The beauty of Dao Tien women’s costumes

Implementing Project 6 on “Preserving and promoting the good traditional cultural values of ethnic minorities associated with tourism development” under the National Target Program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2030 (abbreviated as National Target Program 1719), in recent years, Yen Luong commune, Thanh Son district has always strived to preserve the traditional cultural features of ethnic minorities, including the traditional costumes of Dao Tien women.

During their free time, Dao Tien women in the Bo Xo area, Yen Luong commune, Thanh Son district, often exchange experiences on how to dye fabrics and embroider together to make beautiful costumes.

The traditional costumes of Dao Tien women are elegant, delicate, and contain many unique cultural values. Unlike the costumes of Dao Quan Chet women with many prominent patterns, mainly red, the costumes of Dao Tien women have the main colors of indigo and white, which are very harmonious. Through the story with Dao Tien women in the Bo Xo area, we learned that to have a satisfactory costume, it is necessary to go through many stages such as growing cotton, spinning, weaving, dyeing, printing patterns with beeswax, cutting, sewing, and embroidering... The tools for carving patterns are pens with copper tips or bamboo sticks broken into triangles. The large type is used to trim flowers and leaves; the medium type is used to draw squares, circles, and birds. After melting the beeswax, they will dip the tip of the pattern drawing pen onto the fabric. After drawing, the fabric is dyed with indigo. When the dyeing process is completed, it is soaked in hot water to melt the wax, and the patterns will appear. While skillfully embroidering each needle and thread on the indigo fabric, Ms. Ly Thi Mai in the Bo Xo area shared: Dao Tien girls from the age of 8-10 have been taught by their grandmothers and mothers how to sew and embroider their ethnic costumes. They start learning to embroider the smallest patterns, from sleeves and shirt edges to scarves and even a shirt or skirt. When the needle and thread are proficient, the girls start making their own costumes. For Dao Tien women, beautiful dresses are treasured as a precious item in the family.

Dao Tien women’s costumes are elegant, sophisticated, and contain many unique cultural values. ​​

A complete set of Dao Tien women’s costumes includes a shirt, bib, leggings, belt, head scarf, long skirt, and silver jewelry. Dao Tien women’s shirts do not have buttons but only have slits and a belt. On the back of the collar are strung a number of white silver coins, from 6 to 9 coins, and this is also considered a unique characteristic of the Dao Tien ethnic group. The red and white belt represents the connection in the relationship between men and women. The headscarf of Dao Tien women is white, with two square patterns at both ends. When wearing the scarf, women often tie their hair in a bun to create a neat, harmonious look that is suitable for natural conditions.

To create charm in their costumes, Dao Tien women often adorn themselves with bracelets and necklaces made of silver with many sophisticated motifs. When going to festivals, Dao Tien girls often cross the scarf over their shoulders, creating charm and showing off their talented and resourceful hands through the details and lines of needlework and stitches.

Comrade Dinh Van Phong, Chairman of Yen Luong Commune People’s Committee, said, The preservation of traditional costumes of Dao Tien women has always been of interest and focus to the commune so that the cultural beauty is not lost over time. At the same time, Dao Tien women are encouraged to actively teach their children and grandchildren how to sew and embroider traditional costumes. This is also one of the ways to preserve traditional cultural values ​​associated with community tourism models that are developing in many localities in the district, attracting many tourists to learn about the customs and practices of the Dao ethnic group.

Dao Tien women attach great importance to dressing; even young children are dressed by their parents in clothes that are skillfully sewn and embroidered. Nowadays, with the development of society, Dao Tien people only wear traditional costumes on holidays, Tet, or important family occasions, so preserving, maintaining, and promoting cultural identity through Dao Tien ethnic costumes is very necessary. From there, arouse pride and raise awareness of ethnic culture for the younger generation.

Thanh An