Woman's Embroidered Festival Costum

This festive costume would have been worn by a Miao woman. The top is made of homespun cloth decorated with pigtail embroidery of wild peonies,sybolizing reunion. It is matched with a flat-embroidered skirt decorated with colored ribbons, and wild peony, butterfly, bird, and cloud motifs. Each ribbon is divided into three segments: the upper represents the Qingshui River, the middle represents the Yangzi River, and the bottom represents the Yellow River. This design sybolizes the migtation route that the ancestors of the Miao followed, from the Yellow River to the Yangzi River, and eventually coming to the present home near the Qingshui River.