Yao Ethnic Costume

Yao Ethnic Costume

　　The Yao is one of China’s ethnic groups with the greatest number of subgroups. Across the land of Guangxi, various branches of the Yao people reside. In northern Guangxi, the “Red Yao” of the Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County are named for their red attire and are hailed as “the people among peach blossom forests.” The “Red Yao Costume” is a distinctive ethnic garment of the Yao in Longsheng, renowned worldwide and boasting a history of over 1,900 years. This unique red attire undoubtedly reflects the profound ethnic cultural heritage of the Yao people in Guangxi. Generally speaking, Yao men prefer blue or dark-colored clothing, while women favor vibrant hues, making Red Yao costumes famous for their colorful and exquisitely beautiful designs. Women wear tops paired with skirts, with the tops coming in a wide variety of patterns. There are four types of upper garments: decorative shirts, floral shirts, casual shirts, and double-layered shirts—the latter worn by elderly women. The Red Yao women’s tops mainly feature rose red and bright red as dominant colors, adorned with intricate and imaginative patterns. The entire garment is embroidered with silk thread, and the floral shirts depict landscapes, plants, birds, and beasts, reflecting the Yao women’s artistic interpretations of nature through their daily work.

　　The Red Yao women’s costumes are incredibly exquisite, and their accessories are even more diverse, including head wraps, abdominal cloths, waistbands, aprons, front panels, skirt borders, leg bindings, floral shoes, silverware, and more. The production techniques of Red Yao costumes mainly include embroidery and batik.

　　The Pan Yao, who live in Heping Township, Longsheng Town, and Mati Township of the Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County, also have costumes with distinct artistic characteristics. The attire of Pan Yao women consists of headscarves, tops, vests, aprons, and waistbands. The headscarf is typically twelve feet long, symbolizing the twelve months of the year. Young girls use light and red colors, symbolizing youth as vibrant as flowers and passion as fiery as fire, while also indicating their single status; middle-aged women often wear blue, representing clarity like the sky and purity like water; elderly women wear green, signifying dignity and stability, like evergreen pines that never age. The attire of Pan Yao women is well-coordinated—elegant without being ostentatious, delicate without being frivolous—and often carries symbolic meaning, showcasing not only the wisdom of Pan Yao women but also serving as a culturally valuable ethnic handicraft.

　　On their wedding day, Yao women also wear pink-edged shoes handmade by themselves, embroidered with gold and silver threads in patterns of soaring dragons and dancing phoenixes, presenting a hundred dynamic poses right at their feet. The accessories of Pan Yao costumes are mainly silver ornaments, including silver combs, silver lotus leaf pins, silver earrings, silver necklaces, silver plaques, silver rings, silver bracelets, and more—all exquisitely crafted and uniquely styled.