Hmong
Textiles and Costume of North Vietnam
(This article was written by Valerie Kirk, a lecturer in
textile at the Australian National University in
Canberra.
It is published here with her express permission)
Contents
1
Hemp
2
Hemp processing
3
Hmong batik
4
Finishing process
5
Hmong stitches
6
Hmong garments
7
Personal experience
8
Hmong jewellery
9
Education
10
Clothing accessories
11
Tourism
12
Bac Ha valley
The Hmong
are the eighth largest minority group in Vietnam with a
total population of about 600,000. They belong to the
Sino-Tibetan language family and specifically the Hmong
- Dao language group. They migrated from Southern China
into North Vietnam over the last 250 to 300 years. They
have mainly settled in the remote, mountainous areas of
the North West , near the Lao and Chinese borders.
The Hmong minority
group has been sub-divided into branches classified by
women's costume, dialect, relationships and customs. The
Hmong of Sa Pa are called " Black Hmong " or Hmong Den
in Vietnamese, because of their predominantly black
clothing, and they make up 52% of the population of the
district. They inhabit the scenic foothills of Mount
Fansipan, 1650 meters above sea level, an area which was
occupied by the French, who developed Sa Pa as a health
resort.
Hemp
Hmong
clothing is mainly made from locally grown Hemp, which
has a physical structure and chemical composition
similar to linen. Although hemp is one of the oldest
known fibre crops, it has attracted a great deal of
media attention in recent years. The debate today is
based in the political and economic struggle of the wood
pulp industry in the U.S.A. where a campaign against
Marijuana, the Mexican slang term for the drug, was
launched connecting use of the drug to violence and
crime.
The beneficial
properties of hemp have been rediscovered and farmers,
manufacturers and consumers are campaigning to change
the inappropriate laws that prohibit fibre hemp
production in many countries. It can be grown and
processed without the chemical treatments needed for
other plant materials and gives three times as much raw
fibre as cotton.
A low drug variety
of the plant grows around Sa Pa and the local people
laugh at the tourists who search out the Cannabis plants
to smoke - it does nothing for them.
Hemp
processing
In Hmong society,
the entire hemp process, from sowing the seeds through
to weaving the cloth is clearly defined as women's work,
along with digging and planting other crops in the
fields, collecting firewood, cooking, looking after the
family, carrying heavy loads to market and walking many
kilometres back home.
The baste
fibre is obtained from the stalk of the male plant which
is about 1cm in diameter, and comes in lengths of 30 to
40 cm. They are cut and tied into bundles to dry in
front of a fire or against fences and walls of houses.
Once the stalks are thoroughly dry they are stored in
the rafters of the houses till the women strip off the
fibrous outer layer, known as baste fibre. These short
pieces of fibre have to be joined to make a continuous
length for weaving. Young through to very old women are
involved in this activity and as the work is easily
transported, they carry it with them, joining fibres as
they walk to market or sit on the pavement in town. The
material is wound in a figure eight ball held in the
hand.
A substantial
wooden loom with a bamboo reed is set up for the weaving
process. The size of the reed dictates the width of the
finished cloth which is usually about 30cm and the
finished plain weave, measures eight to ten meters in
length. It is woven in the natural hemp and can then be
treated with wax for a batik design or dyed with Indigo.
Hmong
batik
The pattern for
batik is drawn onto the cloth with a tool made by the
Hmong blacksmiths which holds small amounts of bees wax.
Unlike Indonesian batik, which is usually curvilinear,
the Hmong patterns are made up of short, straight lines
forming crosses, zig-zags and repeating motifs. The
batik is produced in long lengths, dyed in a cold Indigo
vat then the wax boiled off. This resist patterned
fabric is made into jackets, baby carriers and skirts.
Indigo plants are
cultivated in neat plots on the hillsides near the
houses. The plant grows to about 60 cm high and can
yield 2 crops each year. The dye is contained in the
leaves which when allowed to ferment and then oxidise
produce a blue powder that is insoluble in water. This
can be stored as a paste or powder. There are various
ways of preparing the Indigo vat with substances that
make the Indigo soluble. The urine of children,
particularly boys is a common additive as well as lye,
lime and rice wine. When the dye bath is bubbling
strongly it is ready to use. The fabric is emersed in
the dye vat and worked for about half an hour then hung
up to oxidise into the distinct blue colour. Subsequent
dippings and oxidations will darken the colour and the
black of the Hmong fabrics is achieved by repeating the
process twice a day, each day for a month.
Finishing
process
" Beetling " or "
Calendering " is a finishing process which flattens the
threads and fills in the spaces between warp and weft.
The cloth becomes finer, smoother, softer and more
lustrous - almost with a metallic sheen. The women use a
well worn, rounded, log which sits flat on the ground
and a flat , long shaped rock which sits on top. Maybe
the rock I saw being used was petrified wood as the
woman I was with indicated it was the same as the wood.
The fabric is
placed over the wood and the rock, treated with beeswax,
placed on top. The woman balances on top of the rock
with her feet apart and moves side to side in a see saw
action back and forward. At the same time the cloth
moves to the left of the wood so that the length can be
worked in a continuous process.
The log and rock
are considered to be a couple - the wood representing
female and the stone the male. If either object breaks
this is said to symbolise divorce and a woman's husband
is free to choose another wife. Before knowing this
superstition I was having a go at calendering the
fabric, encouraged by the Hmong woman I was with, but I
had this terrible fear of breaking the stone, a heavy
Westerner with all my weight on a thin rock. I thought
at the time it must be because the stone seemed so old
and well worn. What would the women do if I broke the
rock? But maybe subconsciously I had picked up on the
significance of the objects.
Hmong
stitches
The Hmong women are
known for their embroidery and fit this work between
other daily chores. The main stitches used here are
chain stitch and cross stitch. These are often used in
combination with applique, where small pieces of fabric
are stitched onto a backing cloth, edges sewn under, to
make a coloured pattern. Reverse applique, where the top
fabric is cut away to make a pattern of the backing
cloth is also worked by the White Hmong. Both the
embroidery and the applique can be extremely fine,
although some work now uses thicker threads and is less
detailed. In the market women are interested in each
other's work and the finest work is well appreciated.
Hmong
garments
The main seams of
garments are sewn by treadle machine, sometimes carried
on someone's back many kilometres from the town. A
decorative running stitch is used to top stitch the
edges of the jackets and waistcoats. Here a pair of
leggings are being made of triangular strips of cloth.
They are wrapped around the calves and tied in place
with commercial braids.
The everyday
clothing of men, women and children is almost entirely
the darkest blue hemp with both male and female wearing
trousers - usually full length on men and knee length on
women. Children wear exact scaled down versions of adult
clothing. The men pictured are part of a road works gang
upgrading the road to Dien Bien Phu. They wear long
waistcoats like the example in the exhibition " Migrants
from the Mountains ". The collar is the only area of
decoration worn by men every day. It sits discretely at
the back of the neck on the long, polished hemp
waistcoat.
The older collars
tend to be finer in the work and more subdued in colour,
whereas some of the new collars are extremely bright
with vivid green thread and may be coarser in the
embroidery. Women wear layers of hemp clothing tied at
the waist with a belt. They have a simple headdress made
of woven plant material wound with a long strip of
Indigo hemp. Some women wear no headdress but have their
hair neatly wound in a roll around their head, held in
place with combs. Everyone wears the same style of
practical, brown plastic sandals.
Personal
experience
On my last trip to
Sapa, a women I had previously met, asked me to visit
her house at Lao Chai village, about four hours walk
from the town. A Russian jeep part way along the track
helped shorten the journey , then a steep descent on
pure mud slopes to the river and a short walk across
fields to the settlement. Everyone was there waiting for
us. We went to a house where they had collected together
the best of textiles from friends and family to show us.
Two of the women dressed in their ceremonial clothes -
heavily embroidered jackets with shining hemp waistcoats
on top, wrapped tightly at the waist with a belt
embroidered at both ends. The pleated, embroidered and
appliqued skirt commonly worn by other Hmong groups was
worn, plus elaborate silver jewellery. There are no
aprons, common to other Hmong costumes, but the long
waistcoat panels at front and back have a similar
effect. They looked spectacular. The raised work of the
embroidery and applique gives an encrusted or low relief
quality. The yellow-green embroidery is a less common
style with solid weave stitch making the pattern.
Hmong
jewellery
All Black Hmong
people wear elaborate jewellery made of silver
(sometimes from old French coins) or alloys. It has
spiritual significance, keeping the soul with the body
and helping to ward off evil spirits. Babies are given a
simple metal band with a little bell on it, men and
women wear neck rings with or without chains and women
have large, decorative, earrings. A jeweller works near
Sa Pa demonstrating his craft to passers by, beating the
metal and engraving patterns from the natural world.
Other modern day objects have been incorporated into
jewellery - silver safety pins are common, Catholic
crosses and occasional badges and trinkets from tourists
are worn with pleasure.
Education
Children are
encouraged to go to school , which is free, but in 1994
only 3% of minority children in the Sa Pa area attended
school. Parents are reluctant to send children, needing
them to work at home or look after the younger brothers
and sisters. They also worry that they will become, "
Vietnamesed ", losing their language and culture. At the
minority school the Black Hmong children always wear
their own distinct clothing and other children have
their costume for special occasions.
Clothing
accessories
Umbrellas are
commonly used for protection from rain and sun, but sun
hats are also used like this woven and painted version
of the conical hat.
Well worn clothing
is freshened up by another dip in the dye bath and the
totally worn out clothing is suspended on bamboo poles,
high above the crops as bird scarers.
Tourism
Tourists have been
able to visit Sa Pa for 4 years and already Western
culture and tourism is changing the production and use
of textiles . Worn clothing is now dyed in bright
chemical colours and remade into shirts, jackets, hats
and shorts to sell. Old collars are taken from
waistcoats and sewn together to make shoulder bags and
girls embroider small bags for tourists.
After a weekend in
Sa Pa every visitor wears something Hmong. The women are
enterprising and carry large baskets of textiles around
the market, engaging with tourists in friendly barter.
But, how long can they keep up the production for a
rapidly growing market and still clothe themselves with
hand-made textiles? Will the quality of work continue?
In an area of difficult terrain with floods and
landslides producing enough food for subsistence is
difficult. Only one rice crop per year can be grown and
at the most this will last for four to eight months of
the year.
Additional income
can provide food and western health care, fresh water
supply and hydro-electric power. Making and selling
textiles brings an income to families who might
otherwise rely on government handouts of rice. I also
hope the interest of discerning visitors will help
conserve the textile heritage and confirm the pride of
the women in their work.
Bac Ha
Valley
Bac Ha is a in a
fertile valley near the Chinese border. In this area
there are 10 minority groups and the Flower Hmong make
up 65% of the population. People travel long distances
into town from the surrounding area, often using pack
horses to carry goods to and from market. The
blacksmiths wear typical male clothing - plain black
trousers, waistcoats and jackets, with many styles of
hats and some green military style clothing, which is
cheap and available in the market. The women stand out
in their bright colours and full skirts which sway
seductively as they walk.
The area is rich
and prosperous through the cultivation of stone fruits
and the changes from a commune system to individual land
ownership. The people say they have become wealthy and
for textiles this means that no-one weaves anymore or
works batik on cloth. Everything can be purchased in the
market. Skirts for sale are made of a printed cloth
replicating the indigo batik. They have no pleating, but
are gathered like a dirndl skirt and the elaborate
embroidery and applique traditionally in a deep band
around the hem has been replaced with pieced velvet and
floral fabric. Aprons and collars are decorated with
machine embroidery in bright designs. Hems of skirts
have combinations of hand and machine embroidery, pieced
work and applied commercial braids. The young women like
the sparkling, pink, green, yellow beads dangling in
strands. They buy them by the appropriate length and
apply to the blouse. Their dress is the most vibrant and
spectacular. All the women wear the commercially woven
checked scarf over a fibre, shaped, form, or just over
their hair.
Babies are carried
by women, sometimes older children and occasionally men
in comfortable cloth baby carriers. They are functional
items, securing, reassuring and protecting. The baby
becomes an extension of the person carrying it and
travels up the mountain paths, out to the fields or down
to market. The styles vary greatly, but usually blend in
with the mother's clothes. They are usually decorative
with patterns worked in embroidery, batik or applique
which can offer symbolic protection against evil
spirits. Often the only part of the baby that can be
seen is the top of the head and this is covered with a
special hat of auspicious symbols. The bright fabrics,
threads and coins on the hats are said to confuse evil
spirits who mistake the heads for flowers.
The blouses are
made of heavy satin, velvet or synthetic, patterned
velour with machine embroidery and commercial braids
around the neck and sleeves. Even in 40 degrees heat
women still wear these thick garments. Historically the
Hmong came from extremely cold climates to the north,
but it is surprising that adaptations to cooler
materials and thinner fabric constructions have not been
made.
Baskets are another
practical item made by the Hmong, mainly by men for use
by women. They are large and strong, woven from natural
plant materials, sometimes with horse hair or leather
straps.
In the
fields and working at home women wear the same style of
dress. - more worn and faded than their best. Skirts are
washed or hung up to air in the open and for storage
they are rolled vertically and tied at the waistband by
the straps to hang up in the house. Textile production
is no longer such a large part of women’s lives here,
but the Hmong style has been retained. Work for
financial gain has taken over, growing plums and
nectarines and tending animals, but the division of
labour seems to continue, women still work harder and
longer hours and women walk back home up the mountain
paths after a day at market while men, with a few
glasses of rice wine, too many, ride home on the horse.
The costume of the Flower Hmong is an outward display of
strong cultural identity and pride in tradition. The
modern day adaptations have allowed a style or look to
continue through changing economics and social
expectations. The looms and batik tools have gone, but
the prosperous Hmong of Bac Ha, reflect a contemporary
world of electric colour and synthetic fabric, vibrant
combinations they have creatively made their own.
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