User:Nposs/paj ndau

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paj ntau is an elaborate form of textile embroidery traditionally practiced by Hmong people. Literally transalted as "flower cloth," the embroidery consists of bold geometric designs often realized in bright, contrasting colors. Different patterns and techniques of production are associated with geographical regions and cultural subdivisions within the global Hmong community. Since the mass exodus of Hmong refugees following the end of the Secret War, major stylistic changes occurred, strongly influenced by the tastes of the Western marketplace. Changes included more subued colors and the invention of a new form of paj ndau often referred to as "story cloths." These cloths, ranging in size up to several square feet, use figures to represent stories from Hmong hisotry and folklore in a narrative form. Today, the practice of embroidery continues to be passed down through generations of Hmong people and paj ndau remain important markers of Hmong ethnicity.

Lewis, 55: The visual designs contain recognizable elements: layered bands of appliqué, triangles, squares tilted and superimposed on contrasting, squares, lines and dots, spirals, and crosses.

Lewis, 62: In all likelihood, however, the textile techniques were influenced by thousands of years of contact with the Chinese. Dover (1976:173), in a reprinted 1931 outline of Chinese symbolism, says that textile ornamentation reached its zenith during the reign of Emperor Chien Lung, 1736-1795; this was the time just before the exodus of the majority of Hmong from China to Indochina (see Figure 1). Chinese noble’s robes were typically decorated with twelve symbols: the sun, moon, stars, mountains, dragon, pheasant, goblets, pondweed, fire, rice, axe, and a Chinese symbol representing rank and stature. Also typical of Chinese ornamentation was the use of border patterns, thought to give a piece a sense of completeness; certainly border patterns are characteristic of Hmong design.

Lewis, 63: Pieces crafted for new year (courtship) skirts, baby-carriers, collars, and noob ncoos contain familiar core elements. These pieces are part of socially important events—birth, marriage, renewing ties with affines, death, rebirth—and they most likely carry the core elements of design. The most commonly occurring elements are crosses or “x”s, spirals, lines and triangles.

[edit] Refugee experience

When communist forces took control of Laos in 1975, Hmong people who supported the Royal Lao Government and fought for the American CIA during the Secret War were singled out for retribution. Tens of thousands of Hmong people escaped into Thailand as part of a mass exodus of 300,000 refugees.[1] Once in Thailand, most spent several years in overcrowded refugee camps awaiting resettlement. Dependent on relief agencies for subsistence, many Hmong people began selling handicrafts to improve their standard of living. As early as 1976, NGOs, like the Christian and Missionary Alliance, coordinated with Hmong women to sell their needlework abroad. [2] In Laos, only rare moments of free time were spent on embroidery to adorn pieces of clothing for important rituals. Now with time to spare in the camps, women produced purses, bed spreads, and toaster covers which were shipped to relatives abroad who could sell them and send money back.

Men also contributed to the endeavor by creating drawings that could be transferred to cloths. In the 1960s, missionaries had taught men to draw illustrations for the folktales used in literacy primers. Cloths featuring elaborate and fantastic narratives sold well overseas and production grew. Eventually, themes from recent Hmong history, including the flight from Laos, were incorporated in the "story cloths," providing a historical record that did not require literacy for interpretation.[3]

http://www.quiltethnic.com/hmong.html

http://www.hmongstudies.com/Hmongtextilesclothingstorycloths.html

http://www.hmongcenter.org/hmoncularmus.html

Mola (art form)