Stitch in time: years of toil pay off for a daughter’s special day
Behind the story of a young Dong woman's departure for university from a remote mountain village in Guizhou lie the tale of her mother's sacrifice and one of fast-disappearing traditions. Text and pictures by Justin Jin
The old iron key turns on the third attempt and 50-year-old Wu Yuemeng pushes the door open with her knee. She motions her daughter into a seldom-used upstairs bedroom that is dominated by a dusty, century-old wooden loom and a metal-banded chest.
Wu reaches into the chest and takes out treasures, as her daughter - the cheerful 19-year-old Xia - looks on. She pulls out hand-woven shoes, finely embroidered silk ribbons and fabrics dyed with intriguing patterns - all of which are ethnic Dong costumes and accessories. Finally, she reveals the prize: a glittering ceremonial headpiece with swaying golden leaves (see magazine cover) that has been passed down by generations of mothers to their daughters.
Layer by layer, lace by lace, Wu drapes her daughter in the garments she began making while pregnant with Xia, before she knew her baby would be a girl, let alone what kind of girl she would grow up to be. After Xia was born, Wu continued to weave and embroider ribbons and shirts whenever she was not in the fields planting rice.
Dong women embroider with just a single needle and without a fixed pattern, using their stitches to express their feelings for their children. The Dong people of impoverished Guizhou province have no written language, but their textile craftsmanship is unmatched in its refinement, and is a clear communication of love.
Wu crowns her daughter with the golden headdress. Her thumb and index finger, normally used for rough, heavy work, caress every strand. Everything fits. Her face softens and the deep lines that have come from hardship are recast with the dignity of sacrifice.
One of the 56 officially recognised Chinese ethnic groups, the Dong present such an outfit to one of their own during an auspicious event in the young adult's life. Three events are paramount: giving birth to a male, building a house and assembling one's coffin. But for Xia and her mother, today is that auspicious day they've been waiting for; Xia is leaving for university. The outfit transforms the young woman, as her academic progress is likely to transform her family and, in a small but significant way, her lush, remote mountain village, Dimen.
Here, centuries-old traditions are disappearing as fast as the motorways and train tracks make their way to Guiyang and Lhasa.
