Yi people's clothing in other areas.

Liangshan style Yi costumes

It is popular in the big and small Liangshan Mountains in Sichuan and Yunnan and the adjacent Jinsha River area. Both men's and women's jackets are right lapels with large skirts. The Yi men in Liangshan still retain the ancient style. They grow a lock of long hair on the forehead of their heads, which symbolizes the dignity of men and is sacred and inviolable. The Yi people are commonly known as "Heaven Bodhisattva". The men of Yi nationality in Sichuan and Yunnan prefer to wrap their heads with blue cloth or blue cloth, and tie a long conical knot on their forehead to show their bravery and martial spirit, which is often called "heroic knot". According to archaeological findings, the head dress figures were found on the shell containers unearthed from the tomb of King Dian of the Han Dynasty in Shanxi at the Shizhai, Jinning, Yunnan. It can be seen that tying the "hero knot" is a rather primitive tradition. In addition, the belt woven with thin ox tendons (used to tie swords in ancient times) is called "hero belt"; Some wore wax colored beads, white fungus rings and other accessories on their left ears, and their bottoms were trousers, but they were divided into large, medium and small trouser legs according to different regions. Unmarried girls wear all kinds of headscarves, and women after childbearing wear hats or headscarves, all of which are black; Women wear gold, silver, coral, jade shell and other earrings on both ears, and wear silver collar on the neck; The pleated skirt made of multi-layer colored cloth is usually long and drapable. The upper part is suitable for the body, and the lower part is pleated, which not only highlights the female figure, but also adds a bit of graceful posture. With steep mountains and cold climate, the local Yi people use blankets to protect themselves, commonly known as "Zarwa". Wool is used to weave a cloak, which has white, gray, green and other colors. The upper part is shrunk with wool rope, and the lower part is decorated with up to 0 3 3 meters or so. It often takes several months to make a piece of the Zarwa. The Yi people's Zarwa stays with them all the year round. It keeps out the wind and cold during the day and is covered at night. It can be called the symbol of Liangshan Yi costumes. Traditional clothing materials are mainly wool and hemp, and black, red and yellow are preferred. It is often made into traditional patterns such as head sickle, sheep horn, scroll, etc. by various techniques such as picking, embroidering, inlaying, dyeing, etc. The mountains and rivers of Liangshan and Daliang are dangerous. In the past, the traffic was blocked, and there was little communication with the outside world. Their costumes are simple, unique, and relatively complete, preserving the traditional style of the Yi people. They are in the same line with the Yi costumes painted on the walls of Huo's tomb in Zhaotong in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

Wumengshan style Yi costumes

This kind of clothing is popular in Zhenxiong, Yiliang, Weixin and other counties in Zhaotong, Yunnan Province, as well as in Bijie, Liupanshui, Xuyong, Sichuan, Longlin, Guangxi and other Yi inhabited areas in Guizhou. Wumeng Mountain Area is the birthplace of ancient southwest Yi culture. In the past, Yi costumes were basically the same as Liangshan Yi costumes. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, clothing styles have changed greatly.

At present, the Yi men and women's clothes in this area of Yunnan are usually blue and blue long shirts and trousers with big skirts and right lapels, black or white headscarves, white cloth belts, and embroidered high nails "kite shoes". Men's clothes have no patterns, and they often wear wool blankets when going out. Women's clothing collars, cuffs, lapels, hems and trouser legs are decorated with colorful patterns and combination patterns. It is commonly known in Chinese as "reverse shoulder big inlaid with big roll hanging four pillars", and the head is wrapped with a green handkerchief in the shape of a man. It also wears silver ornaments such as lozenges, earrings, bracelets, rings, etc. After marriage, earrings are used instead of earrings, and white or embroidered aprons are worn, with flower streamers hanging behind. Yi women in some areas wear short clothes and long skirts. The mountains and rivers of Liangshan and Daliang are dangerous. In the past, the traffic was blocked, and there was little communication with the outside world. Their costumes are simple, unique, and relatively complete, preserving the traditional style of the Yi people. They are in the same line with the Yi costumes painted on the walls of Huo's tomb in Zhaotong in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

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Western Yunnan style Yi costumes

This kind of clothing is mainly popular in Dali, Simao, Lincang, Baoshan and other places in western Yunnan. The women's upper garment is usually a right large front garment with short front and long back, and they wear trousers, an apron and a waistcoat. The women's clothing in the mountainous area between Weishan and Midu counties is colorful, with many embroidered patterns and embroidered felt on the back. Other areas are simple and elegant. Their headdresses are either cloth hats or green handkerchiefs, and they like to decorate colorful tassels, beads and other ornaments. It has quite the magnificent and gorgeous legacy of the Nanzhao royal family. In the past, men used to wear right lapel long gown, wide leg pants, green handkerchief on the head, cloth belt or leather belt around the waist, but now they wear more fashionable clothes.

Honghe Yi costumes

This kind of clothing is mainly popular in the Honghe area in southern Yunnan, and is most typical in Jianshui, Shiping, Yuanyang and other counties. Women's clothing is colorful, including long clothes with large lapels and right lapels, medium length clothes and short clothes, and they generally wear trousers, covers, coats, shoulders, and aprons; The headdress is dazzling, mostly decorated with silver foam or wool; The clothing has very strong colors, and the matching contrast colors are used throughout, which is bright and highly decorative; The natural pattern is followed by multi geometric pattern. Men's clothing is not different from other places.

Yi costumes in central and southeast Yunnan

It is mainly popular in Kunming, Wenshan and parts of Honghe Prefecture adjacent to these two regions.

The main styles of women's clothing are right front or opposite front blouses, trousers, and skirts in some places. With white, blue and black as the background color, it is decorated with animal and plant patterns and geometric patterns. Their headdresses vary greatly from place to place. Some young Yi women in Kunming wear "cockscomb hats" in the shape of cockscomb, which are embroidered with various silver bubbles, large and small, with fine workmanship; Older women usually wear their hair in buns. An unmarried woman's headdress hoop in Guishan area is decorated with a pair of triangular embroidered cloth decorations on her ears, and a bunch of beads hang from the back of her head to the chest. The Yi women in Maitreya and parts of Lunan wrapped their heads in black with double braids, leaving a bunch of hair hanging down behind their heads, and decorated with beads, silver chains, shells, and woolen threads. Women in Wenshan, Xichou, Maguan, Funing and other parts of the country wore black scarves or top handkerchiefs with simple headdresses, while women in Qiubei, Kaiyuan, Luxi and other parts of the country were very rich in headdresses with silver bubbles, wool balls, flowers and shells. Men of this type usually wear a pair of tunics, a coat and a shoulder, wide trousers, and some wear leggings and black scarves on their heads.

Costume features

Both men and women of the Yi nationality wear "Chaerwa" and "Bifelt". The Yi name of "Chaerwa", "Wala", looks like a cloak, and is sewn with coarse wool yarn. It is generally 13 pieces, each seven or eight centimeters wide, and is mostly dyed in dark blue. Shengzha area is the most gorgeous, with red, yellow teeth and green lining on the edge, and a 30cm long rope spike hanging below. The quilt is sewn with about two kilograms of wool. It is as thin as copper coins. It is folded with 6 cm wide folds, usually 30 to 90 folds. The upper part is closed with wool rope as the collar. Most are primary colors or blue. Chaerwa and blankets are the necessary clothes for men, women and children of the Yi nationality. They are clothes in the daytime and quilts at night. It's not easy to block rain and snow.

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The Yi costumes are of contrasting colors and various patterns. The middle-aged people's clothes have fewer patterns than the young people's, and they use blue, green, purple, blue, white and other colors, which are simple and solemn. The elderly usually use green and blue cloth. They don't usually make flowers, but only use the blue edge of their blue clothes or the blue edge of their blue clothes as decorations. The patterns and lace of clothes have strong national and local color and life flavor. There are celestial phenomena such as sun, moon, stars, clouds, Tianhe, rainbow, natural maps such as mountains and rivers, animal maps such as cockscomb, ox eye, sheep horn, and deer tooth, and plants and objects such as leaves, flowers, fire sickles, braids, and geometric shapes. The decorations are beautiful, solemn and colorful. There are many patterns, and most of them are made of Quan, silver, copper, jade, stone, bone, etc. The casting, forging, pressing, inlaying, and carving parts are made by local craftsmen. In the past, most of the Yi people in Liangshan used to wear straw sandals woven with hemp rope or straw rope, felt socks woven of wool in the shape of boots, or cotton and wool leggings to protect their feet and keep out the cold when they went barefoot in winter or when they went abroad.

Embroidered clothes of the Yi nationality

Most of the Yi women in Yunnan are good at cross stitch embroidery. In the areas where the Yi people live, the Yi women wear exquisite floral clothes. Yi women's clothes are mostly left lapel clothes with wide edges and large sleeves. Red, gold, purple and green silk threads are used to embroider various patterns on the chest, shoulders, cuffs or the whole clothes, and silver bubbles are inlaid on the collar. In addition, Yi women also like to embroider various kinds of embroidery on headscarves, skirts, waistbands, waistbands, trouser legs, skirt edges, etc color Bright and profound patterns are used as ingenious decorations.

Cross stitch embroidery is a feature of Yi costumes. Almost everyone of the Yi women is an expert in cross stitch embroidery. They have learned the skills of embroidery, cross stitch, and patchwork since childhood under the guidance of their mothers, and learned the techniques of flat embroidery, crepe embroidery, intertwined embroidery, and tapestry. The wedding dress of Yi girls is a sign of the ability of Yi elders and young men to measure girls. If Yi girls can't embroider or do not embroider well, even if they are beautiful, it is difficult to find a good husband. Yi women's clothing has all kinds of embroidery from head to foot. Each flower is a beautiful handicraft, which is worth studying and preserving as a national embroidery specimen.

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