Miao silver jewelry
Miao Silver Ornaments
Dear friends:
Hello, everyone! Welcome to the home of the Miao people.
As we all know, the Miao are a people who love singing, a people who love dancing, and above all, a people who love beauty. When speaking of the Miao, one cannot but mention their magnificent silver ornaments. Especially the full ceremonial dress of Miao maidens—from head to toe, over ten kilograms of exquisitely handcrafted silver adornments make the young women dazzlingly radiant. Thus, besides their passionate drum dances, unique ethnic customs, and exquisite batik and cross-stitch embroidery, Miao silver ornaments are a rare artistic treasure. It is no exaggeration to say that silver ornaments are the Miao's ethnic culture worn on the body, a history book worn on the body, and the Miao's most beloved decoration. When it comes to the abundance of silver adornment, across the vast land of China, few can surpass the Miao. Especially in western Hunan, one of the three major Miao dialect regions, the Miao there are truly a people wrapped in shimmering silver light. Yet for the Miao, who live in remote areas far from silver-producing regions and are relatively backward economically and culturally, choosing costly silver ornaments as a collective ethnic identity—and becoming the foremost silver-wearing people among all of China's ethnic groups—is undoubtedly a remarkable cultural phenomenon presented before us.
Most Miao girls wear a large silver lock on their chest, also called a "longevity lock" or "silver chest pendant." It is one of the main ornaments in Miao silver attire, exquisitely crafted. The silversmith, after pressing out the relief patterns, further chisels detailed designs of dragons, twin lions, fish, butterflies, embroidered balls, flowers, and grasses. From the lower edge of the silver lock hang silver chains, silver plates, and silver bells. Girls begin wearing it from childhood, with the intention of praying for peace and good fortune, and it may only be removed after marriage.
Young Miao men also have the custom of wearing silver ornaments, and in some places it serves as a sign of being unmarried. When in full dress, Miao men wear a blue front-buttoned jacket, a flowered sash around the waist, a turban on the head, silver neck rings around the neck, and silver chain ornaments or silver plaques on the chest. Wearing three silver neck rings indicates being unmarried, while two neck rings indicate being married. They carry waist knives at all times, with powder gourds, ox-horn containers, silver hooks, and pouches attached to their belts... This colorful costume culture fully displays their wisdom and talent, and to this day they still maintain their own ethnic characteristics.
Is there any other ethnic group that loves silver ornaments as much as the Miao? The young women here generally love wearing silver ornaments, and the more the better, the heavier the more precious. When fully adorned, their whole bodies glisten and shine with silver light. Their special preference for silver ornaments stems from their belief that silver is a symbol of wealth, that silver ornaments are beautiful, durable, and easy to make. Moreover, silver symbolizes light and righteousness; wearing silver ornaments can ward off evil spirits, suppress ghosts, and bring blessings while averting disaster. When they appear in full dress at song festivals and autumn gatherings, the silver ornaments all over their bodies jingle with a crisp, pleasant sound, reflecting not only the sunlight but also their beautiful inner world. If all the Miao maidens in full dress were gathered together, it would surely become a beautiful silver world. They coil their hair into a bun on top of the head and put on an exquisitely crafted silver flower crown, with six silver wing-like ornaments of varying heights inserted at the front, most of them embossed with the pattern of two dragons playing with a pearl. In some areas, besides silver plates, a silver ox horn about one meter tall is inserted into the crown, with colored streamers tied to the tips, making it appear even more noble and splendid. Along the lower edge of the silver crown hangs a band of silver flowers, from which dangles a row of small silver flower pendants. Around the neck are several layers of silver neck rings, mostly made of silver plates embossed with flowers and linked small silver rings. On the chest is a silver lock, and on the back a silver cape hanging with many small silver bells. They wear earrings, bracelets, and other silver articles on their bodies. Only the two sleeves show embroidery dominated by flame-red tones, but the cuffs are also inlaid with a wider band of silver ornaments. At this moment they are no longer simple maidens emerging from stilted houses, but noble and elegant princesses stepping out of a palace, fairies descended from the ninth heaven to the mortal world, leaving ordinary and worldly life far behind in the dust of the red world—truly worthy of the praise "in flowered clothes and silver attire, they rival heavenly fairies."
The craftsmanship of Miao silver ornaments is splendid, refined, and exquisite beyond compare, fully demonstrating the wisdom and talent of the Miao people. These magnificent and intricate Miao silver ornaments are all carefully made by silversmiths of their own ethnic group, passed down from generation to generation, and are said to have a history of over 400 years. Miao silver ornaments first appeared in the Ming Dynasty, became popular in the Qing Dynasty, and reached a peak in the 1980s. They went through a process from simple to complex, from plain and practical to increasingly beautiful. The Miao silver ornaments that appeared in the Ming Dynasty were a landmark product in the process of Miao costume expressing its aesthetic value.
In the grand creation epic "The Ancient Songs of the Miao," there are records of the Miao ancestors transporting gold and silver, erecting pillars to support the sky, and casting the sun and moon—probably the earliest oral materials involving gold and silver seen to date for this ethnic group. It is certain that the creators of the ancient songs did not yet have the concept of using silver as adornment. However, the ancient songs reflect the Miao ancestors' primitive psychology of valuing gold and silver, which may well have influenced today's Miao people's collective choice of their love for silver ornaments.
The earliest germination of Miao silver ornament art occurred in witchcraft and totemic activities. The Miao firmly believe that silverware can ward off evil spirits and protect against the harm of yin forces. In ancient times, it was said that Miao people wearing silver neck rings could defeat the evil "Old Witch" and ensure the safety of the whole family. The renowned Miao large silver horn takes its shape from the image of their ancestor Chiyou, who "had horns on his head," aiming to worship ancestors and gain their protection. In daily life, they treasure silver ornaments with utmost care, revering them as sacred. They have created silver ornament designs of all kinds of patterns and styles, which not only exude a rich folk flavor but also express profound folk cultural connotations, while also displaying the grandeur of a great ethnic group.
The Miao are an ethnic group with a long history; their ancestors lived in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River during the pre-Qin era. After thousands of years of great historical migration, they formed today's pattern of living in large mixed communities and small concentrated settlements. Miao history and culture are recorded through oral literature and costume pictorial art. Unlike many peoples without a written language, the Miao not only pour their historical traditions into oral literature but also into pictures, mainly manifested in the embroidery and silver ornament patterns of Miao costumes. In the long course of historical development, war and oppression forced the Miao to migrate from north to south over extended periods. "The crow has no tree stump, the Miao have no homeland"—this is a true portrayal of their unsettled existence. This provided the precondition for the emergence of expensive silver as adornment that was convenient to carry.
Miao costumes not only come in a great variety of styles and types but are also the items that best represent the characteristics of the ethnic group. No other ethnic group uses costume patterns as a history book to express history so profoundly as the Miao. Miao costumes declare to the world everywhere: We are the Miao, we come from the banks of the Yellow River and the shores of the Yangtze River; we migrated over long distances, enduring countless hardships; we have our own unique culture... It is precisely under such a mindset that the Miao people pour their hearts into embroidering, dyeing, and displaying their sentiments, which is why such outstanding Miao silver ornament art with strong ethnic characteristics has come into being. Therefore, Miao costumes are a history book of the ethnic group worn on the body. On the clothes are embroidered not only the beautiful landscapes of their homeland but also birds, butterflies, flowers, grasses, insects, and fish—the close companions in Miao life. Naturally, dragons and phoenixes are also indispensable. In their early matrilineal clan society, the phoenix was sometimes placed above the dragon. The dragon is also not as majestic and fierce as in Han culture, but rather gentler and more benevolent.
Embroidery and silver ornaments together constitute the entirety of Miao costume. The use of various silver ornaments as the main body adornment forms a major characteristic of Miao personal decoration. During festivals and New Year celebrations, Miao women all dress in flowered clothes and silver, carefully adorning themselves. Miao maidens in flowered clothes and skirts, draped in silver, gather from all directions to display their uniquely crafted ethnic costumes. With graceful dances and lovely appearances, they dance elegantly, presenting a magnificent spectacle of a "sea of silver horns." Silver ornaments occupy a very prominent position in Miao costume, especially in women's full dress, where silver ornaments are indispensable. Their variety is vast, their designs unusual, and their craftsmanship exquisite—second to none among all of China's ethnic groups. The Miao's rich silver ornaments and splendid flowered garments constitute the unique style of Miao body decoration.
Among Miao silver ornaments, the craftsmanship of western Hunan is the finest. The green mountains and clear waters of western Hunan have nurtured a group of clever and skillful Miao people, who use their wisdom to create one exquisite Miao ornament after another. As needed, the silversmith first makes the smelted silver into thin sheets, silver bars, or silver wire, using techniques such as pressing, engraving, and openwork carving to create fine patterns, then welds or weaves them into shape. The process of Miao silver ornament making is very complex; a single piece may require ten to twenty procedures to complete. Moreover, the design itself demands extremely strict manual skills from the silversmith, and it is very difficult to accomplish without being a master of the craft.
Besides being experts at the hammer and anvil, Miao silversmiths are also masters of design. They are adept at drawing creative inspiration from women's embroidery and batik patterns. At the same time, according to the traditional customs and aesthetic tastes of their branch, they focus on innovation in the depiction of details or parts. The relentless pursuit of perfection in craftsmanship has brought Miao silver ornaments to ever greater refinement. Of course, all of this must be premised on not altering the overall design of the silver ornament. Miao silver ornaments have stability in their design; once the ancestor determined the form, it cannot be changed, often becoming an important marker of a branch lineage.
Because of the Miao people's love for silver ornaments, traces of silversmiths can be found in every Miao village. They use the most ancient methods and the simplest tools to create the most exquisite silver ornaments. In western Hunan alone, there are hundreds upon thousands of household silversmith workshops, and those engaged in silver processing are too numerous to count. Most family workshops are father-and-son combinations passing down the craft from master to apprentice, though some are husband-and-wife teams. These workshops often shut down their furnaces during the busy farming season; in the slack season, the sound of tinkling fills the villages, and charcoal furnace smoke drifts from every household—a scene of bustling activity.
The making of silver ornaments, whether rough or fine work, goes through several processes: casting, refining, hammering, weaving, and washing. The tools needed are mainly bellows, iron hammers, pliers, wire-drawing plates, chisels, crucibles, copper crucibles, and pattern molds. The casting and refining process involves placing fine silver in a crucible, heating it over a furnace with bellows blowing air, and after it melts into liquid at high temperature, pouring it into a long strip-shaped chaff mold to let the silver solidify, then taking it out for hammering. First it is hammered into a square bar, then processed according to what is to be made. To make silver sheets, it is hammered wide; to make wire, it is hammered into round thin strips, then drawn through a wire-drawing plate into silver wires of various thicknesses.
Compared with the history of Miao silver ornaments, the history of Miao silversmiths is much shorter. Miao silversmiths emerged around the late Qing Dynasty, with a history of only about a hundred years. The earliest Miao silversmiths mostly switched from blacksmithing and sought apprenticeship from Han craftsmen to learn silver forging. Miao silversmiths generally inherit their father's trade, passing it down through generations, and rarely teach the craft to outsiders. According to the "Brief History," the Miao universally love wearing silver articles, both men and women alike, with young women being the most enthusiastic. In the making of Miao silver ornaments, the craftsmanship of western Hunan Miao is the best. The relentless pursuit of perfection in craftsmanship has brought Miao silver ornaments to ever greater refinement. Silver ornaments of various patterns and styles not only exude a rich folk flavor but also embody the profound heritage of an ethnic group.
Miao silver ornaments are diverse in type and exquisite in design, mostly retaining a primitive charm and reflecting the beliefs and life customs of the Miao people at various specific stages of social and historical evolution, forming a unique "silver ornament culture." They work from sunrise to sunset, day after day, year after year, and the silver currency they accumulate is almost entirely poured into the melting furnace. Some families begin making silver ornaments for their daughters year by year from early childhood, accumulating them and storing them in special wooden boxes. When the daughter grows into a young woman, on her wedding day or during grand Miao festivals, they dress her up like a fairy. This set of silver ornaments not only adds a joyous atmosphere to the festive occasion but also opens the brilliant flowers of happiness in the maiden's heart. When a daughter marries, all the silver ornaments become her lifelong possession, and her husband has no right to dispose of them.
Western Hunan Miao silver ornaments, with their diverse varieties, extraordinary designs, and exquisite craftsmanship, not only present a magnificent and colorful artistic world but also reveal a spiritual world of rich connotations. Miao silver ornaments come in many types—from head to toe, there is no place without adornment. Divided simply by wearing position, they can be broadly categorized into three major types: head ornaments, chest ornaments, and back ornaments. Head ornaments include silver hats, silver basins, silver crowns, sushan, hairpins, earrings, and neck rings; chest ornaments include chest chains, needle tubes, waist wraps, plus bracelets and rings; back ornaments include shawls and belts. Among them, the silver crown gathers the essence of silver ornament craftsmanship. On the small crown frame are welded silver flowers, silver bells, silver sparrows, silver butterflies, silver bells, and silver tags—weighing about thirty to forty taels, with dozens or even a hundred pieces, each a work of fine craftsmanship, shining with the light of Miao wisdom.
The bold and unrestrained Miao have a custom of considering quantity and size as beauty. The strong consciousness of displaying wealth has formed the richness and diversity of Miao silver ornaments. Silver ornaments are widely used in activities such as betrothal, warding off evil, and ancestor worship, constituting an important part of Miao life. Although other ethnic minorities also have customs of using gold and silver ornaments and precious gems to display status and wealth, the Miao silver ornament craft presents to the world a unique cultural phenomenon that closely combines ethnic material and spiritual civilization. From such craft ornaments, one can easily observe the connotations of Miao totem worship, religious witchcraft, historical migration, and folk life, enough to let one perceive through the surface presentation the essence of Miao culture in its spiritual aspect. "Costume is the window of civilization; clothing is the image of thought. Costume is also the externalization of ethnic spirit and the representation of social systems." Miao silver ornaments not only show us a material world of art but also reveal a spiritual world assembled from various concepts. They record the changes in Miao culture and are a unique cultural carrier that enriches the heritage of ethnic culture. In a sense, their history is a sensuous history of cultural development.
Whenever the Third Month Third, Fourth Month Eighth, Sixth Month Sixth, Autumn Gathering, Ox-Butchering, or New Year comes, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of Miao people gather together. The continuous spiral patterns and geometric patterns on their clothing backs and skirt hems, and the horse patterns on their silver ornaments, move ceaselessly with the swaying of their bodies, like beautiful musical notes floating under the blue sky and white clouds. That strong rhythm gives one a spiritual shock.
Miao silver ornaments take various bizarre and varied transformation patterns as their themes, and these patterns all have moving stories and legends. "Mother Butterfly" evolved from a butterfly; the "Ridge Universe Bird" hatched the ancestors of mankind; the "Ox Horn Crown" symbolizes Chiyou's horns, and so on. The fineness of the workmanship and the beauty of the patterns embody the wisdom of the Miao people and can be called superb. The renowned large silver horn is an accurate interpretation of the "human body with ox head," implying that the Shennong of "human body with ox head" came first, and Chiyou of "human body with ox hooves" came after. Therefore, the cultural symbols of "human body with ox head" and "human body with ox hooves" are concrete and have their specific humanistic connotations. They aim to worship ancestors and gain their blessings. They have created silver ornament designs of all kinds of patterns and styles, which not only exude a rich folk flavor but also express profound folk cultural connotations, while also displaying the glory and grandeur of a great ethnic group.
The great variety of Miao silver ornaments, the high level of craftsmanship, and the elaborate way they are worn are deeply admired by Chinese and foreign artists and can be called treasures in China's cultural and artistic treasury. The silver garment made by attaching silver ornaments to embroidered clothing is the finest among Miao costumes. Pleated embroidery, scattered embroidery, and piled embroidery are embroidery methods unique to the Miao. Pleated embroidery on jackets has raised relief-like patterns with a strong decorative effect; scattered embroidery patterns are extremely delicate and beautiful; piled embroidery refers to embroidery made by piling up triangular silk pieces of various colors, with a unique and beautiful decorative effect. Jackets made with these three embroidery methods are all full ceremonial dress, called "flowered clothes." Full dress flowered clothes must be studded with many silver ornaments to be considered finally complete, so people also call the flowered clothes covered with silver ornaments "silver clothes." On the front panels, back, sleeves, and hem of the silver garment are attached many square, rectangular, and semicircular silver plates, silver bubbles, silver bells, and other engraved silver ornaments. This exquisitely embroidered silver garment may be the most beautiful among China's ethnic costumes. The heavy fabric, bright embroidery, and shiny yet simple silver ornaments form a trinity, setting each other off and constituting a complementary relationship, achieving a balanced and perfect artistic effect visually. Miao full dress is beautiful in its elegance and splendor. In color, it is mostly warm tones such as red, yellow, and purple; red symbolizes victory and joy, while yellow represents nobility. The magnificence of Miao full dress expresses an aesthetic that regards wealth as beauty and splendor as beauty.
The silver crown is the essence of Miao silver ornaments. Young Miao maidens mostly like to wind nearly a hundred silver flower clusters onto an iron wire frame worn on the head, making it the top of the hat. Around the hat are wrapped thin silver plates with drilled flower patterns, and from the lower edge hang dozens of silver pendants attached by silver chains. There is another kind of silver crown that Miao women of all ages love to wear: silver flowers and silver bubbles are attached around a headscarf, and four or five bundles of silver flower clusters are inserted into the interlayer. The structure of the flower cluster is: on the outer end of a silver hairpin, more than thirty silver tags of varying lengths are welded, and on top of each tag a finely made silver flower is welded. Behind the bun is inserted a wooden comb. The back of the wooden comb is covered with a thin silver plate, with silver pendants all around the edge, leaving only the comb teeth exposed. On the bun is inserted a silver phoenix and a pair of silver horns, on which are finely drilled the pattern of two dragons playing with a pearl.
Besides silver crowns, Miao women also have the custom of wearing silver horns and other silver ornaments. Some elderly women even have silver ornaments all over their heads, adorned with colorful feathers—a riot of splendor and extreme magnificence. The silver horn is the largest and tallest among silver ornaments, generally up to 0.8 meters high and up to 1 meter wide, with the ornament height exceeding half of the wearer's height—truly second to none even in the world. The silver horn is made by processing silver plates into the shape of a water buffalo horn, with the two horns curved into a semicircle and a circular relief sun pattern or rosette at the center where the two horns meet. When girls wear it, they also insert white chicken feathers at both ends of the silver horn; the feathers sway with the wind, making the silver horn appear even taller, magnificent and spectacular yet with a light and elegant beauty. The main pattern is usually the image of two dragons playing with a pearl, with the dragon bodies and pearl in raised relief about 1 centimeter above the base surface. The design is simple, the lines crisp—the most archaic in style. Above the sun pattern, silver plates are inserted in a fan-shaped radial arrangement symbolizing the rising sun radiating light in all directions. It is usually mounted on a hat and used together with other silver wires and silver plaques. The hair bun is wrapped with silver chains, and a silver ox-horn comb is inserted, with a row of small silver leaf plaques and silver melon-seed plaques hanging from the comb's back. The forehead and back of the head are each bound with a prismatic plate carved with butterflies, dragons, flowers, and grasses. Silver earrings and silver neck rings are also indispensable ornaments. In the middle of the silver horn is inserted a large silver fan, which the locals also call the palm-leaf silver flower.
The silver fan consists of four silver plates evenly distributed between the two forked horns, much like fan ribs. The main pattern of the silver horn is also two dragons playing with a pearl; the dragon and pearl are each made separately and welded to the main body with silver wire. The tips of the two horns have coin patterns, and the four silver plates rise above the two horns. At the top is a butterfly, whose mouth holds a hanging tassel of melon-seed beads. Between the silver plates stand six phoenix birds, wings spread as if about to fly.
Miao women wearing silver horns on their heads is a product of the combination of Miao totemic culture and agricultural culture. The various designs on the silver crown vividly embody the long history and culture of the Miao. Most Miao researchers believe that the "Nine Li" tribal alliance led by Chiyou is the earliest traceable cultural source of the Miao. Relevant documents record that when Chiyou rode across the Central Plains, he had a "bronze head and iron horns," indicating that the totem of Chiyou's tribe was the ox. They placed the great horns of their totem—the ox—on their heads, showing that their worship of the ox had reached the level of reverent homage. Miao girls' silver crowns feature arranged horses, silver flowers and grasses, silver phoenixes and sparrows, silver sunflowers, silver butterflies, and silver bells. With silver ornaments all over the head in a riot of splendor and extreme magnificence, the silver crown worn high on the head is very beautiful. This splendid, refined, and exquisite silver ornament craftsmanship fully demonstrates the wisdom and talent of the Miao people.
Among Miao silver ornaments there is also a very expensive full dress head ornament—the silver hat, also called the dragon-welcoming hat, commonly known as the "bird's nest," and called "mo ni" in the Miao language. Often only several villages share one, which can be borrowed when needed. It is composed of numerous silver flowers and birds, butterflies, and animals of various designs connected with silver bells, giving the impression of a head full of pearls and jade, noble and magnificent. The design and structure of the silver hat fully absorb the strengths of ancient step-shake ornaments. The silver flowers, silver phoenixes, and silver insects of the silver hat are all connected to the hat body with spring-shaped silver wire and treated with trembling branches. The fringe hangs low over the forehead; when the wearer raises a hand or takes a step, the silver flowers sway and the fringe sways gently, and the entire silver hat is instantly infused with vitality. The top of the hat is a trembling-branch silver flower, glittering with silver light and gracefully posed. Along the hat band hangs a row of tassels, all connected by silver chains, with silver bells tinkling. Behind the crown drag three groups of silver feathers, twelve in total, each as long as the waist.
The silver headband is a decorative object that fixes scattered silver ornaments onto a headscarf. It attaches five silver hat ornaments to a headscarf of alternating red and green vertical stripes, with the central silver ornament slightly larger, attached at the forehead, much like the "forehead band" in ancient jewelry. The other four are slightly smaller, symmetrically attached in front of and behind the two ears, all being openwork silver flowers. The headscarf glitters with silver light, and the colorful cloth is brilliant, setting each other off beautifully—quite distinctive.
The silver hairpin is one of the full dress ornaments of Miao costume and also a practical item used to fix the hair bun in daily casual dress. The most delicate are the kidney-shaped silver bun hairpin and the exquisite dragon-head silver bun hairpin. The kidney-shaped silver bun hairpin is named because its inner layer is a kidney-shaped silver plate, with silver wire connecting both sides, featuring twin phoenixes, butterflies, and silver pendants; the top is a dragon made of twisted silver wire, and at the bottom concave part is a long awl, inserted into the hair bun when worn. The dragon-head silver bun hairpin is even more unique: the entire design is a dragon, conical in shape, about as thick as a chopstick. One end is the dragon head, the other the dragon tail, with silver flowers carved at the end—extremely exquisite and alluring.
These colorful silver ornaments exude a rich folk flavor, concealing Miao totem worship, social history, and customs, and expressing the Miao people's longing for happiness and good fortune and their blessings of light. Miao silver ornaments are like the sun of the Miao people, bringing light and blessings to the world in which the Miao have lived for thousands of years, projecting brilliant light onto the silent universe and the returning inner world, thereby generating a tremendous spiritual force that supports the Miao people's beautiful life. There is probably no other ethnic group in the world whose silver ornament art can compare with it.