The present study is based on fieldworks conducted in Southeastern Guizhou Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture (qiandongnanmiaozudongzuzizhizhou 黔東南苗族侗族自治洲), Guizhou Province between 2006 to 2018. Analysis has come from reviewing more than 10 different Miao villages. In this examination, I have discovered that Miao women are using a basic counting thread as a structure to control the form of patterns on embroidery and weaving, while at the same time expressing their individual styles within these standard types. The purpose of this paper is to take Miao embroidery and weaving as an example to reveal the underlining structure of counting threads and to clarify how Miao women use basic elements to create a variety of compositions in their dress of art.
The high quality weaving and embroidery created by Miao women constitutes a unique means of cultural reproduction of the past and the present as it shapes Miao identity. By using a basic technique of counting threads on their weaving and
embroideries, Miao present a special cultural knowledge to pass on from mother to daughter. The art of transmitting their knowledge of weaving and embroideries is based on counting threads. However, counting threads is the method for making patterns and ornaments. The arts of the composition of embroidery illustrate individual creativity are relied on their bend hmub.
Bend hmub —literally ‘sample, model, pattern, style, type’ of [embroidered] images—is a collection of examples of all the patterns and motifs she has mastered and in turn teaches to her daughter/s. Patterns are collected on a single piece of cloth to make a kind of catalog of her repertoire. Girls begin to learn embroidery from six or seven years of age and will eventually make their own bend hmub. A mother first teaches her daughter to be familiar with the warp and weft, and then shares the rules and grid structures of the embroidery. The most important lessons in this process involve developing the skills of making stitches and acquiring the knowledge of the elements of imagery. When Miao girls finish learning the elements of bend hmub designs, they will begin to make their own embroidery within the structures and frames they learn from their mothers.
Every woman has her own style and design, which means that no two bend hmub are the same. Physically, it somewhat resembles a cloth booklet. Every pattern has a name, needlework technique, associated color, and appropriate application. A bend hmub provides the repertoire of basic visual components from which appropriate choices are combined into patterns and designs (Ho, 2011a).
Bend hmub sample 1 (see Table 1) was typical of someone 40 to 50 years old, so it was probably created about 1960-70. This bend hmub contains seventy-seven different designs, including three which are incomplete, and variations of some patterns. On sample 1, A, B, and C all symbolize gender: the butterfly and flower symbolize females; birds, fish, dragons, and animals symbolize males. At D and E, the roots depicted represent the root of a house, and symbolize patrilineal continuity. On F, the combination of a waterwheel, root, plant/flower, symbolizes the growth of life. G, H,
and I are related to sex and marriage. J is related to reproduction. K and L are related to enjoyment and pleasure, whether in the world of the living or the afterlife (Ho, 2011a).
Regarding the counting thread, the differentiations in design are in counting warp and weft, and in the composition of different design elements. By using the stitches, and how women adjust the detail differentiation on design, that makes each woman’s bend hmub unique. Even if a particular motif is very similar within different bend hmub, there will still be slight differences in shape, form and detail expression. Regarding composition, according to the frame structure and the local principle of design, Shidong Miao women can create unique collective designs.
For Miao people, cloth, clothing and dressing up play a uniquely important role in their culture. The visible images embroidered onto their clothing can be seen as having an indexical relationship between collective memory and the cultural ideal. However, by choosing elements and making their own composition of patterns, they are able to present their individual creativity. Moreover, Miao women value the diversification of talent, thus the unique compositions created within the standardized structure are as much a means for displaying individual identity as they are a means for cultural reproduction.