In the Department of Anthropology, National Taiwan University, there are two men’s shirts from the Pingpu and Pazeh tribes in the specimen gallery. Although the form is similar to the rattan-style clothing of the Atayal tribe of the Gaoshan tribe, it has a round neck and two underarms. The side without tight seams is different from the rattan garment, and is similar to the style of the pierced head garment.
The name of the so-called "Guantou Yi" refers to the most primitive style of clothing, which is widely seen in the Indonesian archipelago and the Indochina Peninsula, and distributed eastward to Polynesia, while the South American clothes through the headwear may be passed by Polynesia .
Taiwan’s Pingpu and Bazehai peoples may have worn Guantou clothing before. There is no definite source material for this. However, from the traditional Rukai clothing collar and hand-embroidered similar Guantou clothing icons, it should be Can confirm the relationship between Taiwanese aboriginal costumes (including hand embroidery) and the Austronesian language family,
As early as the Neolithic Age, the aborigines of Taiwan migrated from land to mountains near the ocean, so Taiwanese are a maritime nation. However, in the era when the writing was lost, the inheritance and records of many events were actually hidden in oral myths. Therefore, most of Taiwan's history still belongs to the history of activities of the Pingpu and Gaoshan ethnic groups, and is also part of the Austronesian ethnic language family. .
The Austronesian peoples are distributed throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Easter Island in South America in the east, Madagascar in Africa in the west, Papua New Guinea in New Zealand in the south, and the northernmost place is the main island of Taiwan, and therefore Taiwan The history of hand embroidery naturally takes aboriginal embroidery as its source.
The ocean is the mother of Taiwan’s aborigines. In the Xia Yu era 4,200 years ago, the Atayal people were famous for their luxurious and gorgeous off-white beaded (woven) shell beads skirts. This is a Taiwanese specialty, even in other parts of the world. Articles found.
There is also a record in the Chinese "Shang Shu" : "Jue Gong Island Yi Hui clothing , Jue Zhuo weaving shell, Jue Bao orange, pomelo, Xi Gong.", Jue Zhuo weaving shell refers to shell beads skirt.
Therefore, when studying Taiwanese hand embroidery, the author believes that it should start with the celebrations, singing, and costumes of the aborigines, especially hand embroidery that highlights the fringe of their class culture.
Among them, the Paiwan people are the most eye-catching, especially their gorgeous costumes. The hand-embroidered stitches and color schemes are used to express their status, which distinguishes the social class and the common people.
The Thao people use handmade nets and fish baskets to catch fish, especially special fish baskets placed on emerging islands or in the grass on the shore to catch fish.
The handicraft skills possessed by the Amis are mainly for self-sufficiency in life.
In the Pingpu ethnic group, women are responsible for the livelihoods of farming and fishing, and weave fish baskets, fishing nets, hanging nets, and casting nets. According to the fifth edition of Folk Customs Taiwan published by the author, Mr. Kokufenchi I, in 1990 , The Seaside Folklore Miscellany, pages 255 and 256, states that "Wangliao is a small house built on the sand dune closest to the coast, five meters in length and three meters in width each." Units are formed together; fishermen invest in jointly purchasing fishing nets. However, what they buy is not a ready-made fishing net but only fishing line. The material of the net line is divided into two types: hemp thread and cotton thread, and finally it is made by the skillful people. Fishing net.” The mesh weaving pattern is the same as the embroidery stitch technique of European hand-embroidered canvas (lattice), as shown in the figure below:
Why did the simple aboriginal people entangled with ancient China? At first, the Pingpu ancestors were very harmonious, and there was no distinction between rich and poor or class. After the Dutch invaded the island of Taiwan in 1624, Pingpu native officials were forced to be established as management and management. There is no system of legal exploitation and no power to operate life and death; but in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, under the influence of the Han people, the simple native officials learned the official style, bought the big red and big purple costumes as public service, from Yu Yonghe (Zhu Zhi Ci), "Li Yuan The clothes are full of velvet, and there is no distinction between men and women, but only red.” It can be seen that the Pingpu people like to use red cloth as an embroidery base to decorate their clothes. The following is an overview of the embroidery-related items of the aborigines of Taiwan. It is more or less a glimpse into the living clothing of the aborigines of the 12 ethnic groups that are inseparable from the embroidery of the world.
An overview of the hand-embroidered items of the aborigines of various ethnic groups in Taiwan
Aborigines of taiwan –1.Pingpu
| Hand-embroidered items | Overview | Stitch |
| apparel | Two or three hundred years ago, the various ethnic groups in Pingpu were known to be good at weaving and embroidering. Among them, the Bazehai ethnic group in Puli had the most exquisite and beautiful fabrics, which was even better than the Atayal and Paiwan ethnic groups. Ramie is used as the main material, yarns of various colors are interwoven, and animal hair and dendrobium are used as decorations. In winter, he wears a vest made of bark. | Edge embroidery |
| scarf | It is made of blue and black linen or cotton cloth with mitre joints. The two ends of the belt are stitched with a piece of black cloth embroidered with complex geometric patterns. The white, purple, and red threads are used to embroider by straight embroidery. The eight-petal flower-leaf pattern is the most common. There are also rhombus, geometric or swastika patterns. Some headscarves are decorated with ball-shaped tassels made of red, white, and blue yarn at both ends. | Beaded Back-stitching Counting embroidery technology Buttonhole Embroidery Technique Edge decoration embroidery technique Cross stitch (grid embroidery) Arch needle Tibetan thread embroidery technique Nail needle thread embroidery technique |
| Forehead | Embroidered with buttons and copper coins, the bottom edge is embroidered with a string of beads and tassels. Or use red cloth as the inner cloth, with black borders on the upper and lower edges, embroidered with snail shells and beaded flower patterns in the middle, and decorated with tassels. | Nail needle thread embroidery technique |
| pectoral | The chest is decorated with trapezoid-shaped shell pieces in series, the same size, which is passed through by hemp rope. The so-called "snail-shaped necklace" is one of them. | Nail needle thread embroidery technique |
| Tobacco bag Betel Nut Bag | An inverted trapezoid pocket made of white linen has three layers of inside, middle and outside, and a cover. It is decorated with geometric patterns in red, blue, and purple. Generally, there is an octagonal frame in the center with an inner cover. The swastika pattern is embroidered with birds or chicken patterns and realistic flower and leaf patterns, or all geometric embroidery patterns. | Back-stitching Edge decoration embroidery technique |
| strap | The red wool is used as the lining, the two ends are covered with black cotton cloth, and the top is decorated with colorful plastic beads. The shape is triangular, and the center is sewn with perforated shells and stitched with woolen tape. The two ends are painted with black. The tassels are carried on the right shoulder to under the right armpit from time to time. | Nail needle thread embroidery technique |
| Rectangular strap | Straight line embroidery with multi-colored threads applied only at both ends (back-stitch method). | Back-stitching |
| Men's Collared Long Top | The neckline, cuffs, or back is applied with interlaced patterns or embroidered pieces, and the patterns are mainly geometric patterns. | Back-stitching |
| Women's Right Lapel Long Sleeve Oval Collar Short Coat | The neckline and sleeves are embroidered with patterns. The pattern on the sleeves is embroidered on the inner edge of the sleeve. When wearing, the cuffs are rolled up and the patterns are exposed. There are no buttons. Only white straps are tied to the sides and waist. | Edge embroidery |
| Material | They used hemp thread, cotton wool and dendrobium turf. Before the wool thread was imported, the tribes often used madder as a dye to dye the hemp thread red. | Edge embroidery |
| color | Red is the most common color for embroidery and weaving patterns, followed by blue, green, purple and yellow. Straight-line embroidery is mostly blue, occasionally red, yellow, black, and burgundy. The decorations are mostly geometric patterns, but also realistic patterns, such as birds, animals, flowers and plants. | Beaded Back-stitching Counting embroidery technology Buttonhole Embroidery Technique Lock stitch embroidery technique Edge decoration embroidery technique Cross stitch (grid embroidery) Arch needle Tibetan thread embroidery technique Nail needle thread embroidery technique |
| Handmade embroidery items | Clothing, headscarves, belts, shoulder straps, long skirts, samples, shawls, table skirts, corset pockets, sword belts, forehead belts with a version on the head, carrying bags. | Beaded Back-stitching Counting embroidery technology Buttonhole Embroidery Technique Lock stitch embroidery technique Edge decoration embroidery technique Cross stitch (grid embroidery) Arch needle Tibetan thread embroidery technique Nail needle thread embroidery technique |
| Black cloth belt Shoulder strap | The two ends are embroidered with red, blue, green, purple, white, and yellow patterned cloth, and the edges are decorated with ball-shaped tassels made of red, blue, and white yarns. These belts embroidered with various patterns are roughly worn when participating in festivals and ceremonies. | Back-stitching Nail needle thread embroidery technique Cross stitch (grid embroidery) |
| Black cloth belt Shoulder strap | A custom white linen belt, tied at both ends, woven with red, dark blue, purple and red twine and dendrobium turf, with red twine as the border, and the pattern has star patterns and diamond patterns. often use this kind of belt embroidered with various patterns, which is roughly worn when participating in festivals and ceremonies. | Back-stitching Nail needle thread embroidery technique Cross stitch (grid embroidery) |