The Eighteenth | of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Encyclopedia is the golden years of Guangzhou costumes

The 4th Intangible Cultural Heritage Brand Conference (Guangzhou) 2021, hosted by Guangzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism, was officially opened at Canton Tower on December 18. As a famous historical and cultural city with extremely rich intangible cultural heritage resources, Guangzhou's intangible cultural heritage has been at the forefront of the country in terms of inheritance strength, innovation ability and communication level in recent years, and has repeatedly become the focus of the circle and beyond.

The Intangible Cultural Heritage Brand Conference (Guangzhou) is also an important platform for panoramic scanning of Guangdong's intangible cultural heritage, and is an excellent window to see the new appearance of Guangdong's intangible cultural heritage.

Let's do a panoramic scan of Guangdong's representative intangible cultural heritage projects for the benefit of readers.

Guangzhou costumes, made of Cantonese embroidery technology, are exquisite and gorgeous, dazzling. When Cantonese opera actors appear on stage, the gorgeous costumes on their bodies attract the attention of the audience at the first time, bringing excellent visual effects.

During the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty, with the rise of Cantonese opera, embroidery workshops processing Cantonese opera costumes were gradually concentrated in Zhuangyuanfang in Guangzhou. From the imperial court to the rural community, they all came to Zhuangyuanfang to buy a head. At its peak, there were more than 50 costume shops and more than 3,000 embroidery girls. The exquisite costumes are also exported overseas through Guangzhou Thirteen Lines.

Guangzhou costumes are gorgeous and bright, and the original purpose is to make the actors attract attention under the conditions of open-air performances, so the design enhances the recognition. The embroidery lady makes full use of the Cantonese embroidery technique and integrates velvet embroidery, gold and silver embroidery, bead embroidery and other techniques into the costume. Due to the proximity of Zhuangyuanfang to the Thirteen Lines of Guangzhou, which was operating foreign trade at that time, the Guangzhou costume became more dazzling due to the influence of Western paintings with full composition and strong contrasts. Yang Zhangsheng's "Menghua Trivia" said: "Its costumes are luxurious, and every time it is staged, the golden cui is confused, like the Qibao Tower, which is unforgiving." Even Peking Opera is "incomparable."

The costume production process is complex, including more than 30 processes in the five steps of initial sample, drawing, embroidery, cutting and sewing. In order to adapt to the needs of cantonese opera to express the image and character of the characters, Guangzhou costumes have developed a rich category. There are more than 70 kinds of Cantonese costumes that still exist, with different colors, patterns and shapes, which can distinguish between characters such as literature and martial arts, good and evil, rich and poor. As the old saying in the costume industry goes: "It is better to wear it than to be wrong." "The design of costumes is a profound science in itself.

(Dong Huilan, representative inheritor of Guangzhou costume production skills, and costumes Source: Zhuangyuanfang costumes)

It is precisely because the craft is so complex that an apprentice takes at least three years to get started, and ten years may not be able to get a teacher.

Nowadays, Guangzhou costumes have entered the public eye through various channels such as museum exhibitions, media reports, and design of cultural and creative goods. For example, the exhibition "Guangzhou Costume Art Exhibition - The Beauty of the Era of Clothing" brings the audience an immersive experience from costume production, design to fitting. Zhuangyuanfang Costume Factory also opened classes to the public, allowing children to pick up embroidery needles and understand Guangzhou costumes in the threading of needles. I believe that in the future, more and more people will approach the costume making skills and feel the beauty of intangible cultural heritage.

Text/Guangzhou Daily, New Flower City reporter Bu Songzhu Correspondent: Wen Mu

Photo/Wenmu Culture courtesy

Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Xie Yufen