Unique Silver Rings Of Chinese Miao Women And Their Embroidered Aprons
Embroidery, silver jewelry, and batik are three handcrafted wonders created by the Miao people who reside in southwest China. Miao women usually wear their embroidered costumes and big silver rings during their ethnic holidays. Their beautiful aprons always feature colorful embroidered flowers. There is an interesting story about the origin of this embroidered apron.
A long time ago, a girl and her younger brother lived in a small village. Their parents deceased. The smart girl worked hard to manage their home perfectly. Their life were simple but comfortable. The girl even had some beautiful silver rings. With the view of educating her brother, the girl send him to a school close by.
The small-minded teacher was envious of smart women, especially those who were even smarter than men. So when he learned the girl was smart, bright, and pretty, he wanted to go to defeat her.
One day the teacher said to the brother, ” Tomorrow I am going to your home to have breakfast. Tell your sister to cook a boiled radish with red inside.” So the brother sought at home for a radish with red inside. But he didn’t find one. The younger brother had to ask her sister. The sister smiled, ” Everyday we get ten new radishes with red inside, and in ten days we can have a full basket of radish. Why didn’t you find them? Just let your teacher come here tomorrow.”
The next morning when the teacher came, he only saw a pan of sour vegetables on the stove. He yelled at the brother, “Where is my boiled radish with red inside?” Just then, the girl brought a pan of boiled eggs on the table. She broke one egg and showed it to the teacher, “Here you are! Your boiled radish with beautiful white outside and red inside.” The teacher was dumbfounded and left with embarrassment.
A few days later, the teacher informed the younger brother again, ” Tomorrow I will have lunch at your home. Tell your sister to cook a dish called ‘ The golden hook hanging from a jade plate”‘. The younger brother told his sister. The sister said, “I know what to do. Just bring him here.” When the teacher came, the sister brought him a bowl of white bean curd and yellow bean sprouts. It looked exactly like golden hooks hanging from a jade plate.
When the teacher went back home, he said to himself, “The books I have read could fill several rooms, why can’t I defeat that girl?” He thought over and over for a whole week. Then he went to talk to the brother again, “Tomorrow I will eat dinner at your home. Just let your sister to prepare a simple plate of salad with dragon’s claws and tiger’s ears.” The brother told this to his sister. The girl said, “This is easy. We have numerous of these two things in our village.” The next day when the teacher came, he saw a big plate of tender leaves mixed with escallonia. The leaves looked like dragon’s claws, and escallonia was similar to a tiger’s ear.
The teacher felt insulted, “I must remove the girl’s wisdom.” One day, he painted a picture on a piece of paper, and gave it to the brother, ” I like the delicious food your sister cooked for me. This picture is a gift for her. She can sew herself an apron based on this picture.”
After studying the strange and complicated design on the paper for a while, the girl understood, “The bad teacher wants to use this wizard design to block my heart and my wisdom. Ok, I will make an apron!”
The teacher was excited to learn that the girl had made an apron based on that strange design. So he came to the girl’s home again to see what’s happening. Surprisingly enough, he found there was a big colorful flower embroidered on the girl’s apron. The girl looked more beautiful with this apron and her big, glistening silver rings. The teacher asked, “There is no flower in the pattern I gave you. Why did you embroider a flower?” The girl replied joyfully, “This isn’t a flower, but my heart. Thanks for your pattern, which doesn’t block my heart, but show it clearly instead.”
Since then a colorful apron with embroidered flower became an important decoration to Miao women’s ethnic clothing. Wearing their elaborately designed silver jewels and silver rings with their embroidered clothes, Miao women look indeed beautiful and elegant.
C. Liu writes about silver jewelry from Asia, especially silver rings from China. The Miao silver rings she specializes in are known across the region. To let her know what you think, go look at some Miao silver rings here.
categories: Miao,Miao culture,Chinese culture,Apron,silver rings,silver necklaces,silver earrings,silver bracelets,silver pendants
