Puyuzhen
01 · Lineage & Regional School
Puyuzhen, Female, Yi, from Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan, is a fifth-batch national representative bearer of Yi Costume (Ⅹ-156). The tradition is documented in Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan. Within the regional tradition and school record of Yi Costume in Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan: Chuxiong Yi costume is a form of traditional dress culture formed by the Chuxiong Yi people amid the local natural landscape and a deep cultural and historical environment; it is prevalent mainly in the Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province. Different branches, regions, sexes, ages, and occasions all present distinct styles of dress. By region, Chuxiong Yi costume divides into three main types — the Dayao style, the Longchuanjiang style, and the Wuding style — which can be subdivided into more than forty different forms. These comprise headwear, upper garments, lower garments, footwear, jewelry, and accessories; owing to differences of region and branch, they display a splendid range of styles in headdress, garment cut, color, and ornament. The dress of the Chuxiong Yi has risen and fallen in step with the civilization of their people since ancient times. At first it was no more than leaves, grass, tree bark, and animal hides used to cover the body; after entering a stage marked by rank and by distinctions among branches, garments such as the felt cape, the pleated skirt, the sheepskin jacket, and the tiger-skin coat became dominant, and the hierarchy of dress became clearly marked as well. In modern times the people of Chuxiong continually absorbed new styles while preserving the old forms, so that their dress grew ever more varied, eventually becoming the single most durable thing to consult for the memory of the group.
02 · Mastery & Signature Works
Female, of the Yi ethnic group, born in July 1956, a native of Wuding County, Yunnan Province. Born into a family of Yi embroiderers, she learned embroidery from childhood from her grandmother Zhu Pushi and her mother Pu Julan. By her twenties she had mastered the weaving of huocao cloth, traditional dyeing, and the techniques of making the costume of the Wuding Yi branch, and she has a thorough command of plain stitch, counted-thread work, chain stitch, braid stitch, seed stitch, appliqué and other embroidery methods, enjoying considerable renown in the locality. In 2012 she founded the Xiongguan Yi Embroidery Association and established the Wuding County Xiongguan Yi Embroidery Ethnic Costume Craft Factory, actively carrying out the productive protection and transmission of Yi costume. Within the documented technical tradition of Yi Costume in Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan: Yi costume has a long history stretching far back; its emergence and development kept pace with the history of Yi civilization. In primitive society, garments of leaves, grass, tree bark, and animal hide were the main forms of dress; by the time of class society, garments such as the felt cape, the pleated skirt, the sheepskin jacket, and the tiger-skin coat were prevalent, with clear differences of rank and branch. In modern times, along with economic and cultural development, the Yi have undergone division and fusion; while retaining some characteristics of traditional costume, the Chuxiong Yi have continually absorbed new elements, making their dress richer and more colorful. Chuxiong Yi costume values the combination of practicality, comfort, and beautification, turning things familiar from daily life into patterns carefully embroidered all over the garments. The sun, moon, and stars, mountains and rivers, insects, beasts, birds, and fish can all enter the designs; the patterns are well balanced in density, harmonious in color, and exquisite in stitch work, with a distinct ethnic character. Every pattern carries an auspicious meaning. The "Four Directions, Eight Tigers" design derives from the ancient black-tiger totem and is meant to drive away evil; the red-horse-mane flower pattern commemorates a girl named Miyilu; a magpie standing on a plum branch signifies "joy reaching the eyebrows"; and lantern patterns stand for "abundant harvests of all grains." These patterns are closely tied to the production, daily life, history, culture, and local conditions and customs of the Yi people. The Chuxiong Yi people's veneration of red, yellow, and black, and their customs of honoring fire and revering the tiger, are all expressed in their costume. Chuxiong Yi costume is rich in styles, refined in its ornaments, exquisite in pattern, and profound in content, uniting Yi history, customs, belief, and aesthetics in one; it fully displays the superb craftsmanship and creative talent of the Chuxiong Yi people, and holds considerable value for anthropology, history, ethnology, folklore studies, and the arts. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The Dayao style": Chuxiong dress divides into the Dayao, Longchuanjiang and Wuding types, refining into more than forty forms that differ in headgear, cut, colour and pattern. "The Longchuanjiang style": The Longchuanjiang style follows the river, its dress assembled in matched sets and adapted to a wetter valley setting than the mountain styles. "The Wuding style": The Wuding style is distinguished by embroidery, especially for women; cloth woven from fire grass and dyed by traditional methods supports a rich range of stitching techniques. "Sun, moon and stars in the pattern": Common things become ornament: sun, moon, stars, rivers, insects and birds, with balanced spacing and harmonious colour make the garment a compressed almanac.
The Dayao style
Chuxiong dress divides into the Dayao, Longchuanjiang and Wuding types, refining into more than forty forms that differ in headgear, cut, colour and pattern.
The Longchuanjiang style
The Longchuanjiang style follows the river, its dress assembled in matched sets and adapted to a wetter valley setting than the mountain styles.
The Wuding style
The Wuding style is distinguished by embroidery, especially for women; cloth woven from fire grass and dyed by traditional methods supports a rich range of stitching techniques.
Sun, moon and stars in the pattern
Common things become ornament: sun, moon, stars, rivers, insects and birds, with balanced spacing and harmonious colour make the garment a compressed almanac.
03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status
She is a representative bearer of Yi Costume, a fifth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project.
04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier
Historical origin
The dress of the Chuxiong Yi has risen and fallen in step with the civilization of their people since ancient times. At first it was no more than leaves, grass, tree bark, and animal hides used to cover the body; after entering a stage marked by rank and by distinctions among branches, garments such as the felt cape, the pleated skirt, the sheepskin jacket, and the tiger-skin coat became dominant, and the hierarchy of dress became clearly marked as well. In modern times the people of Chuxiong continually absorbed new styles while preserving the old forms, so that their dress grew ever more varied, eventually becoming the single most durable thing to consult for the memory of the group.
05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage
National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.
| Bearer | Declared area | Roster code | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jia Bazize | Zhaojue, Sichuan | 05-3065 | Other regional school |
| Puyuzhen | Chuxiongyizuzizhi, Yunnan | 05-3066 | This page |
06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript. Compiled from official national representative bearer archival records and the associated project dossier, organized by topic and translated into English. 阅读中文版。