Minority Ethnic Clothing

Bai

Population: 1.8 million

Distribution: The Bai generally live in the Yunnan Province, a mountainous lake district in southern China with warm weather and tropic forests, with 80% concentrated in the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture¹⁰ (an area with a certain amount of freedom and identity).

Economy: The Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture is rich in natural resources such as plant seeds, forests with fruit bearing trees, and minerals and is well-known for marble production. The capital, Dali City, is a booming metropolis that connects the surrounding areas with its well-built transportation framework. Dali City is also a growing tourist area that includes sights such as scenic areas, natural reserves, historical sites, and cultural relics.¹⁰

Language: The Bai language is a descendant of the Tibeto-Burman language that borrows words from traditional Chinese dialects.¹¹ Most Bai also speak Chinese.

Traditions: The majority of the Bai worship local tutelary spirits (protectors) such as national heroes, ancestors, animals, landscape, and planetary objects. When people come down with an illness, it is thought to be caused by displeasing the spirits. Although a large amount of the Bai’s religious buildings and temples were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, many of them have been rebuilt. The pagodas outside Dali City remain as one of the most treasured art pieces of the Bai and are currently a successful tourist attraction.¹²

The most important festival of the Bai is the Third Month Fair held on the 15^th day of the third month of the lunar year. For almost a whole week, native Bai gather around the Zhonghe Peak of the Diancangshan Mountain to participate in competitions, games, and performances and to visit the extraordinary markets. The Third Month Fair has also been called the “Fair of One Thousand Years” because it has persevered and outlasted dynasties for over 1,300 years.¹³

For clothing, the Bai prefer white and other light colors for the main color. The top garment is generally light in color with a sleeveless jacket (for women) or a vest (for men) worn over it. Pants are either the same light color or a contrasting dark color. Accents are made with intricate embroidery of complimenting darker colors. Women wear an apron tied around their waste to display this exquisite and masterful decoration. From afar, this clothing may appear simple, but it takes great skill to make each garment one of a kind. The headpiece worn compliments the costume and represents the Bai ideals of beauty.¹⁴ The top of the headpiece is white like snow; the embroidery is made in the shape of flowers; the accent tassel hangs down off of one side onto the woman’s shoulder to bring the outfit together and accentuate the beauty of the individual.

This work by China Learning Library @ George Mason University is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.