Unique Chinese Miao’s tin embroidery art
The Miao people living in southwestern China are well known for their colorful costumes featuring glistening silver necklaces and beautiful embroidery. Including those two art forms, they also have a beautiful tin embroidery art.
To make this art, artists embroider with tin threads and tin slices. A piece of tin is nearly as thin as a piece of paper. Scissors are used to cut the tin slices into fine tin threads which are about 18 cm long and only 1 mm wide.
They first draw the outline of a design with a cotton thread on a piece of navy blue cloth, then create this design with a thin tin thread. Then the four different colorful silk threads are used to embroider flower patterns on the black space.
Tin embroidery is often used to decorate women’s skirts and the back of their shirts.
On the skirts, two big pieces of tin embroidery are decorated on the front and the back. The entire area of the front is about 44 × 17 cm. The tin embroidered part is about 27 cm long and 14 cm wide. The embroidery pattern includes nine different units from bottom to top.
The first unit has “X” patterns, which look like flowers but actually symbolize rivers, valleys, and mountains. The second unit has “V” patterns, which look like saddles for oxen but actually are the symbols of tools used by the locals. Oxen are usually used as offerings in sacrificial ceremonies, and they also stand for power in the Miao society.
Patterns in the third unit are scales which symbolize equality and justice. The Miao believe in an equal society and wish to have plenty of food and other commodities.
In the fourth unit there are patterns of children’s heads which imply offspring.
The fifth unit has many different patterns, and is in the center of the tin embroidery. Rakes means hard work and a good harvest. Triangle rulers represent measuring the length of wood when building a house. Girders symbolize houses. Triangles at the sides represent rivers and mountains.
Designs in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth units are exactly the same as those in the fourth, third, second, and first unit.
The entire area of the back of the skirt is about 46 ×19 cm. The tin embroidered part is about 30 ×15 cm. The patterns are almost the same as those on the front piece. There are patterns of big heads in the second unit, which represent adults.
On the back of women’s shirts there is a tin embroidered band which measures about 20 x 17 cm. Some tin lines about 10 cm long drop from the band. They are called ” dripping water threads”, as they look like ears and express the wish for a prosperous future.
Miao women start to learn how to make tin embroidery when they are very young. Their mothers and elder sisters are their best teachers. When they reach the age for marriage, they will start to prepare themselves a set of tin embroidered clothes for dower.
Miao women only wear tin embroidered clothes on important holidays and their wedding days. The white tin embroidery on navy blue clothes looks elegant, and matches perfectly with their glistening silver earrings and silver necklaces.
The Miao tin embroidery has a history of over 600 years. In 1997, some tourists from UK visited the Miao villages and fell in love with this fascinating tin embroidery art. Since then, more and more tourists from western countries have visited the Miao area.
In 2006, Miao tin embroidery art was listed by the Chinese government as one of China’s intangible cultural heritages, right up there with the Miao silver necklaces. This traditional Miao art is even applied to fashion apparel. A gorgeous evening dress sporting Miao tin embroidery art caused a sensation in a fashion show held in Sweden in January, 2009.
Comments
Leave a Reply