Research On The Horsetail Embroidery Swaddle Of Shuinationality And Its Application In The Design Of Modern Bags

More than four thousand years ago, industrious Chinese ancestors have begun to grow mulberry and linen trees. This is the beginning of the textile industry in China. After the development of textile techniques in Yin and Shang Dynasty, the Chinese in the Spring and Autumn Period have formed the fashion of "wearing clothes with embroideries". Shui Nationality is a nationality with a long history of its own culture, characters and language in China. The people of Shui Nationality today still retain a traditional craftsmanship----horsetail-based embroidery. Horsetail-based embroidery is a fossil of Chinese ancient craftsmanship, and an important part of the traditional embroidery techniques at the same time. Besides as part of the clothes, Horsetail embroidery swaddle are also artworks. Horsetail embroidery swaddle contains rich artistic value and cultural value.To inherit the ethnic culture in the modern society is a task with many practical problems. Mechanized large-scale production leads to the decline of handmade crafts; the rapid economic development causes hanization in minorities; the coming of a new era shakes young people’s values in minorities; there is a fault in the inheritance of traditional culture. All of these restrict the development of ethnic traditional crafts. How to better pass on Horsetail embroidery swaddle of Shui Nationality to the next generation is the focus of this project. This article analyzed the aesthetic characteristics of Horsetail embroidery swaddle of Shui Nationality from the perspective of design aesthetics. This dissertation mainly elaborates the artistic characteristics of Horsetail embroidery swaddle of Shui Nationality from the dimensions of form beauty, functional beauty, structural beauty and technical beauty, etc. The purpose of this project is to extract these artistic features into the design of modern bags and cases and create something that fits the public aesthetic of modern people; thus the Horsetail embroidery swaddle of Shui Nationality can be protected and passed on.This project is based on the combination of four methods: field research, literature research, digital processing technology of patterns and application design. The author of this dissertation has been to Guizhou Province for many times and fully understands the costume culture of minorities there. On this foundation, the author had an in-depth field investigation in Machang and Bangao of Sandu County of Guizhou Province and collected abundant digital resources, such as pictures and videos. What’s more, the author also visited the local bureau of ethnic and religious affairs to look for the first-hand local historical materials and talked to inheritors of national intangible culture(Horsetail embroidery swaddle of Shui Nationality). Using computer graphic design software to draw vector diagram, the author built the pattern database of Horsetail embroidery swaddle of Shui Nationality and the diagram of the production process. After fully prepared, the author first briefly analyzed the historical and cultural characteristics and demographic profile of Shui Nationality, the origin and production process of swaddles, and different kinds of swaddles. And the author also based on the design aesthetics theory, specifically analyzed the design beauty of Horsetail embroidery swaddle of Shui Nationality, including its unique structure beauty, the form beauty of point, line and plane, its practical function, symbolic function, aesthetic function and the formal beauty rule of the horsetail embroidery swaddles. The dissertation comprehensively and deeply analyzed the art features of swaddles, and put them into bag design with the help of modern digital techniques. This dissertation illustrates the innovative application in bag design from three aspects: color, pattern and shape of Horsetail embroidery swaddle. In the innovative application of patterns, the author chooses several design methods that meet the rules of formal beauty: rhythm method, proportion scales method, contrast and coordination method, and the symmetric equilibrium method. All these methods have corresponding design examples for illustration. The combination of Horsetail embroidery swaddle with modern bag design is the combination of the traditional national elements and the modern aesthetic. Finally, through the second design of Horsetail embroidery swaddle in bag design, this dissertation aims to integrate some national elements into the design of modern bags.Through the analysis of the design beauty of Horsetail embroidery swaddle, and to extract the elements with artistic value into modern design, this dissertation wants to change the opinion of young people of Shui Nationality towards traditional hand embroidery that it is out-dated, backward and with no value. At the same time, changing young people’s opinions is helpful for the protection of national intangible cultural heritage. It is also beneficial for the local economy and people’s well-being. This can even improve women’s status in the family, and even social status. To show the design aesthetic value and cultural value of Horsetail embroidery swaddle to the world will help the local government put more attention on the spread and popularization of the national culture, and thus create more social value and economic benefit through the national culture, instead of blindly pursuing to obtain higher economic benefits through the development of tourism.The patterns and symbols on Horsetail embroidery swaddle tell people the cultural history, folk customs, and totem worships of Shui Nationality. Horsetail embroidery swaddle is an important carrier of the history and culture of Shui Nationality. It helps sociologists, ethnologists and humanists to better understand this ancient nationality. Compared with the four famous embroideries, the horsetail-based embroidery is little known by the people in the outside world. The author hopes that through the study of this project, more Chinese people can know and remember this treasure in the embroidery world. The author also hopes that this dissertation can provide some references to the people studying embroideries of other minorities later.Combining Horsetail embroidery swaddle and modern bag design together not only integrates national elements with modern design, but also provides design elements and inspiration for modern design. The simple texture and unique handmade of Horsetail embroidery swaddle, no matter considering from the form or aesthetic aspect, fit with modern people’s pursuit of environmental protection and simplicity. In the author’s opinion, there are two ways to combine Horsetail embroidery swaddle and modern bag design together, which are "form design" and "implication design". In the last chapter, the author uses the pattern database built in chapter 4, and adopts the method of “form design" to extract colors, patterns and shapes from Horsetail embroidery swaddle and uses them into bag design respectively. Colors, patterns and shapes are three dimensions that can be used alone or together with each other. At the same time, the author also tries to use the old embroidered pieces of Horsetail embroidery swaddle in the bag design to achieve the reuse of the waste. The combination of Horsetail embroidery swaddle and modern bag design promotes the development of the culture of Shui Nationality in modern design, and it also provides a method that can be used for the development of other ethnic culture.