The Pa Then, an ethnic minority people concentrated in northern Vietnam's Ha Giang and Tuyen Quang provinces, are known for their own skill at producing cloth an clothing, there are about 5 ,000 Pa Then people in Vietnam today, all of whom live in mountainous areas. Like many minority groups in Vietnam, the Pa Then is traditionally nomadic. Their lives revolve around nature and the seasons, as they survive by farming, Cotton is crop.
Known for their skillful hand-weaving, sewing and embroidery, the Pa Then place a great deal of importance about their clothes, as revealed by a Pa Then legend. Much like this tale, a Pa Then woman once married canine and bore his child. Sadly, the child died, and female was so bereft that she latched onto carrying a puppy wherever she attended. When the puppy grew larger it tore your ex skirt, leaving a paw-shaped tear. Upon mending this rip, the woman realized that the mended area looked pretty and would serve to be a reminder of her lost baby. There after she began to sew motifs resembling dogs' paws onto her clothes. Known as ta-leo, this pattern is typically embroidered onto the skirt hems of Pa Then women.
The Pa Thens' traditional clothing is bright red. Come up with the red dye they chop the trunks of pa-xi-mung trees into pieces and boil them until the water turns red. Raw cloth is soaked into this water, and then dried in the sun care. This process is repeated until the desired shade of red is arrived at. Today, chemicals are sometimes used with the solutions to makes the red darker and colorfast.
Unlike different ethnic groups, the Pa Then wears their everyday clothing at festivals. To do this reason, rich and poor are indistinguishable. Even on the wedding day, a Pa Then girl will wear the clothes that she stitched for daily wear. The top is called the Ke-o-po as well as the skirt the Ket-tanh. Wedding guest might it difficult to identify the bride to be and ordinary.
Pa Then women wear a distinctive turban, containing two parts: an inner, indigo-dyed towel cloth, in order to as the Ke-so, measures about 0.3 meters by 5 meters and they are folded widthwise five or six times and wound around the pinnacle. The outer scarf, known as su-chi, can be 1.5 meters long.
Pa Then girls are taught to weave and embroider from an early age. A little girl's outfit resembles that of adult but with simpler embroidery patterns. To be a girl grows she is inspired to express her creativity by embroidering new designs on her skirt, too as learning traditional styles. For this reason, the clothing of Pa Then women follows similar designs bit with individual flourishes.
The ket-tanh skirt is fashioned from pleated red cotton featuring sophisticated embroidery patterns. Motifs include squares, lozenges, triangles, stars, combs, bridges, rooster legs, crabs, silkworms, calves, and dog's paws.
The belt or to-he-to measures a whole.5 to 2 meters long and is black or white. Black ones are usually employed every day and white ones during the lunar Year or at festivals. Jewelry completes a Pa Then woman's outfit and reveals her wealthiness. Woman's from wealthy families may gain a half dozen silver bracelets and necklaces, and sport some eye-catching gold teeth.
The Pa Thens' clothes are very distinctive from those worn by other Mong - Dao everyday people. The Pa Then cut their clothing from large pieces of cloth and embroiders it with motifs set in horizontal series. White, blue, yellow and black designs stand out against a bright red background, making these clothes instantly recognizable as are categorized as the Pa Then. One of several many a making outfits created by Vietnam's 54 minority groups, those for the Pa Then are on the list of most eye-catching.
