Research on the Distribution and Characteristics of Moso Ethnic Costume during theMing and Qing Dynasties

YANG Linjun

Abstract： The “Moso”（麽些） during the Ming and Qing dynasties includes present day Naxi， as well as the present day Mongolians in the areas of Muli， Yanyuan， and the “Nari” and “Namuyi” branches of the Tibetan. The Moso were distributed in the present day area of Lijiang， Diqing， Nujiang； the Mangkang area of Changdu； the Muli， Yanyuan， and Yanbian areas of Liangshan Prefecture； and Batang and Litang of Ganzi Prefecture. Due to the special geographic environment as well as policies implemented by various dynasties regarding the ethnic people in the border areas， the Moso formed a kind of culture with their own characteristics during the long process of history. In different historical periods， the Mosos costume and culture also differed—some parts there were passed down， but there was also innovation and development. The regional characteristics of the Moso costume were obvious during the Ming and Qing dynasties. This article， from the perspective historical geography， will discuss the geographical distribution， evolution and formation of Moso costume during the Ming and Qing periods.

Costume is a marker of an “ethnic group” ， and it includes both clothes and ornaments. Seen from the vertical line of history， the costume of Moso people has various characteristics in various periods； and seen from the horizontal line of history， the costume has very obvious regional differences. There are few records on Moso costumes before the Ming dynasty. Only a few records are found， for example， in the shiji·xinanyi liezhuan （An Account of the Southwestern Yi in The Records of the Historian）， xintangshu·nanman zhuan （An Account of the Southern Barbarians in the New Tang History） .Since the Ming dynasty， there are more records about the Moso in Han Chinese literature in which new characteristics of Moso costume could be noted. A kind of regional distribution of Moso costume appeared， including the Lijiang costume zone， and the Yanyuan-Yongning costume zone. Seen from the characteristics of costume change， we can conduct research from three aspects： the head dress， clothes and ornaments.

Compared with the Tang， Song and Yuan dynasties， the Moso costume in the Ming dynasty had the following obvious changes： the phenomenon of wearing a hat or a “cloth-made head dress” appeared in Lijiang， while the Yongning-Yanyuan areas still kept the original hair styles， i.e. plaited hair and the “three tower” hair style. Regarding clothes， short clothes and short pants appeared for men， and tops and skirts for women. Moreover， hemp replaced the use of leather and fur， and became the main material. This was due to agricultural development， external contacts with other ethnic groups， and the influence of Han culture during that period. The Moso who lived in the mountain areas still carried knives. However， there were few records about the Moso who lived in the plains. Seen from geographical characteristics， there appeared Yanyuan-Yongning costume zone and Lijiang costume zone where the style and material of the clothes were quite different. Within the Lijiang costume zone， although there were some differences between the places close to Lijiang town and the mountainous region to the north， the differences were only a result of the geography and climate. Therefore， the costumes could still be included in the same category.

The Qing dynasty was the period that saw the most dramatic change for Moso costume. Moreover， the costume differences in the various regions became very striking. The head dress， clothes and ornaments in the different regions experienced a great change， and the regional differences became more obvious. Three major zones of Moso costume had been formally formed， i.e. the Lijiang， Yongning-Yanyuan， and Beidi-Eya zones. The costume of Moso men in Lijiang， except for the jacket made from sheep skin and the felt cap， was basically similar to that of the Han Chinese. The womens costume， while keeping the traditional hair style and sheep skin leather cape， experienced some changes in accordance with Han and Mongolian costume. Therefore， the women started to wear long gowns， trousers， pleated aprons， and the very typical “seven-star cape”. In the Yongning-Yanyuan area， the traditional Moso costume， such as the long skirt， was kept， but some characteristics of Tibetan costume were also absorbed. In the areas from Beidi of Shangri-la to Eya of Muli， the characteristics of costume in the Ming dynasty were completely preserved， and only a few Tibetan costume elements were absorbed during the later period of the Qing dynasty.

Through an analysis of the geographical distribution and characteristics of the Moso costumes in the Ming and Qing dynasties， we can notice that the Moso costume had developed from a relatively fuzzy “far vision” to a relatively clear “close vision”， and had formed three different costume culture zones， which constituted the present day multiple cultural pattern of the Moso ethnic costume. Seen from the perspective of the three costume zones， the characteristics of the traditional ethnic costume had been kept. However， its appearance and cultural connotations manifested very obvious changes. So， what were the factors promoting such profound change？ And what caused the formation of the three different ethnic costume zones？ There were many causes for the change in ethnic costume， including internal and external ones. Among them， the internal causes were the key factor. The appearance of differences between the Moso ethnic costumes during the Ming and Qing dynasties were due to the following three reasons：

Firstly， it was closely related to the policy of the central court. In the areas， such as Lijiang， which were directly managed by the officials sent by the central government after implementation of the gaituguiliu policy （replacement of native officials with loyal appointed ones）， the Moso ethnic costume changed to various degrees—while keeping ethnic markers， it also tended to meet the “standards” popular in the country. However， in those areas which still kept the institution of the tusi， tuguan or tumudi （native officials）， although the ethnic costume also exhibited some changes， it did not adopt “Han standard”dress， and still preserved the shape and characteristics of their group. Secondly， it was due to the different geographical location of the various branches of the Moso. The Moso ethnic people were widely distributed in the vast Hengduan mountainous areas where the climates were quite different—this was another factor or even the main factor for differences among the costumes of the Moso people. Thirdly， it was due to the influences of neighboring ethnic groups and their diverse religions. Seen from their area of distribution， the Moso who lived in the north had a close relationship with the Tibetans， because they lived together. From the Ming to the beginning of the Qing， the power of the Lijiang Mu Clan tusi extended to Changdu， Batang， and Litang in eastern Tibet； and some Moso migrated from Lijiang to the places such as Yanjing of Mangkang county， Eya of Muli， etc.. However， following the decline of the Mu clan and with the implementation of the gaituguiliu policy， these areas were conquered by the Tibetans. During the long period of contact with the Tibetans， Tibetan culture gradually infiltrated， and the Moso in these places began to convert to Tibetan Buddhism. This was in turn， followed bythe gradual integration of Tibetan customs The Moso ethnic people in Yanyuan and Muli were pushed aside by the Tibetan and Yi in the middle and later periods of the Qing； the power of the tusi or tuguan gradually declined， and the areas they controlled were gradually reduced. Up to the later period of the Republican period， the areas had become one dominated by the Tibetan and Yi. Seen from the costumes during the later period of the Qing， there was a Tibetanization trend reflected in the adoption of Tibetan customs and wearing Tibetan head dress， and clothes. However， in the Qihe， Jiuhe area of Lijiang， which neighbored with Heqing and Jianchuan of Dali， the Moso and Bai people borrowed costume elements from each other. Therefore， a kind of Moso costume which had elements of both the Moso costume and Bai costume formed—This was a choice of the two groups after they lived together for a long time. The Moso costume in Yongning area was almost the same as the Pumi costume， and there were no obvious differences between them. This was due to the factor that the two groups lived together and worked together for a long time. They fused with each other， and intermarried. Hence， a kind of ethnic fusion somewhat like “me in you and you in me” was formed.

Key Words： Moso ethnic costume； Ming and Qing Dynasties， geographical distribution， analysis of characteristics.

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