The Miao minority group in southwest China are famous for their great handcrafted artwork, like embroidery, silver jewelry, and batik. During their long history of migration, the Miao were divided into many distinct tribes, one of which is the Long Horn Miao.
The Long Horn Miao tribe is characterized by a big wooden horn that they use to decorate their hair. Both men and women used to wear this horn. They spin black wool and the hair of their ancestors around the horn to make a striking headdress that sometimes weighs 6 kilograms.
Children start wearing this headdress at 12-13 years old. During holidays, boys and girls wear their colorful ethnic clothes and this striking headdress to sing, dance, and seek for their partners.
To prepare this large headdress needs about one hour. Such complicated work can’t be finished only by one person, and often requires the help of others.
The wooden horn is almost a half meter long and has some teeth at the center. So it can also be used as a comb.
Before summer arrives, boys go to the mountains to select a special plant. After submerging the plant in water for a while, they scrape it with a piece of bamboo until a white layer comes off. This layer is sunned to get dry and then is made into pieces of twine.
This long, coarse, white twine is used to secure the heavy headdress, which usually is worn for 3-4 days. They try hard to keep their headdress in good shape during holidays. When eating, they have to use a ladle instead of a bowl to hold food and stretch out their necks to dine.
Today, only women still keep this headdress.
Single women also use colorful flowers to adorn their hair, which means they are not married yet. A copper neckband is the only jewelry they have to indicate their social position. They don’t wear handmade silver jewelry like other Miao people.
In ancient times, fur or tree leaves were used to cover the body of human being. This was named as a fig leaf.
The black felt apron the Long Horn Miao women wear today originates from this fig leaf. But today it’s only used to adorn women’s embroidered garments. It’s also an important item for pregnant women.
