Silver Ornaments of the Miao Ethnic Group

The Miao girls fancy silver ornaments, and wherever they live, their dresses, especially their silver jewelries, will become the local highlights and cultural sight. The silver ornament civilization of Miao has been handed down ever since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and today it is ever more colorful.

The Miao women usually wear their silver crown, circlet, clothes, bracelets and chains all over their body, the more and heavier the better, to show off their beauty and wealth. The silver ornaments on a Miao woman in magnificent costume can be as heavy as 10 to 15 kilograms. The ornaments can also be used as token of love promise and mascot for children to ward off evil forces, or even tradable or stored directly as money. Therefore, the silver ornaments of Miao are not only decorations, but also a cultural carrier rooted in the social life of the Miaos.

The silver ornaments of Miao are also in large varieties, which are particularly represented by that of the Miaos in zhangjiajie and west Hunan, including silver crown, horn, comb, danglers, ear columns and drops, circlet, necklace, collar stand, bracelet, finger ring and foot ring, etc. Casting, beating, knitting, chiseling and carving are the usual techniques for making silver ornaments, and the patterns adopted are mostly animals and plants such as dragon, phoenix, flowers and birds, which are lifelike and exquisite.