Mountain patterns : the survival of Nuosu culture in China

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Mountain patterns : the survival of Nuosu culture in China

Stevan Harrell, Bamo Qubumo and Ma Erzi ; photographs by Zhong Dakun

University of Washington Press, c2000

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Description and Table of Contents

Description

Nestled against the Tibetan highlands in the remote mountains of Liangshan in southwest China, the land of the Nuosu people was until the 1950s beyond the easy reach of the Chinese government, and the culture of the Nuosu (a branch of the Yi group) developed with little Chinese influence. In the 1960s China's Cultural Revolution suppressed and eroded Nuosu culture, but since the 1980s there has been a resurgence of Nuosu ethnic identity and culture, and a revival of traditional arts. An introductory chapter presents the history and culture of the Nuosu, and essays illustrate each of the traditional visual arts: wooden house architecture, featuring intricate post-and-beam construction and carved decoration; clothing and textiles, including elaborate needlework; red-yellow-black lacquerware, seen in both traditional village-made and modern factory-made versions; silversmithing and jewelry; musical instruments and their use; and two aspects of the ritual culture of the bimo priests -- ceremonies for the souls of deceased ancestors and rituals to expel and exorcise ghosts. Mountain Patterns, includes photographs representing every corner of Nuosu territory and displaying a wide variety of regional styles.

Table of Contents

AcknowledgmentsThe Survival of Nuosu CultureNuosu ArchitectureClothing and TextilesLacquerwareSilversmithing and JewelryMusical InstrumentsThe Bimo, Their Books, and Their Ritual ImplementsGhost Boards and Spirit Pictures

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Details

  • NCID
    BA47205361
  • ISBN
    • 0295979372
  • LCCN
    99050681
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Seattle
  • Pages/Volumes
    viii, 64 p., [8] p. of plates
  • Size
    28 cm
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