Come to compete on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and one competition will last for thousands of years. On the afternoon of February 24, the villagers of Zhiju Village, Zhonghe Town, Yongren County, Yunnan Province gathered together with guests and friends from all over the country to jointly carry out the Yongren 2024 Zhiju Yi Nationality Mass Cultural Activity to celebrate the Lantern Festival.
Tradition and fashion go hand in hand, Yi ethnic costumes are also trendy
Zhiju Village is the "source of costumes and the root of Yi embroidery". It is a national traditional village and has the oldest rural catwalk in the world. The Zhiju Yi costume competition has been passed down for more than 1,350 years and is a provincial intangible cultural heritage. The intangible cultural heritage celebrating the New Year - Yongren 2024 Zhiju Yi Nationality Clothing Exhibition is divided into four chapters: "The Origin of Clothing", "The Root of Yi Embroidery", "Indulgence in Clothing" and "The End".
Chapter 1 "The Origin of Competition Costumes" explores the origin and inheritance of competition clothing. The blessing ceremony of Bimo, a respected and respected wise man of the Yi ethnic group, kicked off the entire exhibition. The blazing "race fire" he lit symbolized the enthusiasm and vitality of the Yi people. Afterwards, the Grandpa Dressing Team, Grandma Dressing Team, Cute Baby Dressing Team, Daughter-in-law Dressing Team and Man Dressing Team jumped up to the cheerful gourd and performed the original ecological dress "Looking for Dreams Dressing Source" 》.
"The Roots of Yi Embroidery", as the second chapter of the exhibition, focuses on the exquisite craftsmanship and cultural connotation of Yi costumes. The songs "Love in Competition Costumes" and "Love in Yi Mountain" affectionately sing the love and praise of local Yi compatriots for Yi costumes. The Yi opera song and dance "Flowers Blooming in Clothes Source" adds a lot of fashion elements and tells a touching story of how the Yi clothing industry promotes rural prosperity. The original ecological instrumental music performance "My Calabash Sheng" allowed many foreign tourists to appreciate the unique charm of Yi musical instruments. The host introduced that the gourd sheng is the main musical instrument used by the Yi ethnic group's leading dancers. In July 2005, Bozhedi Village, Zhonghe Town, Yongren County, which is famous for its gourd sheng making skills, was named the hometown of the gourd sheng. ; In March 2023, the Yi gourdsheng making technique was named a provincial intangible cultural heritage protection project. The song and dance "Yongren" allows the audience to enter Yongren with a long history and enterprising spirit through music and dance.
Chapter 3 "Indulgent Costume Competition" pushed the event to a climax. The song "Gold and Silver Bird" sings the Yi people's love and yearning for life. The fine costumes of the Yi people in Yongren County were displayed on the oldest rural catwalk, and professional models performed "Yi Clothes". The street dance "Indulgence in Costume Source" combines modern street dance with Yi culture, showing the infinite possibilities of Yi culture. The dance "Splendid China" was performed by dancers wearing 56 ethnic costumes. The festive and peaceful atmosphere interpreted the unique charm of the multiculturalism of the Chinese nation. Finally, to the beautiful melody of the song "Together to the Future", this intangible cultural heritage celebration of the New Year came to a successful conclusion.
"The costume competition has been passed down for more than 1,350 years. In the past, some traditional and self-entertaining methods were usually used to show everyone's love for clothing culture. This year's costume competition highlights the participation of the masses on the one hand, and on the other hand It focuses on the combination with fashion, inheritance and development. Judging from the participation of the masses, this year’s costume competition has more than 210 actors participating, more than 30 professional actors are just embellishments, and the rest are all worn by Zhiju villagers. Costumes, daily dances, and traditional tunes were appropriately arranged to form a performance, and the addition of professional actors' touches greatly enhanced the artistry and appreciation of the original costumes." said the chief planner and chief director of this performance. Zhou Bing, an expert on national culture and industrial development in Yunnan Province, said. The
costume contest is also an important annual "Valentine's Day" for local people. Wearing hand-embroidered exquisite floral clothes and displaying them on the competition field is the most romantic event that every Yi girl looks forward to in a year. The exquisiteness of the floral clothes is their red rope to attract their sweethearts. It carries the hard work of the Yi girls. and wisdom, and the yearning for love. With a history of more than 1,700 years, Chuxiong Yi costumes are a national intangible cultural heritage and a "fingertip art and spiritual flower" that the Yi people are proud of.
walked into the home of embroiderer Li Xiaoqiong in Zhiju Village. Early in the morning, they were busy dressing up and carefully putting on the floral clothes embroidered by themselves.Li Xiaoqiong said that it takes more than a year to embroider a complete set of Yi costumes. I usually do farm work, and in my free time I make Yi rust. After I embroider it, I sell it on the street. The local price is more than three to four thousand yuan. It is reported that Yongren County currently has 1 state-level Yi embroidery cultural and creative industrial park, 1 Yi embroidery industry association, 45 Yi embroidery enterprises (including 1 enterprise listed above), 68 individual industrial and commercial households, and 6 professional cooperatives. There are 5 Yi embroidery poverty alleviation workshops, 91 Yi embroidery workshops, and 2,973 embroiderers. In 2023, the output value will be 42 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11%. In recent years, the costume culture has left the small mountain village of Zhiju, successfully appeared in Beijing, Shanghai Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week, and Milan Fashion Week, and is moving out of Yunnan and into the world.
In addition to the Yi embroidery industry, with Sai Sui culture as its core, Yongren County is also actively exploring Sai Sui cultural creation, Sai Sui research and other paths, so that Sai Sui culture can be closely connected with people's livelihood and well-being, and let the ancient intangible cultural heritage bloom into a better future. Lots of charm.
(Photo provided by China Daily Yunnan Reporter Station reporter Li Yingqing and Propaganda Department of Yongren County Committee of the Communist Party of China)
