Research Of Tujia Traditional Brocade In Xiangxi Longshan Area

Tujia brocade is a traditional handicraft, which has existed 1500 years as yet. It origins from Shang,Zhou dynasty, and reached its Silver Age at Ming,Qing dynasty across Qin,Han, Liangjin, and Tang,Song dynasty's development. Tujia brocade is a brilliant representation of Tujia culture and has an indispensable status in Tujia handicraft culture.Tujia girls are taught making Tujia brocade by their mothers or relatives since 12 or 13 years old. So, she will be considered as a stupid girl if she doesn't know how to make brocade. There is a rural parlance like this: A girl who doesn't make brocade is no worth to raise up. Tujia brocade is a criterion of Tujia girls. It's not only a living goods and folk culture carrier, but also represents a literate spirit.Tujia brocade is a limited handicraft. Aesthetic taste and the level of technic refrains the handicraft of Tujia brocade. Tujia women can master and take advantage of the materials, tools, regulation and feature of handicraft, and make beautiful brocade through their skilled technic.There are over 200 Tujia brocade traditional patterns, and over 120 can be seen frequently. These patterns embody a harmony beauty between human and nature. Geometrical is the basic feature of Tujia brocade pattern. It can be divided into 3 degrees according to the geometrical level: representational geometrical—half representational geometrical—complete geometrical.Tujia minority has a historical culture. Tujia brocade embodies their beliefs, concepts and nice ambitions.Tujia brocade pattern has a feature of geometrical and deepening the utility of beeline and bias. It has a continuous and symmetrical structure, and can be divided into "peng","pan","tai","duo" for parts. The color of Tujia brocade is determined by Tujia women's heart and at the same time follows the regulation of tradition.In the time of globalization, Chinese traditional culture is at a stage of conformity and confliction, communication and combination, succession and distortion. Tujia brocade is facing the danger of extinction. In order to protect this precious intangible culture heritage, we should know it, recognize it, collect it and discover it.