Miao silver forging skills

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Miao silver forging skills

Applicant: Leishan County, Guizhou Province

Project No.: 390

Project No.: VIII - 40

Time of publication: 2006 (the first batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Guizhou Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Leishan County, Guizhou Province

Protection unit: Leishan County Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center

Miao silver forging skills introduction:

Applicant: Leishan County, Guizhou Province

Silver ornaments are the most popular traditional ornaments of Miao nationality, which are mainly used for women's decoration. There are various kinds of silver ornaments, including headdress, face ornament, neck ornament, shoulder ornament, chest ornament, waist ornament, arm ornament, foot ornament, hand ornament, etc. they cooperate with each other, reflecting the perfect overall decorative effect.

Silver Phoenix crown and silver hat are the main ornaments in the headdress, and they are also the first in the whole set of silver series. They are known as the dragon head phoenix tail. Their production is more complex, and the use of small ornaments is less than 150 pieces, more than 200 pieces, which is expensive. Miao silver ornaments are exquisite and beautiful, represented by the products of Leishan County in Guizhou Province and Fenghuang County in Hunan Province. The silversmiths in Leishan county are mainly concentrated in Kongbai, Maliao and wugao in Xijiang town.

Silver forging is a unique skill of Miao people. All the ornaments are made by hand. The style and structure of the silver ornaments have been carefully designed by the craftsman. There are 30 processes from drawing to carving and making, including casting, hammering, welding, knitting, washing and so on. The technological level is very high.

Miao's silver ornament making technology has a long history. It has gone through the evolution process from the original ornament to the rock shell ornament, from the plant flower ornament to the gold and silver ornament. Only when it is inherited and continued, can there be the silver ornament with the basic pattern and shape. Its varieties and styles are still constantly renovated. The jewelry chain formed from this has become one of the symbols of Miao's social evolution.

Miao silver ornaments have rich and colorful cultural connotation, and have high cultural taste from variety, pattern design, pattern construction to production and assembly. In foreign exchanges, the Miao people give silver ornaments as gifts to their friends, which are as precious as the jewelry of the Tibetan hada and the Han nationality.

The creation of Miao silver jewelry fully reflects the Miao people's smart, smart, kind and friendly national character. The silver ornaments are white, lovely, pure and hard, which is the embodiment of the spiritual quality of Miao nationality.

Miao silver ornaments have been popular in Miao areas for a long time. After the reform and opening up, their development prospects are good. However, the silver forging skills are generally inherited in the family, and can not be selected. Most of the original artists are old, and few can really inherit the silver forging technology. Therefore, the development prospect of this characteristic skill is not optimistic, and it is necessary to strengthen the protection work.