Research On The Clothing Of Yao Nationality In Guangxi Province

The Yao nationality is a transnational ethnic group with a long history and splendid culture.According to the fifth census in 2000,the total number of Yao people at home and abroad reached about 3200000,of which the Yao population in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region was the largest,with a total population of 1 million 472 thousand,accounting for 56% of the total population of the Yao nationality.Guangxi is a province with the largest population and the largest number of branches of Yao nationality people.The typicality and representativeness of Yao culture,as well as the richness of quantity sample of subject investigated,which determines that the spatial category of this study is demarcated in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.As an aspect of the performance of Yao culture,Yao costume bears a large amount of information about Yao's historical culture and is a witness of historical truth.With the trend of globalization and the acceleration of modernization,the Yao nationality in traditional costumes is becoming less and less,and the Yao people's clothing is becoming scarce and more precious.The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 2006 successfully declared Yao costumes as the first national intangible cultural heritage.The protection of Yao nationality clothing is formally put on the agenda,and the protection work is urgent.The rich styles,various decorations,the acquisition and processing of clothing materials,textile appliances,textile technology,printing and dyeing process,cultural connotations of sculpture symbols,and other rich contents,all of these related to Yao custume can be used as the cut-in point of the study.Previous studies lack of adequate sample material,and also lack the use of clothing discipline knowledge that focused on systematically and comprehensively researching,analyzing numerous Yao branches costume in Guangxi.The purpose of this study is to fill this gap.In addition,another purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between Yao costumes and the language of the Yao nationality.This paper selects all branches typical clothing in Guangxi as the research object;comprehensively use related theories and methods of clothing,anthropology,sociology,etc.Through three party mutual evidence,literature,fieldwork data,and museum collections,this paper carries out a more complete classification and arrangement to types and styles of Guangxi Yao nationality clothing.First of all,it uses the style,structure,fabric,color,making process and other subject knowledge of clothing to make a summary and conclusion to type and characteristics of clothing,accessories,color and craft.This paper first divides the dress into "clothes" and "decorations",carrying on the elaboration of two parts,clothes and decorations.Guangxi Yao clothing is divided into four categories,head wear,top,bottom,feet costume.According to the specific shape and form,it will be subdivided.The head wear are divided into seven types,crown type,package type,shelf plus brocade type,drape type,silver combination type,handkerchiefs mix type,and bonnet.The top is divided into four types,frocks,waist dresses,pockets and drapes while the bottom is divided into three categories,trousers,skirts,and leggings.The feet costume will not be subdivided.In general,there are fifteen styles of Yao clothing in Guangxi.Guangxi Yao costumes accessories and decorations,based on their decorative parts in the body,are divided into three major categories body ornaments,clothing accessories and other accessories.The body ornaments have three types,autologous decoration,drawing decoration,and deficient decoration while clothing accessories have three types,Head and neck ornaments,body ornaments,and limbs ornaments.Other accessories refer to daily supplies with ornamental function.On the whole,Guangxi Yao's coat is the most colorful with a total of 22,which is the important sign to identify the different branches,same branch of different regions,and different sex in same branch of Yao nationality costume,and is an important component of Yao's clothing in Guangxi.Guangxi Yao accessories are mainly in silver,a string of beads and tassels are also a major feature of Yao accessories.In addition,traditional crafts and their performances of Yao nationality in Guangxi is classified and summarized.The traditional craft include weaving and embroidery,sliver making,and clothing sewing process,which are traditional craftsmanship of the Yao nationality that has both primitive and traditional tools and operation skill of heritage millennium.These traditional crafts,from the perspective of clothing,are displayed the colorful colors and patterns by the wisdom and skillful hands.Each branch of the Yao nationality clothing color in Guangxi has its characteristics.The patterns are mainly geometric patterns,while typical patterns are symbols of ethnic groups and cultures.On the basis of the above contents,making a comparative study of geographical distribution and dress image on combining the Yao branch with speaking different languages.This study firstly puts forward the following points.According to the hierarchy of division of language system,subfamily,dialect,jargon,the Yao branch with speaking the same dialect and jargon has a similarity in costumes,accessories,dress color and other dress-up image.The smaller language level Yao branches have,the closer their dress image.The nearer a residential area of different Yao branches with speaking same language,the closer their dress image.The Yao female clothing is the most important symbol to distinguish different branches of Yao nationality.Because of the differenceconvergence between the language and the clothing of the Yao people in Guangxi,the language is used as the basis for the classification of costumes.Finally,the paper discusses the changes of Yao costume in Guangxi from the point of view of anthropology function,creatively uses Bourdieu's concept of field theory,discusses the exerted utility function(include practical function,aesthetic function and symbolic function)of Guangxi Yao nationality clothing in specific application field,Daily life field,life ritual field and public activity field.The development of clothing function needs to be carried out by the semantic soil of dress symbol,namely field.The change or disappearance of field is bound to change the original meaning and function of national costume.The three main reasons for the change of field,which are economic development,ethnic communication and political system change.These are also the main reason for the changes of Guangxi Yao costumes.