10.7230/KOSCAS.2020.61.411

Yao tribe, one of the oldest minorities, has its 5000-year history. Currently, the city of Hezhou, Guangxi, China where the Yao lives is geographically remote from other regions and economically underdeveloped. Due to geographical reasons, The Yao’s traditional cultural characteristics still exist and remain in existence. In 2006, The ‘Yao’s costumes’ were listed as an intangible cultural heritage of China. In particular, the Yao’s embroidery craft as a major producing technique for the Yao’s traditional dress is know to be very sophisticated and to have a high level of handcraft difficulty. Today, most craftsmen with the Yao’s embroidery techniques are old enough to face the reality that their craftsmanship will be ruined, and in addition, the development of digital embroidery equipment is replacing the traditional craftsmanship. Against this background, this study began with examining the cultural characteristics and the need for preservation of the Yao’s costumes in the Hezhou region, Guangxi, China. Among them, the embroidery patterns in the Yao’s costumes were considered as the center of research, and this study conducted historical exploration about the Yao’s life history shown in the Yao’s embroidery patterns through on-sote surveys, interviews and surveys, etc. During the course of research on the geometric patterns, animal patterns, plant patterns, and the colors of each pattern, it was found that the cultural products utilizing the Yao’s embroidery patterns expressed by the latest mechanized equipment do not follow the aesthetic values of the Yao embroidery artifacts produced by the traditional methods in past and are shunned from the sentiments and interests of modern people.Therefore, this study was conducted focusing on the status of development of the Yao’s costumes in Hezhou region, the craft characteristics of the Yao embroidery, and the original clothing industry and sales and distribution revitalization utilizing the Yao’s traditional patterns. The Yao’s embroidery in Hezhou region had a variety of problems, including the monotony of product style, the lack of aesthetic sense, the absence of innovative designs on the Yao’s embroidery, and consumer complaints about modern costume design. Based on these factors, this study also conducted a survey with the theoretical basis of the TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) and the IDT (Innovation Diffusion Theater) methods. The survey examined consumer’s satisfaction and several problems in use based on the ‘modern pattern designs with the motif of the Yao costumes’. The survey showed that the Yao embroidered costumes, primary-colored geometrical embroidery patterns and the interest as costumers according to regional and cultural characteristics were mot prominent. In the course of this study, about 11 designs of creative costumes with the motif of the Yao’s embroidery were developed. Based on the results of above survey, this study extracted some accessories patterns of auspicious, allegorical animals and plants in Hezhou region, reconstructed them into geometric patterns and colors, and eventually developed them into modern design concepts. Through modern fashion design, the Yao’s embroidery was enough to express local characteristics and cultural values. At present, we should not rely solely on handicraft reproduction and tradition in the production of the Yao’s costumes, and it is considered that combining modern design trends with tradition and modern design, and further linking and advancing them into future-oriented design will also contribute greatly to the transmission of history. The transmission of folk art, the search for consciousness and methods for development, and especially the value of the traditional handcrafts of the Yao’s embroidery, should be rooted and further developed in modern times.In the creation of the Yao’s costumes, we should not simply adhere to traditional techniques, but expand to modern concepts, new design subject analysis, new material development, and new pattern production to produce to creative designs of the Yao’s embroidery abundantly. It is expected that the Yao’s embroidery designs will produce enormous designs through various new designs and design series. For transmission of long history and culture, this study suggests that the traditional handcraft of the Yao’s embroidery can be linked to the innovative ideas and technologies of the future-oriented modern times by taking advantage of the Yao’s embroidery spirit.