After thousands of years of creation and development, Miao costumes are rich and colorful, with more than 170 styles and exquisite craftsmanship. They are recognized as "history books worn on the body". Leishan Miao costumes are gorgeous and dazzling, and are a unique clothing craft culture. Leishan County is located in the southwest of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture. The Miao population accounts for 83.6% of the total population, making it one of the counties with a large Miao population. Leigong Mountain, the main peak of Miaoling, stretches across the entire territory from southwest to northeast. It is the watershed between the Qingshui River of the Yangtze River system and the Duliu River of the Pearl River system. It is 2,178.8 meters above sea level. There are overlapping mountains and deep valleys in the territory. The climate is mild, the rainfall is abundant, and the forest coverage rate is 60%. Miao costumes have developed and changed along with the social history of the Miao people. Although the Miao people do not have their own written books to clearly record the development and changes of costumes, the historical origins of Miao costumes can still be seen from sporadic Chinese documents and the existing costume forms. The Book of the Later Han, Nanman, states that the ancestors of the Miao nationality "weaved wood skins, dyed them with grass seeds, and liked five-color clothes"; Guo Xuruo's Records of Pictures and Stories in the Song Dynasty states that the Miao people of the "Dongxie" in the Tang Dynasty "wore flowers and bird patterns"; Zhu Fu's "Ximan Congxiao" states that the Miao people "generally used spotted fine cloth as their skirts". "High crowns", "five-color clothes", "flowers and bird patterns", and "spotted cloth" not only indicate the style of ancient Miao clothing, but also show that the ancestors of the Miao nationality mastered the skills to make these clothing styles. In the long course of history, the Miao nationality's clothing has better followed its historical traditional style. The current Leishan Miao clothing, whether in terms of clothing shape, pattern shape, color preference, or weaving, embroidery, and dyeing techniques, is consistent with history. The four different types of costumes in Leishan all have "high crowns" decorated with silver ornaments, especially the silver crowns of Xijiang type and Datang type, which have outstanding characteristics. The "hundred-bird clothes" (Yemeng type) decorated with various embroidery and brocade, and the "Wubei" clothes (Xijiang type) decorated with bird patterns, silkworm dragons, and butterfly mother sleeves have the legacy of the ancient "five-color clothes" and "flower clothes and bird chapters". Batik and plant-dyed flowered cloth are the continuation of the "spotted cloth" tradition. The Miao costumes in Leishan County are mainly divided into four types according to structure and style: long skirts, medium skirts, short skirts, and miniskirts, namely Xijiang type, Yemeng type, Gongtong type, and Datang type. Xijiang type formal dress: It is a long skirt costume, the top is divided into inner and outer layers, the inner layer is hand-woven cotton cloth, indigo dyed into light blue; the outer layer is also cotton cloth, dyed into purple-black by plants, the style is a cross-collared large collar, and the collar is tilted backward (called "Wubei" in the local Miao language). The sleeves, lapels and collars are decorated with embroidery, and the patterns are mostly double-headed dragons, butterfly mothers, ancestral temples, and various flowers, birds, fish, insects, etc. The bottom is a pleated skirt made of purple-black cotton cloth, which is as long as the ankle heels. There are 15 to 25 embroidered ribbons on the outside of the skirt. The ribbons are divided into three or five sections, and each section is embroidered with various animal and plant patterns with flat embroidery and inlaid with gold and silver pieces. Wear embroidered boat shoes and round-mouth cloth shoes. Silver ornaments are also worn when wearing formal clothes. Among them, the head ornaments include silver horns, silver birds, silver horse handkerchiefs, silver combs and earrings; the neck ornaments include twisted collars and plain collars; the chest ornaments include collars and silver chains. The back of the top is decorated with silver pieces and silver pendants with animal and plant patterns. It is one of the types of Miao clothing with the most silver ornaments in China. The Xijiang type is distributed in the surrounding Kaili City, Taijiang County, Jianhe County, and Danzhai County. Yemeng-style formal attire: an embroidered chest pocket is worn inside the top, and a tight-sleeved, double-breasted, round-necked top is worn outside. The material is a bright blue cloth with a dou pattern, and the cuffs are decorated with white cloth. The bottom is a purple-black, pleated long skirt that reaches the calf. Various decorative patterns are embroidered on the clothes, and the head is tied into a bun and various silver ornaments are worn when wearing them. The "hundred-bird clothes" in this type of clothing are made of silk as the base and embroidered with bird patterns all over the body. They originated from ancient times and are very distinctive. They are mainly worn during festivals or major ceremonies. The Yemeng-style is mainly distributed in Dadi Township, Leishan County, and some villages in the surrounding Danzhai County, Sandu County, and Rongjiang County are also distributed. Gongtong-style formal attire: formal attire is mostly made of purple satin, a half-short-sleeved, double-breasted top, with silver round bubbles and silver pieces nailed to the back and shoulders of the clothes. A brocade belt is tied around the waist. Wear knee-length skirts, with front and back waistbands tied outside the skirts. The front waistband is decorated with horsetail embroidery and colorful silk applique embroidery. The patterns are waterwheel patterns, ox horn patterns, sun patterns, etc., which are simple and elegant. Wear cloth foot tubes or leggings, and wear embroidered shoes on the feet. Wear various silver ornaments when wearing clothes. Gongtong type is mainly distributed in Wangfeng Township, Leishan County, and also in Kaili City and Danzhai County nearby. Datang type formal dress: commonly known as "super short skirt" Miao formal dress, praised by ethnic scholars as pheasant-style clothing. The top is a wide-sleeved, double-breasted open-collared dress. The fabric is made of colorful flower threads woven into a colorful brocade. The pattern is exquisite, with geometric traditional stripes, and the colors are natural, elegant, generous and coordinated. The bottom is a short blue cloth pleated skirt, the shortest is only 5-6 inches, two layers are superimposed, a rectangular embroidery piece is tied on the front edge of the skirt, and there are 10-20 brocade ribbons hanging from the back waist, each ribbon is 6-7 cm wide, and the pattern of the ribbon is geometric, colorful and well-organized. The headdresses are silver birds, silver flowers, long horn combs, large earrings, collars around the neck, and sleeve-shaped silver bracelets. The whole body is colorful, and it is really as beautiful as a golden pheasant. The Datang type is mainly distributed in Datang Township and Taojiang Township of Leishan County, and is also distributed in the surrounding Danzhai County. Leishan Miao clothing production mainly includes weaving, indigo dyeing, tailoring, embroidery, brocade, making silver jewelry, inlaying and embellishing and other crafts. Weaving: The Miao people use cotton grown by themselves or bought from the market, spin it into cotton yarn with a spinning wheel, and then weave it into a one-foot wide cloth with a loom as the fabric of clothing. Indigo dyeing: Plant blue indigo leaves as raw materials, soak them in wooden barrels for six to nine days, then add appropriate amount of lime water, stir repeatedly up and down, and wait until the precipitated indigo material becomes slurry. When dyeing indigo, dissolve the blue indigo slurry in the dye vat, add appropriate amount of liquor, put the self-woven white cloth into it and dye it ten times to make dark blue cloth. If you want blue and black with red, boil red water with red thorn root and dye it once. The bright cloth made of short skirt type is coated with animal blood on the basis of dyeing, dried in the sun, and then coated with cowhide glue. Although various kinds of colorful fabrics and clothing are everywhere in the contemporary market, indigo dyeing as a traditional folk craft is still passed down in Leishan Miao Village. Today, when people pursue "returning to nature", the traditional plant fiber and plant dyeing of the Miao people are particularly simple. Tailoring: Cut the cloth according to the style and specifications of the clothes to be sewn, and sew it into ordinary ready-made clothes by hand. Now most people use sewing machines instead of hand sewing. Embroidery: Leishan Miao folk embroidery has fine craftsmanship and many types. There are: crepe embroidery, braid embroidery, lock embroidery, horsetail embroidery, twist embroidery, broken silk embroidery, shrinkage embroidery, flat embroidery, pasting embroidery, yarn embroidery, mending embroidery, overlapping embroidery, etc. Among them, double needle lock embroidery, crepe embroidery, braid embroidery, horsetail embroidery, silk wadding pasting embroidery and other techniques are local characteristics and are the basic techniques for forming the style of Leishan Miao clothing. Brocade: Leishan Miao brocade is divided into plain and colorful. Its patterns are mainly geometric figures with birds, animals, flowers, birds, insects and fish, with strong color contrast and coordinated unity. In particular, Leishan Gongtong brocade is the most sophisticated brocade technique in traditional brocade. Brocade is mainly used as straps, belts, skirts, etc. Making silver jewelry: Using silver as raw material, it is made into silver jewelry of various shapes through more than 30 processes such as smelting, hammering, wire drawing, engraving, welding, washing, etc. This work is generally done by men. Inlay decorations: Use needle and thread to bind embroidery pieces, silver ornaments, and brocade ribbons to the sewn garments, and it will become a beautiful Miao costume. Making a pleated skirt: Fold the hand-woven cotton cloth into strips, soak it with water, tighten it and fix it on a semicircular model board, and wait for the water to dry. Miao costumes, especially formal costumes, are colorful and gorgeous. They are unique in the national Miao costume culture and craftsmanship, and have a strong display. The shape of the costumes and the various patterns and decorations on the costumes are the carriers of ethnic memory. They are closely related to the historical legends and production and life of the Miao people. They carry the historical memory of the nation, are the remains of the excellent culture of the Miao people, inherit the culture created by the ancestors of the Miao people, and are the excellent cultural heritage of the costumes of the Chinese nation. At the same time, Miao costumes are the cultural accumulation of thousands of years in the historical evolution of the Miao people. In particular, its wide variety of decorative patterns contain rich cultural meanings and are an important expression of the national spiritual culture. It has accumulated a heavy history and is a "history book worn on the body" of the Miao people. In the past, Miao women began to learn weaving, indigo making, dyeing, embroidery, brocade, tailoring, etc. at the age of seven or eight under the guidance and teaching of their grandmothers, mothers, aunts and other elders. By the age of fifteen or sixteen, they had basically mastered the full set of skills. The traditional clothing making skills of the Miao people have been inherited and developed from generation to generation. Many outstanding skilled people have emerged in each village, such as Song Naoshao from Qianhu Miao Village, Xijiang, Leishan. She began to learn embroidery from her mother at the age of seven, and could fly needles and threads at the age of seventeen or eighteen. She was particularly good at crepe embroidery. She used eight-strand flower silk thread without drawing or painting, and embroidered dragons and phoenixes, flowers, birds, insects, fish, birds and beasts by hand feeling and consciousness. The images are lifelike and the style is unique. Through the clever combination of the straightness, length, thickness, density and other lines, the color composition can be vivid and harmonious, reflecting the unique interest and rich life atmosphere. Today, in the 21st century, due to the accelerated pace of globalization and modernization, and the impact of foreign cultures, the costumes of the Leishan Miao people, like other ethnic folk cultures, face a huge test of protection and inheritance. There are three changes: First, traditional clothing has become formal. People rarely or never wear the ethnic clothing that they used to be proud of as a symbol of their ethnic group in their daily lives. Instead, they buy popular ready-made clothes from the market, which is particularly prominent among young people. Traditional clothing has only become formal clothing worn by people at festivals, celebrations, religions, funerals, weddings and other ceremonies. Second, clothing materials are not localized. Specifically, most of the clothing materials, embroidery threads, dyes, etc. are imported from other places. The utilization rate of locally produced fabrics and silk threads has greatly decreased, and even gradually disappeared. Third, traditional craftsmanship has declined, and excellent craftsmanship is on the verge of being lost. Traditional cotton planting, mulberry planting and silkworm breeding, spinning, reeling, weaving, dye planting, indigo making, and cloth dyeing have decreased. In particular, the skills of "double-needle lock embroidery", "brocade", "silk quilt embroidery" and other skills that are crucial to the formation of the Leishan Miao style, the generation with exquisite craftsmanship is gradually aging, and the new generation is completely unfamiliar with the craftsmanship, and there is no successor.