Research On The Traditional Textile Patterns Of The Yi People From The Perspective Of Semiotics

The Dong nationality(or Gaeml)is a Chinese minority which has a long history and culture.Historians contend that it originated from Baiyue branch that lived in the middle and lower sections of the Yangtze River during the Qin and Han dynasties.In the development of the history,the Dong people have been moving to the south.Finally,they settled in the southwest of China,more specifically,the adjacent areas of Hunan,Guangxi and Guizhou provinces.During the whole process,the Dong people have formed their own folk art and culture which presented the characteristics of this nationality due to their complex migration history,and their cohabitation with other minorities in the southwestern borderland of China.The Dong people's traditional textile patterns are one of the essences of the Dong people's folk art which evolved from simple symbols to totems and then to patterns.Till now,the traditional patterns of the Dong nationality have preserved their original appearances.The patterns are not only the carrier of the Dong nationality's cultural heritage,but also the materialized form of the Dong People's aesthetic consciousness.The current study selected the Dong people's traditional textile patterns as its research subject and specifically aimed to examine those that have a long history,embody some symbolic,cultural and aesthetic significance and have been applied into textiles.Simply put,the present research decided to examine the subject from the perspectives of semiotics,culture,esthetics aiming to expound the artistic features and cultural and aesthetic significance of the Dong people's traditional textile patterns.The introduction part is mainly about the origin of the current study,the significance of the selected subject,and the current situation of the study on the Dong ethnic patterns.Chapter one mainly introduces the Dong nationality's culture and the symbols of its traditional textile patterns.In the beginning,the Dong people's historical and cultural panorama and the Dong people's folk artistic patterns are expounded in detail.Next,the paper tries to provide a basic overview of the origin of patterns,the functions of the patterns and symbols,the carriers and the craftwork of the patterns and the types of the textile pattern and the like.Chapter two analyzes the semiotic system of the Dong minority's traditional textile patterns.The current study classifies all the patterns into four categories,namely the religious patterns,animal lines,plant lines and geometric patterns and then conducts a detailed and thorough analysis.Firstly,this paper expounds the semiotic meanings of the patterns.Then,it investigates on the symbol of each type of the patterns which would emphasize the analysis on the origin of the patterns and symbols,categories and shape of the patterns and symbols,embodiments of them on the Dong people's textiles as well as the artistic characteristics of these patterns and symbols.In this way,the concrete connotations of the Dong minority's traditional textile patterns would be discussed at length.Chapter three analyzes the cultural meanings of the Dong people's textiles.The first section narrates some historical legends of the Dong people's traditional textile patterns.The second section explains the inheritance of the Dong minority's traditional textile patterns and its national culture.The third section thoroughly discusses the religious significance of the Dong minority's traditional textile patterns.Chapter four analyzes the aesthetic meanings of the Dong people's traditional textile patterns.Firstly,an overall analysis of the traditional textile patterns and the aesthetic consciousness of the Dong people are provided.Then,an analysis of the aesthetic meanings would be thoroughly discussed from three aspects,namely the mysterious beauty,feminine beauty and natural beauty.Chapter five provides the preservation and development strategies of the Dong people's traditional textile patterns.At the beginning,the current situation and the inheritance challenges of the traditional patterns are examined in a thorough way.Next,the paper offers a discussion on the preservation and development of these traditional patterns and symbols.Specifically,the paper takes the present preservation measures and future development strategies into consideration.In the end,some suggestions on the tourism development of this area are provided.