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CULTURE

CULTURE

Lineage woven in threads

New book explores ethnic ornaments and reveals how clothing carries myths, memory and history across generations, Yang Yang reports.

By YANG YANG????|????China Daily????|???? Updated: 2026-03-06 07:14

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For decades, anthropologist Deng Qiyao has conducted field research on ethnic clothing in China's diverse multiethnic regions. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Eady firmly believed that literary and artistic exchange plays a vital role in promoting world peace. Folk stories and traditional customs represent some of the most vivid expressions of cultural philosophy, Xue writes. Such traditions should be documented before they disappear.

Over the next six years, the couple visited China twice annually in search of the right author — someone knowledgeable about ethnic ornaments and capable of telling their stories to a global audience.

Eventually they discovered Deng.

They learned that since the age of 23, Deng had spent three decades exploring China's southwestern border regions, documenting folk tales, clothing traditions and tribal histories. When Eady and Deng finally met, they quickly bonded over a shared fascination with ethnic culture.

Twelve years later, China Adorned has finally been published. "The hidden stories of life carried by the ornaments of China's ethnic groups will be recognized across various languages and cultures. These exquisite Chinese ornaments are poised to influence the global fashion industry, adding a vibrant chapter to the world's history of civilization and art through China's rich cultural diversity," Xue writes.

Ornaments form an essential part of traditional dress. They include a wide range of decorative items worn on the body, such as headpieces, brooches, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, belts and leg bands, Deng explains.

The 400-page book threads vivid stories by Deng about ethnic ornaments and 600 pictures with four themes — birth, coming of age, weddings, and funerals — of the ethnic groups including Tibetan, Jingpo, Yi, Yao, Jino, Mongolian, Kazak, Zhuang, Nu, Bai, Va, Derung, Gaoshan, and Naxi, inhabiting southern China and Northwest China's Qinghai province.

The photographs include more than 300 black-and-white images taken by Deng himself and more than 200 color photographs by British photographer Cat Vinton. Together, they capture the intricate details of ornaments worn during major life events — from Miao silver adornments to Tibetan agate jewelry and Dai beaded decorations.

"Ethnic clothing serves as a symbol of key life stages like birth, coming of age, marriage, and death, and represents commitments to family, clan, and society," Deng writes in the preface.

Traditional dress functions as a visual social code. It defines roles and relationships according to gender, age, ethnicity, social status and division of labor. At the same time, clothing reflects spiritual beliefs related to religion, taboos, destiny, souls and spirits.

"When you examine the patterns of these ornaments — the styles, colors, dyeing, and embroidery patterns of ethnic clothing, you'll discover a world of unique creativity and rich cultural significance. As you delve deeper, you enter an incredibly fascinating realm that bridges the ancient with the modern, connecting to their ancestors and history," he says.

"This history stretches back to mythical times and continues to the present, forming a remarkably rich cultural heritage."

However diverse, "ornaments represent just a small component of the overall outfit", he notes.

Now, Deng is working on the fifth volume of the eight-volume illustrated dictionary of Chinese ethnic costumes that he began more than a decade ago.

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