Yi Costume
01 · Historical Records
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 · Core Techniques & Process
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.
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 eight-tiger motif
The eight-tiger design descends from an ancient black-tiger totem and wards off evil; carried on clothing, the totem travels with the wearer instead of staying in a shrine.
Magpie, plum and lantern patterns
A magpie on a plum branch means joy arriving at the brow; lanterns stand for a full harvest; the tassel pattern commemorates a girl named Miyilu.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
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.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Yi Costume.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Pu Yuzhen (record of the associated inheritor's official file): Female; Yi; born in July 1956; native of Wuding County, Yunnan Province. She was born into a family of Yi embroiderers and studied embroidery from childhood with her grandmother Zhu Pushi and her mother Pu Julan; in her twenties she had mastered the weaving of fire-grass cloth, traditional methods of dyeing cloth, and the costume-making techniques of the Wuding branch of the Yi, and became highly skilled in satin stitch, picked floral work, chain stitch, braid stitch, seed stitch, and appliqué embroidery, enjoying considerable renown locally. In 2012 she founded the Xiongguan Yi Embroidery Association and established the Xiongguan Yi Embroidery Ethnic Costume Craft Products Factory in Wuding County, actively carrying out the productive protection and transmission of Yi costume. She is a representative inheritor of Yi costume, a fifth national-level intangible cultural heritage item.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Jia Bazize 05-3065
- Puyuzhen 05-3066
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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