The Fish-skin Clothing and Adornments of Hezhen Ethnic Group
At the confluent point of the three rivers of Heilongjiang,Songhuajiang and Wusulijiang in Northeast China is a stretch of fertile land,rich with pacific salmon and sturgeon.The Hezhen ethnic group,with a total population of just over 4,000,resides here.The Hezhen ethnic group descends from the Sushen clan,one of the three ancient clans in northeast China.With a history of more than 6,000 years,they have depended on fishing and hunting and are called“the fish-skin tribe”because historically they wore fish-skin clothes.Hezhen ethnic group has a history of over 1,000 years in making all kinds of clothing with fish skin,and handicrafts made of fish skin have come to represent the national culture of Hezhens,spreading the singular flavor of these ancient nomads.
In the language of Man ethnic group,Hezhen means“people of the Orient.”The Hezhens for generations have lived in northeast China,mainly in Tongjiang City,Raohe County and Fuyuan County in the river valleys.The fishing culture of Hezhen can be considered unique among China’s 56 ethnic groups.They have thorough,consummate skills in cooking fish.In the early days,the Hezhens calculated their age by counting the number of times they had fish.Hezhens not only fish for their livelihood,they eat fish,wear fish-skin clothing and live in houses made of fish skin.Thus,a fishing culture permeates all aspects of their social lives.Of this,what most represents their lives is the various clothing made of fish skin.Fish skin has the natural patterns of fish scales and its own rare beauty.A garment made in the style of the fish skin will embody its natural beauty.In the early days,most Hezhens used to wear meticulously processed fish
skin or animal skin.The traditional method of processing fish skin includes skinning,drying,tanning,cutting,sewing,and embellishing.
The handicraft of processing fish skin is an old trade that will soon disappear.The process is complicated and cumbersome,a difficult job for an artist.In modern times,most of the processed fish skin is salmon,which is special to Heilongjiang River.Tanning fish skin is one of the most important industrial arts and involves more than a dozen processes.The tool for acquiring fish skin is not a knife but bambooware,which does not mar the skin.Once air-dried,the skin hardens.After being scraped with a knife,it becomes tanned leather.The needle used to sew leather comes from a fish bone and the thread can be made from the sinews of an animal or fish skin cut into thin strips.Limited by the size of fish skin it is necessary to give full consideration to the arrangement of the natural colors and the symmetry of the joints of fish skin.Each garment must be pieced together.Sewing fish skin is not easy,as it must be done entirely by hand.Different from cotton or silk,fish skin is relatively thick and hard and some
strength is needed to pierce them with a needle.A suit of fish skin clothing requires the skin of dozens of fish.
Although there is no difference in the patterns of fish-skin pants and shoes,there is in the styles of shirts and other similar attire.The garments made of fish skin are usually decorated with beautiful and complex cloud patterns.Hezhens are particularly fond of such patterns and regard these as tokens of good luck and happiness.The beautiful and changeable patterns and the fish skin itself constitute the main features and special fascination of the clothing of Hezhen ethnic group.
Apart from the traditional clothing for daily life,the Hezhens also make garments for their Shaman religion.In the past,they believed in Shamanism.The belief in the religion lasted from ancient times to modern times.The word“Shaman”comes from the Tungusian language,meaning“the deranged.”The people of Hezhen ethnic group believe that Shamans are capable of curing all diseases and act as“emissaries between men and gods.”The clothes,hats,skirts,gloves and shoes used by Shamans in religious dances are mainly made of fish skin.
However,with social reforms and the impact of foreign cultures and changes in the natural resources and environment,the lifestyle of the Hezhen people has changed a lot.They no longer wear the traditional fish-skin clothes and fish skin has become the material in making such artworks as fish-skin pictures.The religious activities with Shamans wearing fish-skin garments have vanished.Even the famous fish-skin handicrafts of Hezhen ethnic group have almost been lost to the world.
Luckily,people with foresight have tried to rescue them before their extinction and have made creations based on the traditional handicraft.They have inherited the traditional workmanship for processing fish skins and the garment styles and recovered the original features of the ancient fish-skin garment culture.In June 2006,the skill of processing fish skin was among the first listed of intangible cultural heritages of China.