What are the specialties of Oroqen?

The most skillful handicrafts of Oroqen people are boxes, baskets, barrels, chests and lightweight birch-skin boats made of a large amount of birch skin. And carve and embroider all kinds of beautiful patterns on them, fully reflecting the traditional characteristics of their hunting culture.

Oroqen people live in the size of the Hinggan Mountains, birch trees everywhere, hard-working Oroqen people did not live up to the gift of nature, a birch tree, a sheet of birch bark through their dexterous hands, into a variety of birch vessels, birch boats, and other production and living utensils and handicrafts, the formation of a simple and elegant birch skin culture.

Every year in the early summer, birch water is big, is the Oroqen people peeling birch bark season. They choose thick, straight and smooth birch tree, with a knife in the trunk of the upper and lower end of each cut a circle of mouth, and then in the upper and lower two mouths between the vertical cut a knife, with both hands will be a rectangle of birch bark down the trunk slowly torn down. The next year, the tree will produce new birch bark again.

The Lunchun people, young and old, are skilled craftsmen who make birch skin products. All of them can use birch skin and horsetail or elk, deer, jail sinews twisted into the thread sewing all kinds of supplies, and on the top of the carving and painting on a variety of patterns and designs. Large birch skin articles are clothes boxes, buckets, baskets. Medium-sized pots, hat boxes, needle and thread boxes, collection and storage of wild fruits with a small bucket. Small bowl, cigarette case, medicine box. In addition to general living things, Oroqen people can also use birch bark to build boats. Birch bark boat narrow and long, generally less than 1 meter wide, about 5 meters long. It is made of pine boards with the skeleton cocked at both ends, and the large sheets of birch bark without holes are used to make the bottom of the boat and the boat. The whole boat does not use an iron nail, but with pine wood cut into nails, used to strengthen the parts. This kind of boat can take two or three people, rowing with a single oar. When rowing, the sound is very small, rowing it out of the hunt, is conducive to close to the prey, capture the beast.

Birch products are simple to make, strong and durable, not afraid of water, not afraid of collision, but also light to carry.

Oroqen Autonomous Banner has a very high forest coverage, and the smart Oroqen people give full play to their imagination and creativity, using every piece of wood around them to make woodblock prints, wood carvings, wooden ornaments, etc. Even the most inconspicuous and ordinary woodblock prints and wooden ornaments are made of wood. Even the most inconspicuous, generally regarded as rotten wood roots, after the craftsmen's carving, it becomes these highly ornamental and collectible root carving works of art. Look at this one majestic, bold and magnificent, and then look at this one small and delicate, exquisite.

Oroqen mainly have birch carving, wood carving, bone carving three kinds, of which birch carving is the most unique. The carving on the birch skin utensils reflects the strong national style. Its pattern has cloud character pattern, back pattern and various flower patterns. Some of these patterns are drawn on the birch bark with bone needles, and some are cut out with thin birch bark and pasted on it, after which they are carved and embossed. The patterns and floral motifs are painted in red, yellow and black after carving.

Their carving tools are knives made from the lower leg bones of animals called "togtovin", with two, three or four teeth. In modern times, the knife was made of iron, and various patterns and designs were carved and colored on birch-bark vessels.

One kind of birch skin basin called "Adawale" is used by Oroqen people to load valuables, new clothes, the girl's marriage is often also taken to the in-laws, it is above the pattern and color have a certain meaning, such as "Zhu Le Du very" pattern symbolizes that the husband and wife will never be separated, red symbolizes that the girl will never be separated. Couple will never be separated, red symbolizes the girl's happiness, yellow symbolizes the man's happiness.

Wood carving is in wooden utensils such as saddles, wooden pots, etc. above the carving. Pattern patterns have cloud patterns, flowers, etc., and their colors are mostly red and yellow. Such as horse saddles and deer whistles carved on the cloud pattern, wooden pots, wooden bowls carved on the floral pattern.

Bone carvings, mostly carved from animal bones, have women's favorite bone buttons, household items such as bone chopsticks. Among them, the bone finger ring, Oroqen language for "Ur Guo Tunen", initially for the archery tool, worn on the right thumb, and later became a male ornament, is a good hunter's a sign, but also a kind of good luck.