Miaoxiu
01 · Historical Records
It has a long history: Tang-dynasty historical records already contain accounts of Miao ancestors wearing garments decorated with flower-and-bird patterns. Xiangxi (western Hunan) Miao embroidery carries historical information about the origins and migrations of the Miao people as well as their religious beliefs, and is an important avenue for the study of Miao history, culture, and artistic aesthetics.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Xiangxi Miao embroidery is one of the outstanding representatives of Chinese Miao embroidery, a traditional fine art handed down from generation to generation by the Miao people of western Hunan. It is now distributed mainly in the Xiangxi region of Hunan Province, with the eight counties and county-level cities under the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, together with the Xiangxi Economic Development Zone, as its core area of transmission. Xiangxi Miao embroidery is widely applied to everyday items such as clothing, aprons, shoes and hats, head cloths, handkerchiefs, shoulder bags, baby carriers, purses, wallets, pillow ends, bed curtains, and door curtains. Its typical features are a fantastical decorative-art style, strongly contrasting pattern and color designs, and a variety of totemic emblems that give prominence to ideas. Its stitches form a distinctive system of their own, comprising eight major categories — xiu (embroidery), cha (insertion), kun (binding), sa (sprinkling), dian (dotting), tiao (picking), chuan (stringing), and bian (edging) — with more than twenty individual stitches. The composition of Xiangxi Miao embroidery patterns falls broadly into five forms: branch patterns, tuft patterns, horn patterns, border patterns, and square patterns. The color schemes of the patterns are markedly philosophical in character, and their content reflects people's mental images. In decoration, consideration is given both to the outer contour of the object and to color harmony, and, in accordance with the requirements of the artistic style, certain parts are weakened or strengthened to make the whole more vivid and forceful. The embroidery methods of Xiangxi Miao embroidery are chiefly three: freehand stitching, cut-and-paste embroidery, and drawn embroidery. Freehand stitching requires no models or reference patterns; the embroiderer relies entirely on memory and experience to stitch freely on the ground cloth. The ground cloth is generally black striped cloth, though pink or light-blue striped cloth is also used. This kind of stitching lets the embroiderer give free rein to imagination and individuality, so much so that 'visit a thousand homes and you will not find the same flower'. Freehand stitching demands a high level of skill and is used by the most accomplished embroiderers among Miao women. Most women, however, use the cut-and-paste and drawn methods; paper-cutting (cutting flower designs) has thus also become an essential skill for Miao women. Xiangxi Miao embroidery is transmitted mainly within families. At present, Xiangxi Miao embroidery has formed a development, production, and management pattern that combines research and development with processing, with enterprises as the backbone and farm households as the foundation, and its development momentum is good.
Freehand, cut-and-paste and drawn embroidery
Xiangxi Miao embroidery works in three ways: freehand from memory on black, pink or pale blue striped cloth, cut-and-paste, and drawn embroidery.
The eight stitch families
Its stitches form a distinct system of twenty-odd kinds in eight families: embroidering, inserting, binding, sprinkling, dotting, picking, stringing and edging.
Branch, clump, corner, edge and square patterns
Patterns fall into branch, clump, corner, edge and square forms; their colouring is philosophical, adjusted to the frame's shape and to the required artistic emphasis.
A thousand homes, never the same flower
Only expert women work freehand, giving full play to imagination so that 'one may walk through a thousand homes and never find the same flower'; most use cut-and-paste or drawn work, making paper-cutting a required skill.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Its patterns, stitch methods, and design panels vary by region and fall into four broad types: elegant and beautiful, fine and dense, bold and rugged, and plain and refined. Its market prospects are broad, and it is of great significance in helping local women find employment and increase their incomes and in promoting local economic development.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Miaoxiu · Miaoxiu · Miaoxiu · Miaoxiu · Miaoxiu · Miaoxiu.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
It is applied to every aspect of the lives of the Miao people, reflecting the creative ability and ingenuity of Miao women, and it has both practical and decorative value.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wu Tongying 04-1773
- Zhang Guiying 05-2600
- Wang Qiping 05-2601
- Yang Meiyan 05-2602
- Longnvsanjiu 05-2603
- Wu Yingji
- Liu Zhongchang
- Wang Jinhua
- Shi Liping
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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