The story of ethnic minority ornaments

Miao Yin: Since the Ming Dynasty, Miao silver ornaments have had the function of marriage appraisal in some areas. Now, this function has become very popular. In most cases, silver ornaments are mainly used to decorate unmarried women. In Qingshui River and Liujiang River basins in Guizhou Province, silver ornaments have three meanings to their owners. First, it means that the wearer has entered adolescence. According to the custom, girls who get off the pole cannot wear silver ornaments, nor can they use the silver ornaments of adult women. It is of great significance to enter the reed raft field. Second, it means that the wearer is not married. Once Miao women get married and have children, they should be amended according to the regulations. Third, it means that the wearer wants a partner. In most areas of Luzhaochang, the jingling silver ornaments represent a pass, which shows the onlookers their qualifications, otherwise the girl can only be a bystander no matter how handsome she is. Many single pieces of silver ornaments are special ornaments for the last married women, and even if there are married women, they can't be used, such as the silver feather replacement of the Miao people in Liqian, Guizhou, the silver ladle head row of the Miao people, the silver waist chain of the Miao people in Ping Huang, the silver horn and silver flower replacement of the Miao people in Leishan, the silver fan and silver clothes of the Miao people in Shidong and so on.

After taking off all the silver ornaments, Miao married women usually keep only a few kinds of silver ornaments, such as hairpins, earrings and pliers. But in many places, according to custom, married people have their own special silver ornaments, and unmarried people are not allowed to wear them. The wedding symbol of women in Taojiang, Leishan, Guizhou Province is a broad silver comb. Congjiang pen and woman are a sincere substitute. Women in Yunba County are a temporary silver chain inserted at the top of pi, and women in Bazhai, Danzhai are a beautiful butterfly substitute. Although there are not many silver ornaments, they are particularly eye-catching when inserted on Mongolian green cloth. The silver replacement of the woman who donated money to Huishui is only worn at the funeral. The special silver ornaments of married women are not only symbolic, but also practical to meet the needs of their changes after marriage.

The female lock earrings popular in Jianhe Miao nationality are a typical example. Earrings need to be put on by the mother when the daughter enters youth, and taken off by the mother when she gets married and replaced with butterfly earrings. Stories about locking earrings are still circulating in the local area. Legend has it that there is a girl named Niang Arthur who is smart, beautiful and brave. On one occasion, she single-handedly killed instant sperm and was almost bitten by it. Thanks to the help of Phobos Apollo, she killed the instant sperm to exorcise the local evil spirits, and they fell in love. When leaving, Phobos Apollo gave his mother Arthur a pair of lock earrings, hoping that her mother Arthur would be faithful to love. Arthur's mother also gave him a necklace pendant, saying that his sweetheart was not allowed to continue living. "Explanation of Name" Day: Piercing pearls (earrings) was originally made by barbarians. Barbarian women are easy to walk, so they use this pillar to block them. Today, China people's ears are effective. Here, legends and historical records confirm each other. The original intention of earrings is to warn women to be faithful to love. Today, the original meaning of earrings has faded for a few days, but it is still a symbol of marriage in Jianhe Miao dress custom.

In some love customs in Miao areas, silver ornaments appear as prescribed emotional objects or fixed emotional objects. The suggestive sign of Zhijin Miao girls courtship during the festival is a colorful embroidered back fan with a row of silver bells. The back fan behind the girl, on the one hand, shows her ingenuity, on the other hand, implies that she has fertility, and silver ornaments show the wealth of her family. Duyun stereotyped Miao youth gave each other silver ornaments as tokens of love. Later generations gave girls a pair of shoes with eight treasures and silver as tokens, and the girls all gave back a silver cigarette case without exception.

In some areas, silver ornaments are also a symbol of the marriage of Miao men. Miao men in Liping, Guizhou like to wear collars. They wear three clothes when they are unmarried and one after marriage. Since the 1980s, more and more laps have been worn, more than 5 laps at the end of marriage and more than 3 laps after marriage.

As an inclusive carrier, silver ornaments often express some wishes through the implication of patterns. Mice have always been hated by human beings, but once caves were given to artists to decorate them with mice crouching among flowers. This is the idea that rats can only be found when they have surplus grain. Earrings in many places of Miao nationality are modeled after those in Mi Chong, and the concept is the same. Fish lines and gourd lines often appear on silver clothes, meaning that there are many seeds, indicating that they want to have children.

A kind of banana silver chest pendant is popular among Miao people in Wenshan, Yunnan, which is similar in shape and size to a longevity lock. The difference is that the longevity lock expresses a wish, but records a legend. According to legend, this woman's Miao ancestors first arrived here, and I don't know whether to stay. Hesitantly, I saw a banana seedling break out of the ground and instantly grow into a big tree, full of fruits. Surprised people thought it was a sign of God, so they decided to settle here. According to this legend, it is not difficult to infer that the Miao ancestors of this branch once survived a famine by bananas. Therefore, people with feelings cast the image of banana tree on the silver ornaments they wear forever. The silver chest pendant with man-banana pattern shows another function of Miao silver ornaments.

Miao silver ornaments are rooted in the deep soil of Miao culture. Surrounded by totem, religious witchcraft, history and folk life, their social functions and cultural connotations have been greatly expanded. As an external symbol of the nation, it plays an internal role as an object of worship. As a tool of witchcraft, it closely unites the descendants of the same ancestor. As a sign of marriage or not, it provides people with a sense of security in life psychologically. As a way to express their wishes, it brings good order to people's marriage and love life, and it opens the wings for people to yearn for. The materialization of consciousness determines the conservatism of Miao silver jewelry as a traditional culture, which will not be eliminated because of the passage of time and will not be shaken by the impact of modern civilization.

Tricolor copper:

Yu Xia, named Wen Ming. Yu's father is Gun, Gun's father is Emperor Zhuan Xu, Zhuan Xu's father is Changyi, and Changyi's father is Huangdi. Yu is the great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor and the grandson of Emperor Zhuan Xu. Yu's great-grandfather Changyi and his father Kun did not ascend to the throne, but served as ministers for the son of heaven.

When Emperor Yao was in power, the flood was terrible and mighty, and the people were very sad about it. Yao looked for someone who could control water, and the ministers of Yue Dynasty all said that guns could control water.

Between the sea, Mount Tai and Huaishui is Xuzhou: Huaishui and Yishui in this area have been treated, and crops can also be planted in Mengshan and Yushan. Xiao Ye has become a storage lake, and the water in the East Plain has also receded. The soil here is red, sticky, plump and lush. Land belongs to the upper middle class, that is, the second class, and tax belongs to the middle class, that is, the fifth class. Tributes include the five-colored soil used by the emperor to build an altar to worship heaven, the pheasant in feather valley, the solitary tung produced at the southern foot of Yishan, the pumice chime on the shore of Surabaya, the pearls and fish of Huaiyi, and the slender and clean black and white silk in the bamboo basket. When paying tribute, take the water route through Huaishui and Surabaya, and then turn to the Yellow River. Between the Huaihe River and the sea is Yangzhou: Peng Li (lǐ, Li) merges into a lake and becomes the habitat of Hongyan's southward return. Songjiang, Qiantang River and puyang river enter the sea there, and some people have settled in Zhenze area. There are dense bamboo forests, lush weeds and tall trees here. The soil here is very wet. Under the field, it is the ninth, followed by tax, that is, the seventh and sometimes the sixth. Tributes include tricolor copper, jade, Yao, Kun and other precious stones and bamboo arrows, as well as ivory, leather, feathers, hair oxtail, flowers and plants woven by islanders, bamboo basket shell-shaped flower brocade, oranges and grapefruit wrapped in tribute according to the imperial order. These tributes all entered Huaihe River and Surabaya via the sea and Yangtze River.

South of Jingshan to Hengshan is Jingzhou: the Yangtze River and Hanshui River flow into the sea here. Most tributaries of the Yangtze River have fixed channels, and the flood and backwater are diverted, and Yun Ze and Mengze are also well managed. The soil here is wet, the field is the eighth and the tax is the third. Tributes include feathers, oxtail, ivory, leather, tricolor copper, as well as Ailanthus altissima, Cunninghamia lanceolata, Alnus cremastogyne and cypress, as well as thick and thin grindstones, ochre (nǔ, Nujiang) stones that can be used as arrows, cinnabar, and especially bamboo that can be used as arrow shafts. Sometimes, according to orders, they will pay tribute to chinemys reevesii produced in Jiujiang. When paying tribute, it passes through the Yangtze River, Tuoshui, Laishui and Hanshui, then turns a section of land into Luoshui, and then turns to Nanhe.

Tricolor copper is a tribute

Sandalwood ornaments: the story of sandalwood

Tansanskrit means charity. Because of its hard wood, eternal fragrance, colorful and changeable colors, invulnerability, immortality and evil spirits, it is also called holy sandalwood. There are only sacred sandalwood, sandalwood, green sandalwood, red sandalwood, ebony and red sandalwood in the world, and the number is extremely limited. Its texture is firm and hard, its color is colorful and changeable, its fragrance is eternal, it is non-toxic and harmless, and it can ward off evil spirits and cure diseases, so people often use it as a mascot to protect Anji Xiang. Dalbergia odorifera was very popular in the ancient court of China because of its noble characteristics, and was widely worn by high officials and nobles. The longer the green sandalwood is placed, the greener the color, and the wood emits a unique sandalwood flavor; Because the natural growth is extremely slow, the natural stock is extremely limited, more than ordinary mahogany. ......

At first, the Ming court bought rosewood in the south of China. Later, due to the lack of wood, and sent to Nanyang for regular procurement, so a large number of rosewood materials were stored. Because rosewood grows slowly, it will not be used for hundreds of years. After the harvest in the Ming Dynasty, the rosewood in Nanyang had dried up. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, most of the redwoods produced in the world gathered in China. In the early Qing dynasty, the stocks of the Ming dynasty were also used. After the mid-Qing Dynasty, the stock ran out and the supply of goods was temporarily interrupted. So after the middle of the Qing Dynasty, mahogany was used instead of rosewood as furniture.

Foreign countries cherish rosewood more. It is said that there is a 15 cm long model of rosewood coffin in front of Napoleon's tomb, which attracts all tourists. Later, westerners came to Beijing and saw all kinds of large-scale artifacts, only to know that the elite of rosewood gathered in Beijing. So I bought it and shipped it back to China. At present, the only remaining rosewood utensils in Europe and America are mostly shipped from Beijing, which shows the rarity of rosewood furniture.

Hairpin: In the 5,000-year history of the Chinese nation, there are long-standing records about hairpins. Hairpin refers to a kind of jewelry used to fix and decorate hair. There is such an explanation in Ci Hai: hairpin, a long needle used by the ancients to fix the bun or connect the crown hair, later specifically refers to the jewelry for women to insert the bun. "Historical records. "The Biography of Funny Stories" said: "There was a fall before, and then there was a hairpin." And "I stroke my white hair. It has grown too thin, and it can no longer hold hairpins. The ethnic minorities in China have the traditional custom of fixing their hair with hairpins. Their hairpins are various, with a long history, rich national characteristics and rich cultural connotations. The Tang, Song and later generations were a thrilling and prosperous time. Many women in Dunhuang frescoes in the Tang Dynasty are covered with flowers and needles. There are also many images of women with hairpins in Tang Dynasty paintings. "History of Song Dynasty" records: "Song Yuanjia married a folk woman in six years ... wearing flowers and combs on her head. According to Lu You's Shu Guo Ji in Song Dynasty, the headdress of women in Southwest China at that time was "six silver hairpin, another big ivory comb, as big as a hand". The styles of hairpins in Ming and Qing dynasties are very rich, and the main changes are mostly concentrated in the head of hairpins. It has a variety of shapes, and also likes to use flowers, birds, fish, insects, birds and animals as the first shape of the hairpin. Common flower varieties include plum blossom, lotus flower, chrysanthemum flower, peach blossom, peony flower and hibiscus flower. The names of the pins in Tianshui Iceberg Record in Ming Dynasty are "Golden Peach Blossom Top Pin", "Golden Plum Blossom Top Pin", "Jin Juhua Top Pin", "Golden Gemstone Top Pin", "Golden Box Inverted Lotus Pin" and "Golden Box Cat Eye Top Pin". Among them, Fengchai has the most and the most exquisite production.

In modern times, with the change of people's hair styles, hairpin lost many inherent meanings in the Han nationality and gradually declined. But it is still very popular among ethnic minorities, and many ethnic minority women still keep the habit of thick hair when dressing up. For example, the "big flat" silver hairpin often inserted by Manchu women has a flat and long shape, a well-defined face and patterns. Married women are inserted between the bun, which not only fixes the hair, but also plays the role of beauty decoration. Miao women tie their long hair in a bun at the top, and there are 7 or 8 silver hair clips inserted between the hairs at the top of the hair roots. Li Bride's head is decorated with 10 silver hairpin, which looks simple and elegant, beautiful and generous. It is not difficult to see from the characteristics of materials, shapes, styles and techniques of today's hairpins of various nationalities that the hairpins of various nationalities in China have inherited and developed the hairpins of various nationalities in history, and have incorporated strong regional and national characteristics. In addition to fixing hair and beautifying, many ethnic groups regard it as a symbol of masculinity, and some ethnic groups also put it on their hair as amulets to pray for the protection of the gods. In some areas, hair clips are still the first choice for young men and women of ethnic minorities. Zhuang and Yao people in Donglan, Guangxi have the custom of beating bronze drums to pray for the New Year. Every Spring Festival, unmarried women often beat the bronze drums with braids and give the silver hairpin as a token of love to the people present. This is the most precious gift between men and women. After marriage, the husband should return the silver hairpin to his wife, put it on her head again, and pray for happiness and grow old together.