Miao Brocade Weaving Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
The Miao brocade weaving of Guizhou Province has a history of over seven hundred years, and before the 1990s it was passed down through the generations mainly from mother to daughter. In the Taijiang area, brocade weaving, cross-stitch, and embroidery are jointly called the "three great lessons" of a Miao woman's lifetime; a single craft is practiced from childhood into adulthood, and both the wedding garments and the patterned headscarves worn on the head rely on it. The patterns used in brocade mostly originate from daily production and life, dominated by free and flexible ornamental designs, whose main body is geometric figures framed by large diamonds, with various motifs and floral patterns connecting to one another and filling the picture.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Brocade weaving refers to the craft of using pre-dyed colored warp and weft threads to weave patterned fabric through jacquard, weaving, and other techniques; it is a precious cultural heritage created by Miao women. In Taijiang, brocade weaving, cross-stitch, and embroidery are the "three great lessons" cultivated throughout a Miao woman's lifetime. Taijiang Miao brocade falls into two major categories: loom-woven and braided. The loom-woven is wide brocade, popular mainly along the two banks of the Qingshui River and the Bala River, while the braided is brocade bands, popular mainly in the Leigong Mountain area. Loom weaving is a jacquard fabric made by Miao women using the traditional "continuous-warp, returning-weft" technique and a plain wooden loom, employing locally produced dyed fibers such as silk, ramie, and kapok. The decorative subjects of Taijiang Miao brocade are broad, encompassing birds and beasts, flowers, plants, fish and insects, mountains, rivers, the sun and the moon — nothing is absent. Its modes of expression are rich and varied, comprising both regular geometric patterns, classical diamonds and squares, and ornamental designs lying between geometric and natural patterns. The artistic approach is concise and boldly exaggerated, ingeniously employing the density and void, thickness and fineness, size, obliqueness, straightness, length and shortness of dots, lines, and planes for variation and combination. The overall composition is balanced and the structure rigorous; there is a sense of movement within stillness and variation within regularity, displaying a bright, lively yet plain and innocent artistic interest. Taijiang Miao brocade is mostly used for headscarves, leg wrappings, aprons, sleeves, back ornaments, shoulder ornaments, and bedding. The Shidong-style colored apron brocade is the most beautiful category among Miao brocades.
Straight warp, returning weft
The warp never turns while the weft returns course by course, picking each pattern segment.
Patterning on the plain wooden loom
On the plain wooden loom each corner of the geometric ground falls on a heddle the weaver lifts in turn.
Shidong-apron brocade
The Shidong apron is the finest of the brocades, wide-woven with the pattern carried right to the selvedge.
Braiding the bands
Bands, common in the Leigong mountains, are woven to widths set by use, for sashes, headcloths and baby carriers.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Taijiang Miao brocade follows two paths, loom-woven and braided: the loom-woven wide brocade is popular mainly along the two banks of the Qingshui River and the Bala River, where locally produced silk, ramie, kapok and other fibers are dyed and then woven into jacquard fabric using the continuous-warp returning-weft technique and a plain wooden loom; the braided brocade bands are more often seen in the Leigong Mountain area, their dimensions set by use. The finished brocade is mostly used for headscarves, leg wrappings, aprons, sleeves, back ornaments, shoulder ornaments, and bedding, among which the Shidong-style colored apron brocade is the most beautiful category of Miao brocade; the Taijiang County Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center is responsible for the registration of the craft and its transmission.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Miao Brocade Weaving Craftsmanship · Miao Brocade Weaving Craftsmanship · Miao Brocade Weaving Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The subjects of Taijiang Miao brocade are extremely broad, with birds and beasts, flowers, plants, fish and insects, mountains, rivers, the sun and the moon all entering the brocade; the expressive means include both regular geometric patterns, classical diamonds and squares, and ornamental designs between geometric and natural patterns. The variation and combination of the density and void, thickness and fineness, size, obliqueness, straightness, length and shortness of dots, lines, and planes make the picture balanced and the structure rigorous, with movement within stillness and variation within regularity, presenting an overall bright, lively yet plain and innocent interest. Because it relies entirely on hand weaving, which is time-consuming and arduous, and because young Miao people mostly wear Han-style clothing and are unwilling to wear their own ethnic dress, very few are willing to learn, and only a small number of middle-aged and elderly women still master the craft.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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