Research On Headwear For The Female Of Yao Nationality In Guangxi Province

Yao nationality is a widespread minority nationality in China with a long history and various branches. Guangxi is the province where the Yao people are most. In the long history of Yao nationality’s development, its costumes are of more than 70 varieties and characteristic strongly of Yao nationality. One of the features of the Yao’s costumes is their headdress, whose effects have been attached great importance to since ancient times. For women of Yao nationality, headdress functions more than as a decoration. Also it is the core and main logo of displaying the beauty of costumes.Headdress plays an irreplaceable role,compared with other accessories for decorations in daily life of Yao’s nationality.The wearing of headdress for Yao’s nationality originated from the legend of Panhu. On one hand, it is inherited from the tradition, on the other hand, it is the logo for the distinction from ethnic groups.Based on materials of headdress for Yao nationality in Guangxi from field investigations and reference literatures about Yao’s costumes, headdress, culture and other aspects, the paper analyzes the art features of headdress for Yao nationality in Guangxi and sums out the cultural connotation of headdress for Yao nationality in Guangxi. It utilizes mainly the field investigation, literature review and inductive approach for study, whose contents can be divided into 5 parts as follows: First, introduce briefly the population distribution, current situation of folk custom and others of Yao nationality in Guangxi; second, elaborate the shapes of headdress and wearing manners of Yao nationality in Guangxi; third, analyze the art features of headdress for Yao nationality in Guangxi; Fourth, explain the cultural connotation of headdress for Yao nationality in Guangxi; and finally, take the sun decorative pattern of headdress for Yao nationality in west south of Guangxi as the design element and combine modern art design for exploration ofcreative design.The study finds that 3 factors push the headdress of Yao nationality to be the core of costume beauty and main logo of its nationality. Firstly, Yao nationality has various shapes of headdress for different branch of ethnic groups, whose women wear various headdresses, even if they are of the same branch, but in different regions; secondly, the headdress of Yao nationality in Guangxi is characteristic of balanced and plump patterns, gorgeous and bright colors, shapes with many levels and weaving and embroidery manufacturing technology; thirdly,its headdress is the epitome of Yao people’s folk culture, rich in social and humanistic attributes and covering social economy, life ritual, totem worship and many other aspects of Yao nationality in Guangxi.With the development of the times, the headdress of Yao nationality in Guangxi is also confronted with the lack of traditional manufacturing technology,the traditional costumes are impacted by modern civilizations through sinicization in different degrees and etc. Influenced by the mountain environment where the Yao nationality is distributed and impacted by the circulation of market environment, the Yao people in Guangxi have to abandon some unnecessary decorations and keep the most important and representative decorations. The headdress of Yao nationality in Guangxi, known as the main logo of costumes for Yao nationality is the essence of the costumes for Yao nationality, which must be inherited and promoted to the utmost.