Chuantong Costume
01 · Historical Records
With population migration and cultural exchange, this custom has gradually radiated to the surrounding areas. Gannan Hakka dress inherits the style and charm of ancient Central Plains clothing while also absorbing some features of She and Yao dress; it arises from production and daily life, draws its materials from mountains and rivers, and has distinctly plural characteristics. Gannan Hakka dress is one expression of fine traditional culture and a crystallization of the diligence and wisdom of the Hakka people; it embodies the Hakka ideals of goodness and auspiciousness, objectively reflects the migrations, production, and daily life of the Hakka people, and manifests the distinctive inner character of Hakka culture, giving it considerable historical, cultural, and social value.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Gannan Hakka dress is the knowledge and practice concerning traditional dress in the production and daily life of the Hakka people of the Gannan region. "Gannan" is the geographic abbreviation for the southern part of Jiangxi Province centering on Ganzhou City; it consists mainly of three districts, fourteen counties, and one county-level city under the administration of Ganzhou, and borders eastern Guangdong and western Fujian. Among them, Dingnan County, which adjoins Guangdong Province, has preserved the tradition relatively well. Gannan Hakka dress mainly comprises upper garments, trousers, shoes, and hats, with the Hakka blue gown, apron, dongtou scarf, auspicious bellyband, and auspicious children's hat as typical representatives. The Hakka blue gown is the crossed-collar gown (dajin shan), commonly called the "blue gown" because it is dyed blue with indigo; its buttons are twisted-cloth buttons. The apron, commonly called the "water skirt" (shuiqun), is worn by women. The dongtou scarf is a head wrapping used by Hakka women against wind and cold. The auspicious bellyband and the auspicious children's hat combine practical use with the function of praying for good fortune. In terms of production practice, dress is made through activities such as gathering plants to make fiber, spinning thread, weaving cloth, dyeing cloth, cutting, sewing, and decorating. In terms of life practice, Gannan Hakka dress has traditionally been a necessity for local people to keep out the cold and stay warm; it is closely bound up with aesthetic taste and life-cycle rituals, and forms an important part of the local cultural tradition. Gannan Hakka dress esteems natural harmony: its raw materials — ramie, kudzu, indigo, and the like — all suit the local soil and climate, and the dress is made from materials obtained locally, plain, dignified, practical, and beautiful. The main features of Gannan Hakka dress are, first, plainness and lack of ornament: in coloring it favors plain tones, with blue and black the most popular — simple and natural rather than showy. Third, its meanings are auspicious: for example, the small bell on a Hakka child's hat is believed to have the power to ward off evil; the main ornaments on children's hats include images of deities such as Mazu and the Eight Immortals, signifying auspiciousness, longevity, blessing, and the averting of disaster; likewise the silver ornaments Hakka women like to wear also carry the meaning of warding off evil.
From ramie and kudzu to finished dress
A dress passes gathering fibre, spinning, weaving, dyeing, cutting, sewing and decoration, all done at home with few tools.
Indigo dyeing
Ramie, kudzu and indigo are all local; repeated dipping and drying gives a deep colour that wears quietly and lasts.
The front-buttoned coat and its twine buttons
The blue coat is closed with twine buttons rather than cloth strips, and its wide front suits years of fieldwork in the hills.
Aprons and winter headcloths
The apron known locally as the water skirt works in the field, while the winter headcloth guards the head and neck on cold mountain days.
Auspicious bibs and children's caps
Bibs and caps combine warmth with good wishes: little bells ward off evil, embroidered deities promise longevity, and silver ornaments serve as amulets.
Once spread across the eighteen counties of southern Jiangxi
The dress once spread across the eighteen counties of southern Jiangxi and survives most fully in Dingnan, near the borders of eastern Guangdong and western Fujian.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Historically, Gannan Hakka dress was widely distributed across the eighteen counties (cities and districts) of Gannan, including Ganxian, Nankang, Yudu, and Dingnan in Jiangxi. Second, it is simple and practical: local people prefer to wear the crossed-collar gown, which is convenient for year-round labor and for coming and going among hills, fields, and gardens, and it withstands dirt and frequent washing.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The practice of this heritage project in the lives of the people is manifested mainly in the two aspects of production and daily life. The practice of Gannan Hakka dress has one end in production and the other in daily life. In production, the steps of gathering hemp, spinning thread, weaving cloth, dyeing cloth, and tailoring still rely on local materials and local skills, and a family works at them all year round. In daily life, the crossed-collar gown, water skirt, and dongtou scarf are everyday clothing, while children's hats and silver ornaments are tied to life-cycle rituals: a girl needs new clothes when she marries, and a one-year-old child needs a new hat. Most practitioners are farm women, and the making is done in the gaps between farm tasks, passed down household by household; thus it is not collected like an exhibit but is worn on the body. Everyday use itself is the best way to preserve this craft; once the clothing leaves the body for a glass display case, the Hakka ideals of goodness and auspiciousness can no longer be seen.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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