RSSSilver Bracelets And Batik – Two Handmade Wonders Made By Chinese Miao
Dec 03
Asia Asia, batik, Chinese Culture, Miao, Miao culture, silver bracelets, silver earrings, silver jewels, Silver Necklaces, silver pendants, silver rings No Comments
The Miao minority group in southwest China are famous for their great batik and silver bracelets art. They use a copper knife dipped in beeswax to draw exquisite patterns on a piece of white cloth. After the process of dying, boiling, and washing, a beautiful design will be left on the cloth permanently. Batik technique is widely applied to Miao’s clothing and bed linen. Wearing batik clothes and their unique silver bracelets, Miao women look really wonderful!
A story below explains how the Miao invented the unique batik technique:
Once upon a time, a pretty girl lived in a village with her parents and sister. One day when she went to pick up cotton in the field, she saw a dazzling butterfly flying around her. The girl stared at the butterfly, and said to herself, “What a cute butterfly! Hope I had beautiful clothes like she has! But our Miao women’s clothes are just simply black and blue, which looks really boring!”
So the girl talked to the butterfly, ” Hi, you are the mother of the Miao people, right? What a great mother! Since you delivered your children, you have never taken care of us. The garment you wear is so beautiful. But look at us! Why don’t you make a beautiful clothes for your children? Now I want your colorful wings to adorn myself.” The terrified butterfly said, “Please don’t do that! I can’t survive without a pair of wings. Yes, a butterfly is the Miao’s mom. But her children have grown up, you will have to figure out a way to make yourself beautiful.”
The girl caught the butterfly in her hand, “OK, if you don’t give me your beautiful wings, I will break your wings by myself.” The butterfly said, “Don’t do that please! OK, I will teach you how to make colorful and beautiful clothes.” The butterfly flapped her wings onto the girl’s clothes for a while, and some beautiful patterns were left on the clothes. The butterfly told the girl the secret before she flew away, “Just paint these patterns on all your clothes, and you will be more beautiful than me.”
After getting home, the girl asked her father to go to pick up some colorful stones along the riverside. Then she hammered the stones into powder and mixed it with rice soup to make color pigments. Using this pigment, the girl started to paint the patterns the butterfly gave her on her clothes. Seven days passed, and she finished painting two new skirts. One was for herself, and another one for her sister. Wearing their beautifully painted clothes and their unique silver bracelets, the two sisters looked gorgeous! Other women in the village all followed the sisters to paint colorful designs on their clothes.
But only in a few days, the painted patterns on the clothes all fainted away, as it couldn’t stand water or sunshine. The disappointed women told the girl, “Look what that sly butterfly did to us!” The girl said, “I will try to find a way to resolve this problem,.”
One day, there was a bee flying around the girl’s window and singing, ” Our nests are built on the cliff, and hardly can survive under harsh living conditions. Whoever save our lives will get the secret of batik technique. The dyed patterns on the cloth will never faint away.” The girl felt excited, “Hi, lovely bee! Please tell me that secret. I will let Dad build a solid box for you, and to give you a warm home.” The bee sang, ” We excel at making beewax and honey. Using beewax, you can draw any patterns you want on your clothes…….” Then the bee revealed to the girl the whole process of making batik.
The girl’s father crafted a wooden box for the bees, and fed them at home. Using the beewax the bees produced, the sisters dyed many of their clothes.
Since then the batik technique has been widely accepted by Miao women to dye their clothes. Designs on the batik clothing reflect the rich and interesting Miao culture. It also affects the design of Miao silver jewels, especially silver bracelets.
Go to jewelry expert Clare Liu’s site for some amazing silver bracelets. The silver jewels made by Miao silversmiths can’t be found anywhere else. Don’t miss the intricate silver bracelets here.
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