Yi dress

Yi dress

The costumes of the Yi people are colorful, unique in style, and have nearly 100 forms. In history, due to the numerous branches of Yi nationality and scattered residence, there are obvious differences in costumes, different styles, strong regional color, and various characteristics. In many areas of Liangshan, it is cold all the year round, and the climate changes little. Therefore, the clothing of Yi people is not seasonal, and chaerwa (Biyi) is worn all the year round. Yi costumes are rich in color, varied in style, and decorated with a large number of silver products and embroidery.

Yi clothing is usually made of pure wool by hand, from collecting wool, spinning into thread, dip dyeing, to weaving, cutting, embroidery, all by Yi People's hand.

On November 11, 2014, Yi costumes were listed in the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage list with the approval of the State Council.

In November 2019, the list of national intangible cultural heritage representative project protection units was announced, and Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture Cultural Center and Zhaojue County Cultural Relics Management Institute were qualified as Yi costume project protection units.

Clothing characteristics

essential information

Women generally wear a right Lapel top with a large skirt and embroidery, black Baotou and earrings, and silver row flowers at the neckline. Except for the Yi people in Xiaoliangshan and Yunnan who wear skirts, Yi women in other areas wear trousers, and many branches of women's trousers are embroidered with embroidery on their feet

Delicate lace, married women's lapels, cuffs, necklines are also embroidered with exquisite and colorful lace, especially the embroidery on the waistband is dazzling. Unmarried women in central and southern Yunnan usually wear bright cockscomb hats with red Tassels and beads. Cockscomb hats are usually cut into cockscomb shapes from cloth shells and embroidered with tens, hundreds or even thousands of silver bubbles. In the past, both men and women of Yi people living in mountainous areas liked to wear a piece of "ear shingle" - sheepskin felt. It is shaped like a cape, woven of wool, long to below the knee, the lower end of the hair spikes, generally dark black. Before the age of 15, Yi girls wear red and white skirts with one braid. At the age of 15, a ceremony called "shalaluo" will be held in some places, which means "changing skirts, braiding double braids and pulling ear thread". It means that the girl has grown up. After 15, she will wear the floor dragging skirt of a young girl with black middle part, braiding single braid into double braids and wearing a handkerchief embroidered with colorful flowers, Tear off the old thread that pierced your ears in childhood and replace it with silver earrings. Yi men usually wear right cardigan top with black narrow sleeves and lace, and long pants with multi pleats and wide feet. There is a lock of hair about three inches long on the top of the head, which is called "Tian Bodhisattva" in Chinese and "zi'er" in Yi language. This is a way for Yi men to show their gods. You must not touch them. It's wrapped in a green, blue or black bun with a length of more than Zhang long, and tied into a "zi'er" with a thick thumb in the front right, which is called "hero bun" in Chinese. The man takes no need as beauty and uses his leisure time to pull out his beard one by one. He wears yellow or red ear beads strung with red silk thread on his ears and red silk thread under the beads.