Yinshi Making Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The Tang-dynasty poet Liu Yuxi, after being banished to a post in western Hunan, once wrote a poem describing the Miao people wearing "silver bracelets and gold hairpins." Hong Mai of the Song dynasty, in his Rongzhai Suibi, recorded that Miao ornaments were made of silver and tin and were more than one chi in length. The Ming-dynasty text Qian Ji states that the Miao of Guizhou "wore silver rings in their ears, called malang (horse youths), removing them upon marriage," while in Liping "the wealthy wore gold and silver earrings, as many as five or six, like linked rings."
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Miao people have a long history of making and wearing ornaments. Miao silver ornaments come in many varieties, including neck rings, silver bracelets, silver crowns, silver flowers, silver waist chains, silver bells, silver earrings and ear pendants, silver collar plates and capes, and silver rings and buttons. Yi people's buttoned jackets commonly use rows of silver buttons, the most famous being the silver tiger jacket button. Shaped like a tiger, it symbolizes dignity, solemnity, good fortune, and happiness. Whenever a daughter marries, her mother sews silver buttons onto her wedding dress to pray that everything goes well for her. As social life has changed, the dress and customs of some ethnic minorities have gradually modernized, and their original cultural characteristics are being lost. Therefore, protecting and inheriting the silver ornament making craftsmanship of ethnic minorities is of significance that cannot be underestimated for revitalizing ethnic culture and sustaining the ethnic spirit. Miao silver ornament making in Huangping County, Guizhou Province, is highly developed; its products mainly include silver crowns, earrings, neck rings, necklaces, bracelets, silver waistbands, and baby-carrying cloths worn by women, of which the silver crown, the ringing board, the silver necklace, and the silver waistband are the most exquisite. The silver crown is clustered with silver flowers, interspersed with insects and birds; viewed as a whole it resembles a basket of brocade flowers. The ringing board of the silver necklace comes in many styles, delicate and elegant; the ornaments hanging from the heart-mirror disc of the pendant swing and strike one another, giving off a pleasant sound. The silver waistband is chased with various patterns and made with extreme refinement. The motifs of Huangping Miao silver ornaments are rich in subject matter; insects, flowers and plants, birds, dragons and fish can all serve as subjects. These motifs mostly come from the natural environment in which generations of Huangping Miao have lived, reflecting the ecological state of Miao society living in harmony with nature. Protecting, inheriting, and developing Miao silver ornament making craftsmanship is of great significance for promoting ethnic unity and building a harmonious society.
Building the silver crown
The Huangping crown clusters silver flowers with insects and birds among them, like a brocade basket; the body is welded in sections before the flowers are set in.
Rattle plaques and heart mirrors
Rattle plaques come in many elegant forms; the mirrors and pendants swing and chime as the wearer walks, so sound becomes part of the ornament.
Chiselling the silver belt
Patterns are chiselled into the silver belt with great care, laid out to follow its length and curve so the design does not break at the turns.
Drafting the motifs
Motifs are drawn from insects, plants, birds and fish of the local environment; a paper pattern is made first and only then transferred to silver.
Arranging a full set
Crown, earrings, neck rings, necklace, wrist rings, belt and back-carrier are arranged as a set; the weight on head and shoulders has to balance or the set is unwearable.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Many ethnic minorities in China have the custom of wearing ornaments, among which the Miao and the Yi are the most prominent; they are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Hunan, and other provinces. The Yi are mainly distributed in Sichuan, Yunnan, and other provinces, and their silver ornaments are also quite rich in variety, including phoenix crowns, rings, ear pendants and earrings, neck rings, silver bracelets, silver chains, and silver buttons.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Miao Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Miao Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Yinshi Making Craftsmanship · Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship · Yinshi Forging Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Silver ornaments often appear at festive occasions of the Miao people and carry the meanings of warding off evil and welcoming fortune and auspiciousness. They concretely and vividly reflect the Miao people's living conditions, spiritual outlook, and aesthetic psychology, and hold high research value in history and culture. Yang Zhenggui (record from the official archive of the associated inheritor): Male, Miao ethnicity, born in February 1955, from Huangping County, Guizhou Province. Representative inheritor of Silver Ornament Making Craftsmanship (Miao Silver Ornament Making), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fifth national batch. Miao silverware forging technician. He was born into a family of silver ornament makers and began learning the family silver making craft from his elders at age seven. He was able to independently complete the production of complete sets of silver ornaments for Huangping Miao women, and finished his apprenticeship at age 22. While processing traditional ornaments, he emphasized innovating his works in keeping with the aesthetic trends of the times, making the silver ornaments he produced more popular. The main types of objects he makes include silver crowns, silver waistbands, silver neck rings, silver garment panels, silver bracelets, silver rings, and silver necklaces. In 2017 he went to the workshop of the St James National Centre for Creativity in Malta for exchange and display, and in 2018 a complete set of Huangping silver ornaments was collected by the Guizhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo Museum.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yang Guangbin 01-0160
- Long Migu 03-1316
- Ma Maoting 03-1317
- Lin Shiyuan 04-1842
- Leigushari 04-1843
- Wu Shuigen 04-1844
- Lin Lingxiang 05-2748
- Yang Zhenggui 05-2749
- Tai Yinyan 05-2750
- Mubinglin 05-2751
- Cunfabiao 05-2752
- Li Zhengyun
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。