The People in Goatskins

Every Sunday Dayao County stages its open market. As elsewhere, the townsfolk set up early. The villagers begin streaming in by mid-morning, by noon the city is packed and in late afternoon folks start going home. Most of those in attendance will be Han from the surrounding plain, but a sizable percentage will be Yi from the nearby mountains. Yi women here usually wear a colourful, long-sleeved blouse,with flowery embroidery along the shoulders, cuffs and lapel. Over this is a wide bib covering the chest and midriff, fastened in back with a belt with its embroidered ends dangling over the buttocks. Ordinary trousers and shoes complete the outfit, except for the headgear, which is a black turban with embroidered ends,fitted over a skullcap studded with silver buttons or cowry shells.

Men dress Han-style. Both sexes wear long goatskin vests and carry bright, fully embroidered shoulder bags with lots of tassels. Sometimes, like market days, they carry two or three of these bags. The vests are made from the skins of two goats, expertly stitched together, hang open in front, and last for many years. They wear them almost constantly all year round. In the cooler months they tend to wear the fur side against the body and the leather side out. When it rains they reverse the vest and wear the fur side out.

The northern part of Dayao County is dominated by mountains, the biggest being the 3657 metre-high Tanhuashan . The Yi live on the slope of this and neighbouring mountains, raising rice, maize, wheat, potatoes, hemp and walnuts. They also keep flocks of goats and other animals. The walnuts are the best in Yunnan, especially the thin-shelled variety from Tiesuo, on Tanhuashan's western slopes. Most townships in the mountains hold weekly market days. Some merchants come up from Dayao or Shiyang, but most people in attendance, buying and selling, are Yi. Costumes may vary slightly from one township to another, the goatskins being the one item common to all.

But women in one small sub-group, in villages near Dacun in Guihua township, north of Tanhua, wear a costume totally different and unique in the region. The women's costume comprises a chicken-shaped, red-trimmed, black cloth cap with beaded tassels, skirt, long jacket and leggings. The skirt is black with appliqueed stripes in different colours. But the jacket is quite special. On the reverse rows of geometric-like patterns are arranged according to a code that tells the family history of the woman wearing it. Traditionally, the woman must be wearing the jacket when she is buried.