The origin and significance of the Qiang costume

The Qiang people have been multiplying for thousands of years, and different historical periods have different historical styles and are inseparable from the economic base, living environment, social customs and aesthetic concepts, which have created a rich and varied Qiang costume. With the evolution of the Qiang culture, the Qiang costume has formed a unique Qiang costume culture, let's learn more about its origin, evolution and significance.

There is little information about the Qiang's ancient costumes. Generally speaking, the Qiangs used fur, wool and linen as their clothing. The Qiang's ancient costume is characterized by the "felt cloak". The production process of felt is much simpler than that of woolen cloth, and its production should be three thousand years ago. According to the literature, during the Han Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, the Qiang people in Gansu and Qinghai had "women wearing big Chinese felt as a decoration" ("The Book of the Later Han Dynasty - Western Qiang Biography - Jiejie" cited Guo Yigong "Guangzhi"). And with the same period of "Dian" and other Qiang sub-national aristocratic men also wear felt. It can be seen that the "felt" was originally one of the oldest Qiang clothing.

In the Tang and Song dynasties, the Qiang felt has been more common. The New Book of the Tang Dynasty - Danghang biography, said: "Men and women dressed in fur and brown, was felt." This clothing tradition is still preserved in the Qiang branch of the Yi ethnic group.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the traditional dress of the Qiang people has been relatively simple. Both men and women wore headgear, long linen shirts, sheepskin kangs, waistbands and leg wraps. The headscarves are mostly green or white. Young women often wear headkerchiefs embroidered with various colors, or use a tile-shaped green cloth on top of their heads, and then use two braids of hair wrapped around it as a bun. Generally, they wear a four-sided turban in winter and an embroidered headband in spring and fall. The Qiang men in Songpan and Heishui have their hair braided with velvet, and then wrap it into a bun at the back of their head.

The Qiang men wear knee-length shirts and the Qiang women wear ankle-length shirts. The hemp cloth long shirt is made of self-produced flax after spinning and weaving, which is commonly called "hemp cloth shirt", or it is made of cow's wool after hanging and weaving, which is commonly called "hemp cloth shirt", or it is made of cloth, and it is mostly in green color. Qiang women like to wear lace shirts with silver ornaments in the shape of plum blossoms on the collar and cuffs. Both men and women girdle, men like to wear a coral fire scythe and knife embedded in the belt, and wear a silver cigarette case. Female bundle of flowers around the waist and fluttering belts, waistbands woven with colorful floral motifs, and in the waist to wear a silver needle and thread box.

Both men and women in the tunic coat a sleeveless sheepskin shoulders, commonly known as "leather coat". This coat can be worn on both sides, sunny days, hair to the inside, rainy days, hair to the outside, used to protect against the cold and rain, and sometimes as a cushion. There is also an undershirt is made of wool felt, slightly longer than the former. Men wear grass shoes, cloth shoes or cowhide boots, and go barefoot when traveling. Women wear pointy hooked shoes with plain or embroidered uppers. Men also wear pointy hook shoes. These pointed hook shoes are also known as "Yunyun shoes". Usually embroidered with colorful cloud patterns on the top of the shoe, the tip of the shoe is slightly curved, like a small boat, very chic. Feet wrapped in cattle, wool made of felt binding legs, binding legs have the role of insulation and leg protection. The young women also wear a red band around their legs.

The Qiang women like to wear silver hairpins, earrings, collar flowers, silver plates, silver circles and rings, etc. The rich people also set agate, jade and coral on the rings. The oval necklaces called "Sai Wu" are usually decorated with coral beads woven with silver wire.

The biggest difference between the Qiang women and the men is the geometric patterns on the collar, cuffs, belt and shoes, and the collar is decorated with rows of silver ornaments in the shape of plum blossoms. Pick embroidery patterns in all reflect the real-life natural scenery, such as peonies and plum blossoms in plants, magpies, butterflies, sheep and other animals. The embroidered scenes are all lifelike, and their contents are mostly symbolic of good luck and longing for a happy life, such as "flowers like brocade", "rich peonies", "magpies haunting the plum blossom" and so on. "

Modernization of the Chinese culture is not only about the development of the Chinese culture.

The modern Qiang costumes have changed. The Qiang people near the Han area and near the towns, influenced by Han costumes, mostly wear Han clothes, and only wear their own national costumes on festive occasions. After the reform and opening up, rural youths generally began to wear suits, leather shoes or traveling shoes. Elderly men started to wear Zhongshan clothes, Lenin clothes and military uniforms. Most of the Qiangs living in the high mountains still wear the traditional national costume.

The Qiang men usually wear a blue shirt, a sheepskin kangshen, a belt and a girdle around the waist, and a head wrapped in a pashmina or a hat. They wear liberation shoes or "Yunyun shoes", while the young wear travel shoes. Young people often wear travel shoes. They wear modern pants underneath, and their clothes are all made of modern fabrics, mostly in gray, blue, black and army green. The old Qiang women wear blue or green lace long shirts with embroidered aprons and fluttering belts around their waists, and black bandanas. In the area of Heihu Township of Mao County, women mostly wear white head scarves. Women have a certain amount of care, girls braid and coil their heads, wrapped in embroidered headgear. Married women wear buns and embroidered headscarves. Young Qiang women's clothing has become colorful, most of the blue, red and green fabric for long shirt, in the lace, waist, belt, shoes, head scarf picked on the color of the flowers on the more colorful and colorful. Girls like to wear oversized silver earrings and circles, also love to wear high heels.