Yao Houx Han

Yao Houx Han
Yao Houx Han
Cornell University Anthropology Collections, gift of Ruth Sharp; catalogue # 995.4.3; Photo from the Cornell University Library Digital Collections, https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:3241343

Yao houx han (Man's sash)

Unknown Miao/Hmong designer, Thailand

ID #Anthr1995 004 0003 01

Gift of Ruth Sharp

As a part of Iu Mien (the largest subgroup of Yao people) cultural practices, tshongx tshongx (embroidery) skills are a highly valued expertise. During the period Ruth Sharp collected these items, a Yao woman would be responsible for creating intricately embroidered clothing items and accessories for herself as well as for her family. These women would also employ a number of techniques within their embroidery. The first is congx-jiemc, created through the use of parallel running stitches, which produces an “in-laid weave effect” (Hoffman 1982, 49); the second is congx-tiu, a horizontal stitch similar to a holbein stitch; the third is congx-nyiet, a diagonal cross-stitch; and the last is njiuc, a stem stitch used for borders. The creator of this sash embroidered the design using njiuc, congx-tiu, and congx-nyiet. The two patterns used on the main section of embroidery are known as som and lomh zeuv and are embroidered with the congx-tiu technique.


Additional Media:

Production

This digital publication from the University of California contains diagrams of embroidery stitches described in the above text.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Asian Art Department holds a full ensemble from circa 1900 that illustrates how these pants would have been worn in relation to other articles of clothing.

Consumption

These formal outfits, posted in a Iu Mien community Facebook group, show an interpretation of Mien embroidery.

Sources:

Fraser-Lu, S. (1988). Handwoven textiles of South-East Asia. Singapore: Oxford University Press.

Goldman, A.Y. (1995). Lao Mien embroidery: Migration and change. Bangkok: White Lotus.

Hoffman, E. (1982). Dress and acculturation: Clothing transitions of the Mien (Master’s Thesis). Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.