The Clothes Sewed with Bunches of Shellfish Pearls

Gaoshan Ethnic Group’s Traditional Costumes and Ornaments

Costume Styles

The dress of Gaoshan ethnic group (高山族) is gorgeous and rich in color. Traditional clothing styles include pass-through-head clothing (贯头衣), Jiaoling clothing (交领衣), corselet (束腰胸衣), undershirt (贴身内搭), long sleeves jacket (长袖上衣), skirt (长裙) and other diverse styles.

Ornament Types and Materials

Men and women of all Gaoshan tribes have a special fondness for ornaments, which come in a wide variety of categories, including head ornaments, forehead ornaments, ear ornaments, neck ornaments, chest ornaments, waist ornaments, arm ornaments, hand ornaments and foot ornaments.
These ornaments are mainly made of natural raw materials, such as shellfish pearls (贝珠), shellfish cell shells (贝壳), glass balls, pig teeth, bear teeth, feathers, beast skins, bamboo tubes and fresh flowers. Among all materials, shellfish are the most widely used. They can be directly strung into various ornaments. In addition, the Taiya people (泰雅族) and Saixia people (赛夏族) will cluster shellfish pieces and sew them onto jackets to make precious shellfish clothes (贝衣).

Introduction to Traditional Shellfish Clothes

Basic Structure

Shellfish clothes are mainly composed of two pieces of burlap fabrics decorated with bunches of shellfish pearls. They are also known as shellfish pearl clothes or pearl clothes due to their unique decorative materials.

Manufacturing Process

The production procedure of shellfish clothes is elaborate and rigorous. Firstly, workers cut raw shells into thin small slices; then polish the slices carefully into uniform pearl-shaped particles. After fine processing, every shell pearl grain is strung together and sewn orderly on the front and two sides of the burlap garment, and sometimes the whole garment is fully covered with shell pearls.

Cultural Connotation and Current Preservation Status

A complete shellfish clothes requires tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of refined shell pearls. The whole manufacturing process is complicated, labor-intensive and time-consuming, which makes the costume extremely precious. In ancient times, shellfish clothes served as a symbol of power and wealth, and were exclusively owned by tribal chiefs and wealthy people.
Today, traditional shellfish clothes are extremely rare. The existing authentic collections are only preserved in the Anthropology Museum of Central University for Nationalities (中央民族大学民族博物馆) and the Anthropology Museum of Xiamen University (厦门大学人类博物馆).