That,is,the,words,left,by,the,ancestors.docx

That is the words left by the ancestors 文耀 Serving as ative cultural symbol of Chinese ethnic groups, ethnical costumes reflect the history of each ethnic group. The aphorism of Jingpo ethnic group says On the tube-shaped skirt, everything can be found; that is what our ancestors left us. Legends of past old times, achievements our ancestors have ever made, histories of a family, history of an ethnic group, etc., everything is written on the skirt and other dresses. Generation after generation, they were carried everywhere. They are regarded as the symbol of each ethnic group and become a symbolic encyclopedia. That is a wordless Historical Records. That is a soundless old song. Among ethnic groups in southwestern China, it is very popular to us that costumes function is regarded as a symbol of recorded history. It has become a common practice that those ethnic groups with no written languages to concentrate their oral culture through the design, shape and colour of their costumes. For those with different cultural background, the costumes seem to be filled with colourful and eccentric design; but for the people themselves, they can read history out of that. Almost everyone, even an old man or woman, can read the heavenly book’ written on the skirt and tell you the folk stories. Even in those ethnic groups with their own written languages, sometimes costumes symbolize certain things, just like the secret codes inherited thousands of years. If you have time, please sit down and have a chat with them. While drinking the alcohol, you will enjoy many lore and stories. A Song of History without Words This is a story among the Dai ethnic group living in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China’s Yunnan Province It is said that, at the beginning of human being, people in nude sought for wild fruits as food in the woods. One day, there were 30 young girls going to the forest together for fruits. Twigs of trees and blades of grass scratched their naked bodies. The wounds began to bleed so that they had to stop for a while. At that time, they saw some peacocks, silver pheasants and wild pheasants passing by. How much they admired the birds They thus torn off the bark of kapok tree and wrapped their waists. Later on, they tied the leaves of plantain below the bark. On their way, they constantly picked leaves and skins of trees to cover their bodies. At last, they got a plant named cat-tail flower to be at the bottom of skirts. The skirt had altogether thirty-three colours and became very beautiful. From then on, the Dai had the colourful tube-shaped skirts. And traditionally, there are thirty-three colours on each skirt. This folklore recalls us back to the scenery of ancient people collecting for living from time immemorial. From the reflection of the history and the sweet memory of the old days, we can fully understand the tradition of some people of Chinese ethnic groups, who used to mix history with folklores together. Dragon and phoenix are unreal animals. But they are divinities that appear on the dresses of some ethnic groups quite often. Legend goes that the phoenix-cap of the Bai people was given by the phoenix living at the peak of Mount Caifeng colourful phoenix. The scales-of-the-dragon on the scarf of the Jingpo woman is said from the dragon scales of the Dragon-Daughter. In Bakai, Rongjiang of Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, the colorful clothes of the Miao girls is called Wulin, which means the clothing with the pattern of fish scales. According to the folklore, the Miao girls were good at singing and dancing, but unfortunately, they didn’t have beautiful clothes. One year at the Guzhang Festival, people around came to celebrate and the traditional game - reed dancing. The three daughters of the King Dragon, wearing colourful and glittering clothes, also arrived. The beautiful clothes made the young Miao girls admired a lot. After the celebration, the three daughters of King Dragon swam away through the river. A very cleaver young lady could not stop thinking of such a beautiful garment from the dragon daughters. She lingered by the river everyday, hoping to meet the dragon daughters again. Finally, she was taken to the King Dragon’s palace by the dragon grandma. The young girl then learned how to embroider pretty clothes there. When coming back to the village, she started teaching others to embroider. Since then, the Miao girls began to wear clothes with fish-scaled design. In addition to imitating outside objects, people always add their own imagination and illusion to the designing of garments. The origin of pleated skirt for the Lisu women in Liangshan, Sichuan Province is said to be related to an umbrella. Once, a young hunter captured a fox, which is the daughter of god, and married with her. Except for the fox skin, the daughter of god cannot find other suitable clothes. Longing for a garment so dearly, she climbed onto the mountains. After returning home, the young hunte