Revere the Spirits of Nature
A gift from a Yunnan Lahu (拉祜族) family -
embroidery in Lahu traditional colors and motif.
Yunnan 2018I learned from my two-week Yunnan trip in 2018, as a 'general rule', ethnic minority colours and motif represent the way the people revere spirits of nature - From one of the more distant and 'ancient' The Nashi 納西族 (who are thought to have come originally from northwestern China and settled in Tibet) to The Miao 苗族 (who perhaps Taiwanese are more familiar with, as well as by the term 'cooked' and 'raw' indigenous peoples referring to the levels of assimilation into Han culture).
The blue lines, for example, are streams and rivers. The bright pink, the flowering plants in the grass lands.
"How and where our Fujian ancestors originated and migrated from"
What inspired me for this short quick post is actually from a recent informal conversation within the 'Taiwan Old Family' group I belong to - by the question "How and where our Fujian ancestors originated and migrated from" - an understandably huge topic which remains controversial and largely 'confusing'.
Rest that aside, an ethnic minority legend I learned and which I liked quite a lot is a piece of information from 黃永松 (of Echo Magazine 漢聲雜誌 Hansheng zazhi) about the Miao People.
Legend about Miao's Female Leader Lanjuan 蘭娟 and Embroidery Lanjuan Yi 蘭娟衣
Lanjuan, the female leader
of the Miao ethnic group, used colored thread to make notes on her clothes when
she led the Miao ethnic group to move south.
With every step she took -
when leading across the Yellow River, an undulating yellow thread is
embroidered on the left cuffs.
When crossing the Yangtze
River, she embroidered a winding blue thread on the right cuff.
When crossing the **Dongting
Lake, she embroidered a blue thread of a lake-like pattern on her chest.
Without fail, every time
she crossed a river or a mountain, she sew marks on her clothes.
The long migration covered her
clothes with various patterns and colours, which turned out to be a beautiful
costume. Lanjuan used it as a wedding dress for her daughter.
And this dress embroidered
with migration trail is therefore known the "Lanjuan Yi".
Additional Information (Source Austin Kramer (Basket of Needles and Threads). (Original Source: Minzu University of China. Museum of Ethnic Cultures 中央民族大学民族博物舘 http://bwg.muc.edu.cn)
The Miao do not have their own written language, and their embroidery itself takes on the role of documenting their history and culture. Each pattern illustrates a specific aspect of Miao culture and history, making embroidery an extraordinary heritage that is vital to preserve. The embroidered clothing of the Miao are walking history books, with the memories of generations of ancestors stitched into every unforgettable motif.
**Rice paddies and Dongting lake.
The earliest rice paddies yet discovered in the world were in the Liyang plain, which was then on the western edge of Dongting lake.
The state of Chu occupied the region in the Eastern Zhou period, and its territory there was taken over by Qin in the 3rd century BCE. During the Han Dynasty, Yunmeng Marsh (雲夢大澤; Yúnmèng dàzé literally "Great Marsh of Cloud Dream"), which lies to the north of Dongting Lake in Hubei Province, served as the main flood-basin of the Yangtze. The rich sediment of the marsh attracted farmers. Embankments were built, keeping the river out, and the Dongting Lake area south of the Yangtze gradually became the river's main flood-basin. The Han state was actively involved in the colonization of the region, maintaining dikes in Liyang to protect farmland from flooding. (wikipedia)
Update dialogue with Pei-Lin Yu, 余 琲 琳
Anthropologist. Fulbright Senior Research Fellow
Yu: This one is fascinating as my father has often spoken of our family's connections with the Naxi region of Yunnan
Hung: wait, does that mean this Chinese man your great grandmother married was from Yunnan?? I did say in the moldy rice post, it is something I wouldn't be surprised to see in Yunnan. Is there some connection between your father's side and Yunnan minority?
Yu: According to my father his family has roots in that area but they are so old we do not have records. Only family stories of an eastward migration then south along the China coast to Fujian, maybe 300 or 400 years ago. My great grandfather on my father’s side came to Taiwan around 1860 from Fujian. I will ask him again, it has been a little while since he mention this. Hoping I can get more information from my Dad when I visit.
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