Miao Brocade

Miao Brocade

　　Guizhou specialty—Miao Brocade—is a traditional everyday item and craftwork of the Miao people. Along with silver ornaments, embroidery, and batik, Miao Brocade is known as one of the four major ethnic textile crafts of the Miao. It uses colored warp and weft threads, with basic weave structures including herringbone twill, diamond twill, or composite twill, often featuring small geometric patterns. The brocade is used to inlay the collars, sleeves, or serve as other decorative elements in Miao clothing. Miao Brocade is woven with the weft threads creating the patterns, using multiple small shuttles. The shedding mechanism involves multiple harnesses (or lifting rods), and the technique can also incorporate pick-up weaving. Though time-consuming to make, the brocade features beautiful patterns and vibrant colors with a strong ethnic style, making it highly popular among local people.

　　 Historical & Cultural Significance: The renowned Qing Dynasty scholar Liang Yusheng wrote in his poem “Rhymes of the Miao in Guizhou”: “Traversing eight thousand li of southern Guizhou roads, a piece of Miao brocade surpasses silk from Wu.” This highlights how Miao Brocade from southern Guizhou was considered superior even to the fine silks of Suzhou and Hangzhou. Thus, Miao Brocade holds a notable social status as a unique gem within China’s rich textile heritage.

　　 Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a Miao girl named “A Sha” who was the first to embroider flowers, birds, fish, insects, and animals onto the fabric of the Miao people. The vivid and lifelike images she embroidered on her brocades captivated the admiration of young men, and girls flocked to learn from her. From then on, the craft of Miao Brocade was passed down among Miao women.

　　 Weaving Method: Brocade weaving is very popular among the Miao. The method involves placing the prepared warp beam on the loom, then using a smooth bamboo strip to lift one or more warp threads according to the desired pattern, followed by inserting a weft thread. In eastern Guizhou, there are two types of brocade: narrow and wide. The narrow type is only about four or five fen to two inches wide, used for belts. The brocade used as skirt borders by the Qingshui River in Taijiang County is about a foot wide, all woven from colored silk threads with bright and dazzling patterns. In western Huangping, western Shibing, and northern Kaili, the pick-up weaving is entirely done with white cotton threads, about a foot wide, dyed in a single color, and used for the backs of women's garments. The brocade from Majiang, Danzhai, and Kaili areas is entirely woven from fine threads (not spun into yarn), using white threads for the warp and blue threads for the weft. The designs are mostly geometric, with sharp black-and-white contrasts, intricate and delicate workmanship, clean and elegant. The full width is about eight inches, and at most only an inch can be woven per day. It is mainly used for the cores of baby carriers.