A Study on Embroidery Patterns of Miao Women′s Traditional Costume Guizhou Province in China

중국 귀주성 묘족 여자복식의 수증문양에 관한 연구

The Miaos have their own unique and luxurious culture traditional and modern formed as they have experienced repeated fusion into and resistance against the Han Race or the Chinese in their long and old history. Taijiang County of Guizhou Provice, in which whey have been living, is endowed with natural beauty. Thus their culture enjoys abundant and diverse contents of artificial and natural character. Naturally, their costume reflects cultural and natural features in abundance and variety. This dissertation aims to investigate the artistic character of Miaos' traditional costume as reflected in patterns for their embroidery. As for the artistic character of the patterns for embroidery, the following were found. To begin with, the space in the Miaos' embroidery is, unlike the measurable three-dimensional space found in Greek art, unmeasurable and fantastic with its beauty, majesty and peculiarity. It is as if immersed in limitless space, they were in communion with gods and universe. Another characteristic is the use of image construction beyond mere imitation. Their mode of image construction was realistic in that patterns as a whole reveal an abstract form or meaning but separately they portray visual representations of concrete thins in nature. Still another is that sense of motion conveyed by the basic curve line is full of life. It was the result of using light rhythm breaking stereotypic balance and symmetry. Finally, the colouring was abstract, and a strong contrast between black and white was gorgeous and fantastic.