The Historical Origin and Cultural Connotation of Yunnan Minority Art Forms

Yunnan minority costumes are a kind of national culture, whose essence is to create reasonable and beautiful visual enjoyment for people. The creation of Yunnan minority costumes has the same historical origin as culture, and culture occupies a dominant position in the characteristics of minority costumes, while national costume culture embodies characteristics and significance different from other cultures in social life.

The influence of the times on minority costumes

In the 1980s, when we traveled to Yunnan minority areas, we saw men, women and children working in the fields in national costumes, going to fairs, participating in national festivals, singing and dancing, which reflected strong national flavor and local characteristics. After the 1990s, middle-aged and elderly women and children were also seen wearing national costumes. After 2000, only elderly women will wear national costumes. For example, in 2004, we stayed in Lugu Lake, a mysterious and beautiful place in Yunnan, a daughter country famous for the unique marriage customs of Mosuo people, for two nights. We can see that only the elderly wear national costumes at ordinary times, the waitresses in bars only wear national costumes to entertain guests at night, and only when commercial bonfires are held do young men and women wear national costumes to dance with guests. During the day, except for elderly women, they all feel Han, and they can't feel the customs of national figures reflected in TV reports, magazines and pictures. The situation in other ethnic areas is basically similar. In Sifang Street, Lijiang, only waiters in restaurants, tea rooms and shops wear national costumes, which shows a strong commercial atmosphere and lacks a natural and friendly atmosphere. This is a serious problem. Today, when we advocate protecting the environment, returning to nature and protecting the traditional cultural heritage of ethnic minorities, the living habits and costumes of ethnic minorities are gradually sinicized. If this problem can't get enough attention from the society, in a few generations, the minority costume culture will no longer exist, which will be a great regret in the history of human culture.

Due to the complex and diverse geographical and stereoscopic climate factors in Yunnan Province, people migrated and settled, and the cultures of various ethnic groups influenced each other for a long time, gradually forming their own unique lifestyles and cultural connotations. National costumes have also formed a set of traditional styles with profound national cultural connotations. In the past, most ethnic minorities lived in remote areas and lived a self-sufficient small-scale peasant economic life. They are rarely influenced by foreign cultures, and their pace of life is relatively slow. In some areas, the economy is still quite backward. After clothing forms its own national characteristics, it generally does not change much. With the tide of reform and opening up, great changes have taken place in social life. Convenient transportation and the arrival of the digital information age have shortened the spatial distance of the earth, developed the economy, accelerated the pace of people's life and brought about a great collision of different cultures. These conditions inevitably affect the lifestyle and aesthetic psychology of ethnic minorities in Yunnan.

The clothes worn by mainlanders are diversified, personalized, simple and easy to wear, which embodies the aesthetic consciousness of the times. Most clothes are the products of industrial production, so they are economical. People don't make clothes, they just buy clothes. Most of the traditional costumes of ethnic minorities are made by themselves, and some are made by local tailors. The production process has been passed down from generation to generation. Miao costumes are embroidered with patterns, and it takes a year, at least half a year, to make a suit. Some national costumes are decorated with inorganic raw materials, such as jade, jadeite, precious stones, agate, turquoise, gold, silver, tin and copper. There are also artificial products, such as ceramics, enamel, beads, glass and so on. The cost of making a suit is also high. The collection and processing of raw materials, spinning, weaving, cloth cutting, sewing and embroidery are all carried out after work. Few women can specialize in sewing at home without doing farm work and housework. These jobs are hard and time-consuming. It also embodies the spiritual pursuit of hard work, simplicity and love of beauty of minority women. After the suit is finished, it is more complicated to wear. For example, tie a bun, tie a belt, buckle buttons, tie faded, wear ornaments, braid hair, etc.

Nowadays, young and middle-aged ethnic minorities were born after the founding of the People's Republic of China. They are educated by modern culture, have more contact with the outside world and are influenced by the lifestyle of city people. Teenagers have to study, farm and do housework at home, and have little spare time to learn to make clothes and learn embroidery. Seeing the performances of urban people's clothes and fashion models on TV has also increased their curiosity and aesthetic feeling, which has exerted a subtle influence on their life and aesthetic concept. I asked some ethnic minorities why they don't wear their own national costumes at ordinary times. They say it is mainly troublesome to wear, time-consuming and laborious to do, and high sewing cost. Some people still think that their national costumes are rustic, but it is this rustic style that makes them different. People generally have the concept of conformity. After all, the Han nationality has a large population, and the ethnic minorities who live and work with the Han nationality have gradually changed their national customs and neglected their unique national customs and culture. Broadly speaking, it is an art, an art form of the times and an important resource for developing tourism economy. Therefore, the technology of making elaborate and time-consuming national costumes is in danger of being lost, and the problem of ethnic minorities wearing Hanfu has also aroused the anxiety and thinking of people of insight.

The development of modern social economy can't move towards a single modern culture at the expense of natural environment and national native culture. Isn't that genocide in disguise? If so, our life will become monotonous and lose the vitality of the multi-ethnic groups in the big family of the Chinese nation. It will have a hidden negative impact on China's long-term spiritual civilization construction and sustainable economic development, while the obvious impact will hinder the development of tourism, and the splendid minority costume culture cultivated for thousands of years will be wasted. Saving minority costume culture is our urgent task. We must call on the government to attach great importance to the loss of modern minority costume culture, and play its role in regulating social relations, and adopt practical policies to revive the style of minority costume culture. In view of the above problems, I make the following suggestions.

Establish the protection mechanism of national costume cultural activities

The China tendency of minority costumes is the result of the impact of modern life. If no active protection mechanism is adopted, it will be quite difficult to recover the national costume culture after it is completely sinicized. This requires the cultural management departments of the state and local governments to take this issue seriously, establish a complete and effective active protection mechanism, and also require the active cooperation and participation of the people.

1. Establish self-esteem and self-confidence and protect national costume culture. The formation of national costume culture has its historical origin and rationality, and it is also an important part of modern multi-ethnic culture and a symbol of national vitality. If the national culture is sinicized, it means that the name of the country exists in name only and dies in disguise. Isn't this a very sad thing? These problems should attract the attention of every ethnic minority and make positive contributions to the protection of their own clothing culture. I wrote in the article "Protecting Mother Tongue": "From a psychological point of view, people who receive mother tongue education will be more confident. From a linguistic point of view, only students who have received mother tongue education from the beginning will produce the best talents. " Then, from the perspective of folklore, only by wearing our national costumes can we establish our sense of identity and self-esteem. While protecting our national cultural traditions, we can learn from others' strengths, renew ourselves, develop ourselves, improve ourselves, and establish self-confidence, so that we can interact with each other in a multi-ethnic family, have their own characteristics, and realize the value of our independent existence.

In terms of architectural form, some experts have suggested that there must be nationality to be international. I think this concept is the same when applied to national culture and clothing. With the reform and opening up of China and its integration with the international community, only by displaying their unique national culture and carefully building their own sustainable cultural brands can all ethnic groups stand firm in the international family. In 2003, a delegation of Gaoshan people from Taiwan Province Province came to Chinese mainland in national costumes and was received by relevant government departments. They also get together with local people and show them their love for the motherland, their cultural characteristics and their self-esteem. These are all touching.