Embroidered identities: Ornately decorated textiles and accessories of Chinese Ethnic Minorities, Highlights from the collection of Mei-yin Lee

Abstract

This publication accompanies the University Museum's exhibition of traditional Chinese costumes, baby carriers and silver ornaments drawn from the collection of Mei-yin Lee, that will be presented jointly by the University Museum and Art Gallery and the HKU Museum Society in celebration of their 60th and 25th anniversaries respectively. Elaborately embroidered costumes and baby carriers, most of which originate with the Miao, Dong, Shui and Zhuang ethnic tribes of the south-western Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi are decorated with richly coloured, stitched and sewn ornamentation—and sometimes silver applications—indigenous to the particular culture and long-lived traditions they derive from. As some ethnic minorities lack a written script, the symbolism and colour-coding found in their textiles form a visual language that presents an important cultural and anthropological development and heritage still in practice today. This new publication will contain three essays: Mei-yin Lee describes her many encounters with south-western minority groups and the oral history that delivers to us and preserves much of the history connected to individual tribes and their textiles; Eric Boudot presents an essay on the textiles, embroideries, emblems and symbolism found in the costumes and baby carriers of Chinese minority people; Florian Knothe describes the stylistic and cultural significance of silver ornamentation found in ceremonial dress. Annie Chow writes the entries of the illustrated catalogue.