Silver Ornaments of the Miao Ethnic Group

The Miao girls fancy silver ornaments, and wherever they live, their dresses, especially their silver jewelries, will become the local highlights and cultural sight. The silver ornament civilization of Miao has been handed down ever since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and today it is ever more colorful.

The Miao women usually wear their silver crown, circlet, clothes, bracelets and chains all over their body, the more and heavier the better, to show off their beauty and wealth. The silver ornaments on a Miao woman in magnificent costume can be as heavy as 10 to 15 kilograms. The ornaments can also be used as token of love promise and mascot for children to ward off evil forces, or even tradable or stored directly as money. Therefore, the silver ornaments of Miao are not only decorations, but also a cultural carrier rooted in the social life of the Miaos.

The silver ornaments of Miao are also in large varieties, which are particularly represented by that of the Miaos in Guizhou and west Hunan, including silver crown, horn, comb, danglers, ear columns and drops, circlet, necklace, collar stand, bracelet, finger ring and foot ring, etc. Casting, beating, knitting, chiseling and carving are the usual techniques for making silver ornaments, and the patterns adopted are mostly animals and plants such as dragon, phoenix, flowers and birds, which are lifelike and exquisite. 

Chinese silk

Silk is a kind of fabric elaborately made of the natural protein fibrin of pods. Products made of silk have bright luster and soft touch; silk clothes are very comfortable and soft, and has the function of adjusting body heat and moisture, and preventing ultraviolet radiation.

China is the earliest country raising silkworms and weaving silk. It is said the silkworm was first raised by Lei Zu, wife of the Yellow Emperor. According to archaeological speculation, the Chinese have begun to raise silkworms, and pull and weave silk since the middle Neolithic Period 5000-6000 years ago. Silk, due to its delicate, comfortable and rare characteristics, is very popular among the aristocrats in European palaces. The silk trade promoted the further development of economic and cultural exchanges between China and her neighbor countries, forming the famous prosperous "Silk Road". 

The invention of silk made the silkworm weaving a relatively important handicraft industry in ancient China, and exerted a great influence on China in terms of ancient poetry culture and folk-customs.  Silk is not only a noble costuming, but a precious artwork. It contains abundant cultural meanings and historical values, representing China's age-old splendid culture. The silk trade promoted the large-scale economic and cultural exchange between the West and East, and made a great contribution to the development of human culture.