The ethnic minorities of China have produced fanciful, colorful costumes with distinctive flavors. They display superlative embroidery, brocading and batik. Objects by Miao, Gejia, Shui, Dong, Yao, Buyi, Yi, Zhuang and Li groups from the southwestern provinces of Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangxi and Hainan are currently featured on our store. Most costume items or accessories are decorated with flowers, birds and animals from the surrounding landscape -- anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images that are often abstracted. Traditional auspicious designs appear, even among patterns that are completely geometric. Some parts of these minority groups, particularly the Miao, migrated southward into Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, where they are known as H'mong. Yao groups are also numerous on both sides of the border and produce similar textiles in both areas. |
