Chapter 4 Section 3 Ethnic Minority Brocade

Brocade is a jacquard silk fabric made of multi-layer plain weave and twill weave with colored silk threads. It is a fabric with a complex structure.The production process of brocade is demanding and difficult to weave, so it has always been regarded as the most valuable fabric. "Brocade, also gold, is hard to make, and its price is like gold." The "splendid embroidery", "brocade clothes" and "beautiful brocade" mentioned in ancient Chinese literature are all about the beauty of silk or clothing (Figure 8). Brocade can be divided into Jingjin (brocade with Jingqi flowers) and Weijin (brocade with weft flowers).In ancient my country, it is said that brocade existed as early as the time of Yao. Jin Wangjia’s "Supplementary Notes" said that there were ice silkworms around the hills of Yuanqiao Mountain, which were covered with frost and snow, and then made cocoons. , the fire is not bad, Yao used it to make a big dress.This is not a letter of history, but the origin of brocade in our country is indeed very early.According to archaeological findings, my country was able to produce classic brocade during the Western Zhou Dynasty, and even more excellent weft brocade was produced during the Warring States Period.Warp brocade and weft brocade have different weaving effects.The weft density of warp brocade is relatively low, and one shuttle is used for weaving; weft brocade weaving is time-consuming, but more than two shuttles can be used to change colors and enrich jacquard.my country's Warring States period was a period when the handicraft industry was quite developed. At that time, "Qi Wan", "Lu Jin", "Wei Jin", "Jing Qi" and "Chu Lian" competed with each other, marking the emergence of a new silk weaving technology in ancient my country. Big leap.

Before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were many famous brocades in various parts of our country, competing for their splendor. Among them, the most famous ones were Shu brocade (a characteristic brocade produced in Shu County from the Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms period, which is now Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and it is famous in the world for its "weaving and beautiful"), Song brocade ( It has the brocade style of the Song Dynasty and uses colorful wefts to show the color. It was produced after the Southern Song Dynasty and is famous for its complicated patterns and elegant colors), Yunjin (the brocade used by the courts of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, named for its wealth, magnificence, and splendor like clouds. Yunjin is produced in Nanjing. The best, so it is also called "Nanjing Yunjin") and so on.In addition, the brocades of ethnic minorities with their own characteristics woven by their diligence and wisdom are also in various forms and have become treasures in my country's silk treasure house.

Zhuang brocade, Miao brocade, Li brocade, Tujia brocade, Dai brocade, Dong brocade, Yao brocade, Huihui brocade, etc. are outstanding representatives among them. Zhuang brocade is a handicraft of the Zhuang nationality.The Zhuang people used to be called "Tongren", "俍〔良〕人", "Native People", and also called themselves "Buzhuang", "Buyue", "Bunon", "Butu", "Busha", "Buman" , "Bu Dai" and other names, mainly distributed in Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places.Zhuang brocade was called "緂〔tiantian〕cloth" or "Bai緂" and "Dong緂" in the Tang and Song Dynasties. It was paid as a tribute in the Ming Dynasty and sold to the mainland.According to the "Guangxi Tongzhi", "Zhuang brocade is produced in various prefectures and counties. Zhuang people love color, and all clothes, skirts, scarves and quilts are made of five-color velvet, mixed with weaving in the shape of flowers and birds. A strong man is precious."It can be seen that its production and use are extensive.Zhuang brocade is made of cotton and hemp strands as warp threads, and non-twisted or slightly twisted strands as weft threads, which are interwoven with each other.It is flowered with weft threads, which is a heavy weft weave, so the fabric is very thick, and it is most suitable for quilt covers, mattress covers, bed blankets, aprons, garment trims, etc.

Zhuang brocade is pleasing to the eye in color and gorgeous in design.It mostly uses bright red, apricot yellow, emerald green or pure white as the background color, and uses contrasting colors for flowers. The patterns include water, clouds, flowers, insects and birds, swastikas, etc., which are rich and rough, with distinct local colors. Miao brocade is the arts and crafts of the Miao people.The Miao nationality, who call themselves "Guoxiong", "Mo" or "Meng", are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan and other places.Miao Jin appeared in the Three Kingdoms period at the end of Han Dynasty.It is said that when Zhuge Liang of the Shu Han Dynasty developed "Nanzhong" (now Yunnan, Guizhou and southern Sichuan), he personally drew brocade patterns and patterns for the Miao people in Guizhou, presented Shu brocade as a gift, and ordered soldiers who could weave brocade to teach them brocade weaving techniques.In order to commemorate Zhuge Liang's achievements, the Miao people called Miao brocade "Wuhou brocade".Miao brocade uses the warp as the base, the weft is flowered, and is woven by the method of breaking the weft through the warp.The warp thread is mostly self-spun white yarn, and the weft thread is mostly velvet or silk thread of various colors.Most of the patterns are small geometric patterns with rigorous structure.The colors like peach red, pink green, lake blue, blue purple and other colors are bright and magnificent. (Figure 9)

Li brocade, folk brocade of the Li nationality in Hainan Province.The Li nationality calls themselves "Sai", and various dialects also have different names such as "侾〔Xiao Xiao〕", "Qi", "Run" and "Meifu".The textile industry of the Li nationality has a long history. It is recorded in "Ling Wai Dai Da" written by Zhou Qufei in the Southern Song Dynasty. At that time, whenever the cotton bolls were ripe in Hainan, the women of the Li nationality would pick new cotton and roll out the cotton seeds with slender iron shafts. Spin".The "Li Dan" and "Li Mu" produced by the Li people had been exported to the mainland in the Song Dynasty.In the Qing Dynasty, they used the colored silk produced in the inland to "remove colored silk and jibei (cotton thread was called jibei in the southeast coast in ancient times)" to weave brocade with exquisite craftsmanship.Li nationality's brocade weaving uses ancient waist looms, heddle rod jacquard, weft weft weaving color, and some warp threads are tie-dyeed first, and then weft weaving.Li brocade patterns mostly use horses, deer, turtledoves, snakes, frogs, vines and human figures, etc., and the color scheme is usually brown and black, with blue, red, white, blue, yellow and other colors alternated, which has a strong ethnic decorative style.It is mostly used to make tube skirts, swing pockets, cliff quilts or as clothing trims.

Tujia brocade, that is, Tujia brocade in western Hunan and western Hubei.The Tujia people were called "Turen" and "Tu Min" in history, and they called themselves "Bizka", which means "local people".Tujia brocade originated from the ancient "Xibu", "峝〔tong〕cloth" and "Banbu".Song Zhufu's "Xi Man Cong Xiao" records that the "natives" at that time woven "fabu" with five-color threads, which were colorful and used to make towels, quilts, and dresses.Qing Qianlong's "Yongshun Mansion Chronicle" also said that "natives" weaved wefts with one hand and picked flowers with thin ox horns with the other hand, and then weaved colorful "soil brocade".Tujia brocade uses cotton thread as the warp and cotton, wool, silk and other fibers of various colors as the weft. It is hand-picked and woven with oblique waist looms and the method of breaking the warp and weft, and the colored wefts are full of flowers.There are more than 100 kinds of patterns, such as table flowers, chair flowers, boat flowers, lotus leaf flowers, etc. Later, under the influence of the Han people, patterns such as "Phoenix Wearing Peony", "Heron Stepping on Flowers", and "Wild Deer with Flowers" were developed.Tujia brocade is usually used as a dress and "bedding" (quilt cover), commonly known as "earth flower bedding", or "Xilankapu" in Tujia language. According to legend, "Xilan Kapu" was created by a Tujia girl named "Xilan". It is thick in texture and durable. It is a very beautiful and practical decoration with a rough, simple, honest and gorgeous national style. .

Dai brocade is a traditional textile handicraft of the Dai people in Yunnan.The Dai people, formerly known as "Bai Yi" and "Bai Yi", call themselves "Dai", and they are also called "Dai Yi", "Dai Na", "Dai Ya" and "Dai Beng" according to the region.Dai brocade is made of silk thread or yarn, and the patterns include animals, flowers, geometric figures, etc., which have symbolic meanings. For example, the peacock pattern symbolizes auspiciousness, and the elephant pattern symbolizes a good harvest.Dai brocade color is brown, black and white, bright and beautiful, suitable for making satchels, tube skirts, quilt covers, cushion sheets, curtains, handkerchiefs and some religious articles.

Dong brocade, a traditional textile handicraft of the Dong nationality.The Dong people, formerly known as "Dong Liao" and "Dong Family Miao", call themselves "Gan", and are mainly distributed in the border areas of Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi provinces.The history of Dong brocade can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period at the end of Han Dynasty.At that time, Shu brocade and its weaving technology were passed down to the areas where the Dong people lived in concentrated communities under the instructions of Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Shu Han Dynasty, and were very popular among the Dong people.Dong brocade is hand-woven with cotton yarn or silk thread. The famous and precious varieties include Nong brocade with fish scale pattern, duck head Cui Nong brocade and Lang Yin brocade, etc. They are colorful and are used for clothing decoration.There is a folk song that reflects Dong young men and women's love for Dong brocade:

Langjin fish scale pattern, Nongjin duck head emerald green. Nong brocade makes Lang Yin, and Lang brocade cuts Nong quilt. The quilt is from both ends and will not be separated for life. Yao brocade, Yao folk brocade.The Yao people were called "Moku" and "Cui" in history, and their claims vary from place to place, such as "Mian", "Jinmen", "Bunu" and "Naugla", etc. They are mainly distributed in Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangdong and other places.Yao brocade is mostly cotton warp and weft, and the waist is machine-woven.Affected by the deep mountains and mountains where they live, the patterns are mostly geometric shapes such as squares, rhombuses, and triangles, which are arranged in a symmetrical wave-like two-sided continuous arrangement to form symbolic patterns such as mountains and giant dragons.The colors of Yao brocade are mainly warm colors such as scarlet, peach red, orange red, etc., with blue, green, white, purple, etc. in between, which are bright and strong.Common varieties include bed blankets, quilt covers, back bags, colored ribbons, etc.

In addition to the above, Wa brocade, Buyi brocade, Gaoshan brocade, and Lahu brocade in the southwest or southeast are also well-known in the four cloths.Due to the different living environments, customs, habits and traditions of the ethnic minorities, their brocades have different styles in terms of weaving methods, patterns, and color matching, which is a manifestation of the traditional and local nature of Chinese folk crafts. Minorities in Northwest China also had fine-textured brocades in ancient times.Probably in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Han nationality’s sericulture and silk weaving technology spread to ancient Khotan in the northwest (in today’s Hotan, Xinjiang).According to the Beiliang-Gaochang documents unearthed from the ancient tomb of Hara Hezhuo in Xinjiang, there were Shule (now Kashgar) Brocade, Kucha (now Kuqa) Brocade and Gaochang (Gaochang) Brocade in Xinjiang 1,400 to 500 years ago. Kucha brocade made in Turpan today).The Hetian silk and Huihui brocade produced by the Uyghurs are also famous in history. Now the Palace Museum still preserves these fabrics that the Uyghurs paid tribute to the imperial court in the Qing Dynasty.It is difficult for us to see the real objects of Shule brocade and Qiuci brocade now, but we unearthed the pairs of birds and animals from the sites of Bachutuo Kuzishalai and Turpan Astana collected by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum. Its style can be imagined by the combination of Lianzhuwenjin and Hanli inscriptions.The brocades unearthed from the Bachutokuzshalai and Astana ruins have complex colors, accurate jacquard patterns, and fine brocade surfaces, which bear the color of Gaochang and Persian culture.This shows that the brocade weaving in Turpan, Xinjiang at that time not only inherited the tradition of brocade weaving in the Han Dynasty, but also absorbed the influence of local or Persian brocade.