Traditional clothing of the Hezhe ethnic group

Heilongjiang
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Due to their special production and living style and specific natural living environment, the clothes and bedding of the Hezhe people in the early years were mostly made of fish skin and animal skin. However, due to the different living areas, the raw materials used were also different. Hezhe people: distributed in the Sanjiang River Basin of Heilongjiang Province, where there are dense mountains and forests, rivers and rivers, and rich wild animal and plant resources. The fishing and hunting life has left a special mark on the clothing of the Hezhe people. The main raw materials of their early clothing were fish and animal skin. The Hezhe people have formed a tradition of making clothing with animal skin and fish skin. The fish skin clothing culture of the Hezhe people is rare in the world. The technology of cooking fish skin and making fish skin thread has developed very maturely. The fish skin clothing produced has many characteristics such as waterproof, moisture-resistant, light, and wear-resistant. Fish skin clothing is mostly worn by women. The style of the tops worn by Hezhe women is similar to the cheongsam of the Manchu people, with a collar longer than the knee, a narrow waist, a fat lower body, fat and short sleeves, and only a collar socket without a collar. The collar, cuffs and hems are decorated with leather strips and animal patterns dyed in various colors. Some also have seashells, copper bells or tassel beads, sparse embroidered tassels and other decorations sewn on the hem of the clothes to show unique beauty. In winter, Hezhe men often wear roe deer fur coats. Men's robes are slit in front and back, with black edges or cloud patterns on the clothes. The buttons are quite special, usually using two rows of leather buckles or catfish bone buckles. Men's clothing also includes other forms such as large-collared leather short coats and trousers. The production process of fish skin clothing: peel off the fish skins suitable for making clothes, pants and shoes, such as stingrays, strips, grass roots, big salmon, and Huaitou, and dry them in the sun. After being softened with a wooden mallet (Kongku) and a hammer bed (Hairikan) for cooked fish skin, they are stitched into a large piece according to the fish skin pattern, and then cut and sewed according to the size of the body. Fish skin thread is used to sew fish skin clothing. This thread is made from fathead fish skin. The production process of animal skin clothing: First, cook the animal skin. There are two methods for cooking animal skins, one is cooking of smooth leather, and the other is cooking of furry leather. Cooking of smooth leather: soak the animal skin in a vat or wooden barrel (six or seven days in winter, three or four days in summer), scrape it with a wooden scraper when the hair falls off, dry it after scraping it clean, and then chop it with a wooden guillotine to make it soft, then put it in a vat and soak it with roe deer brain water, and then use a wringer to wring out the water. When making clothes, chop it with a wooden guillotine, and beat it with a wooden mallet on a hammer bed until the leather is soft and can be cut and made into clothes. Cooking of furry leather: mix rotten sawdust with water, apply a layer on the leather, roll it up and let it sit for half a day or overnight, then stretch the leather to scrape off the fat, chop it with a wooden guillotine or scrape it with a wooden scraper. To make the leather softer, use fermented cornmeal to sit overnight, then rub it with your hands, and comb it with a large-tooth comb once before cutting and making clothes. The thread used to make animal skin clothes and pants is made of dung and deer tendons. The buttons of clothes are made of bones, wood or leather strips. With the development of the times, the materials of Hezhe clothing have also undergone profound changes. Modern woven fabrics such as wool, satin, velvet, and cotton are all favored by the Hezhe people. Sewing clothes with these colorful fabrics saves time and effort, and is more beautiful and generous. It also frees the Hezhe people from the heavy labor of kneading fish skin and animal skin. Due to the varying degrees of damage to the ecological environment and river pollution, it is now rare to catch a large fish weighing more than five kilograms from the river. The "fish skin clothes", an image of national clothing, can only be found in the exhibition of museums. These changes and developments mark the progress of human society. The civilization and contribution created by the hardworking and brave Hezhe people in the historical process of the development of national clothing culture are indelible. Their exquisite fish skin clothing styles and exquisite tanning skills are a wonderful flower in my country's national clothing culture.

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