I’ve added subtitles to a part of this video made by the National Museum of Ceramics And Decorative Arts “González Martí”(in València, capital city of the Valencian Country) for the temporary exhibition on Valencian combs titled “From typical to stereotypical”, dedicated to the Valencian ornamental comb.
Ornamental hair combs have existed in many cultures. Probably the most famous ornamental combs word-wide are the Chinese combs (梳篦, shubi) and Spanish combs (peineta), though it has also been significant in other cultures such as Japan (櫛, kushi):
Historical images of Chinese women wearing a comb. Source: The New Hanfu. Modern-made Chinese hair accessories from CoolBee.
Even though they’re not as internationally-famous, the Valencian combs are beautiful pieces. Chinese and Japanese combs are generally worn in front of the bun, while the Spanish combs are worn on the back of the head. The Valencian comb is never worn in front, instead they are worn on the back of the head and smaller ones can be worn on the sides of the head.
Photo of Valencian women dressed in the fallera outfit. Photo by Martin Leitch.
These combs became popular in the 18th century in the Valencian Country. In the 18th century, decorative hair combs also existed in other parts of South-West Europe, but it went out of fashion quickly everywhere except for in the Valencian Country. Here, the combs kept being in use and they evolved in their own unique way.
Since the early 19th century, it was already recognized as one of the characteristic elements of the stereotypical Valencian woman’s outfit (we know that because it became trendy for ladies in the Spanish Court to dress up as a Valencian woman for masquerades). Descriptions of the 19th century also mention how the combs were very widespread in both the city and countryside of València to be worn by women in all formal or social occasions.
Nowadays, the only occasion when women wear these combs is during holidays such as the Falles (holiday explained in this post), when some women dress in traditional outfit. There are still artisans who make the combs, following the techniques explained in the video above, since there is a pretty big industry of traditional style clothes for the Falles holidays.
I tried my hand at carving a mini jade Yu Zhu Long (玉猪龙) 😁 Yangzhou is famous for jade carvings, and in China jade is a very coveted stone, with a long history and deep cultural roots.
The original Yu Zhu Long is at China’s National Museum in Beijing, it’s the earliest known depiction of a ‘long/龙’ (Chinese dragon) that has been unearthed.
Hi! Love your Tumblr! I'm fascinated by the fact that you are in China making and playing the Guqin, I was wondering if you can share a bit more about yourself and your background and why you decided to move to China? Like a self intro (that you're comfortable sharing). Thanks and have a nice day!!
How I ended up in Yangzhou learning to make/play the Guqin is a rollercoaster of a story xDD
As for my background, I was born in China (Beijing) and moved to the US when I was around 6 yrs old (my mom had moved several years earlier and I went to live with her). From the start my mom emphasized I can’t forget I’m Chinese, because that’s where I’m from and where my family’s from, so she put in a lot of effort teaching me Chinese. She even had a colleague send over elementary school textbooks from China so she could teach me Chinese at home. She also got recordings of some Chinese TV shows and she’d watch them with me, explaining each episode and giving me information on that period of history.
Back then there weren’t that many TV shows in China, and the ones we could access in the US were even less, so it was mostly classics shows like Journey to the West (1986), Dream of the Red Chamber (1987) and Romance of the Three Kingdoms (1994):
That really planted the root for my interest in Chinese history and culture. Especially in the case of Romance of the Three Kinggoms that was based on the actual Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, it made me aware of how long China’s history was and how rich and colourful it was, all the incredible historical figures, the battles of the past, the stories, etc.
Later on I also became interested in Chinese Opera (mainly Peking Opera, Huangmei Opera, and Shanghai Yue Opera):
We moved to Canada after a few years and stayed there until I graduated uni. I then went to Japan to work for a few yrs.
When I returned to Canada, it was 2018 and I found myself having to start all over career-wise. My experience in Japan really didn’t help me at all when job hunting in Canada, and I ended up doing a few entry-level jobs in healthcare (office admin work). Then Covid and I lost my job, found another job about a year later, but still entry-level.
It was actually during the Covid break that I found out I could buy Hanfu fairly easily now. Throughout my time at uni and in Japan I didn’t really check Chinese websites so I didn’t know much about what was happening in China. During the Covid break, with nothing else to do at home, I found Taobao and realized the pretty clothes I adored in TV shows as a child I can now buy :D I went a bit crazy at first and ordered a whole bunch, but at the time I honestly didn’t know too much about Hanfu aside from long robes, large sleeves, criss-crossed collars. But it was fun to wear them out (once lockdown ended) and actually feel like the characters I once saw on TV:
The job I had just before I came to China I actually really enjoyed, the work itself was fulfilling, the pay wasn’t great but OK, and my co-workers for the most part were pretty good (my direct supervisor was great, I really, really enjoyed working with her). Unfortunately there was some changes to staffing in the office and the workload became really bad. I found myself literally having nightmares about work, and crying driving to and from work everyday. I decided I needed to quit. It was taking over my life 24/7, I was constantly tense and dreaded having to go to the office every morning.
At this point I’m in my late 30s and I took a few months to think about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Either look for another regular office job that may or may not be better than the last, or try something completely different.
At the same time, I decided to take the chance to visit my family in China. Without a job, I could visit for a longer period of time (otherwise I could only get 2 wks paid vacation). I remember my mom mentioned during one of her visits to China she had met a master of woodblock printing (雕版印刷/diaoban yinshua). It was the first form of printing invented, they would carve out pages of text (or images), put ink over top, then print it onto paper:
This was even earlier than movable type printing (活字印刷/huozi yinshua) where each character was printed on a separate block so you could arrange them as needed:
This master’s workshop took in apprentices and would offer free housing and food. After a certain amount of time, once the apprentices’ work reached a certain level, they were even given a salary for their work.
I thought that sounded like a great plan. I didn’t explicitly come to China with the goal of finding a place to do an apprenticeship, but I was aware this sort of opportunity was available, and it aligned with my interest in Chinese history and culture.
When I arrived in China last year I spent a few months visiting my dad and other family, before I ended up in Yangzhou.
There were some emotional ups and downs in between, I did find a woodblock printing master, I started to learn a bit with him, it didn’t work out, etc., etc. But essentially I found myself in Yangzhou with nothing to do.
Yangzhou is quite famous for Guqin (there’s an entire street here dedicated to selling Guqin…although it’s a bit of a tourist trap ^^;;) , and I thought I could find a teacher to learn how to play the instrument at least. I had bought a Guqin years ago in Canada, but was always too busy/lazy to actually learn/practice it, but now being free everyday I decided I could do some sort of intense course. While scrolling through the Red Note app looking for Guqin teachers I came across a post of a teacher looking for students to learn how to make+play Guqin, with the option to live at the workshop and have housing and food covered:
And my eyes lit up.
That was how it all started :D
The biggest obstacle is honestly some family members. Growing up abroad, I’ve never really had a close relationship with any of my relatives in China. I’ve also never had to navigate the complicated family relations that Chinese families can sometimes have. If I were to go to any other country in the world to learn something, none of them would say anything, I don’t think they’d even think about it, but because I’m in China a lot of them suddenly feel they need to express an opinion about my decisions, lol. Some don’t like my interest in wearing Hanfu, some think I’m crazy learning something that “no one else these days is interested in”, some think I’m immature/irresponsible not finding a ‘regular’ job and 'wasting’ my time. Luckily, none of them live in Yangzhou so aside from a passive-aggressive text message/phone call once in awhile I can do my own thing 😁💖
The art of Chinese silk-wrapped flowers started during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and flourished in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911).
Following the Qing Dynasty, this art declined and was almost lost to time, but in recent years more and more people have become interested in reviving this delicate handicraft. Originally this art was done using silk thread, which had a lifespan of 6 months to 2 years. This meant it was difficult to preserve their beauty and there are few samples that have survived to today. Nowadays, most artists use polyester thread which allows for more colours and longer-lasting results.
To make silk-wrapped flowers, the shape of each individual petal is first cut out using thick paper/cardboard. A thin wire is placed against the back of the paper while silk thread is wrapped around the shape as tightly as possible. If using polyester thread, the petal is then put through a small flame to burn away stray strands and to heat-shrink the thread. Once all the petals have been made, they are then combined together to form the full flower.
The flower can then be attached to hair pins, brooches, or earrings. Although traditionally, the motifs for silk-wrapping were flowers, plants, and insects, nowadays many artists use modern motifs as well.
My stencils finally got the ok from the teacher, and my classmate helped me get the wood pieces cut out (we use the mechanic saw to cut out the main shapes, and those things scare me. I imagine flying saw blades and cut off limbs, so my classmate takes care of those 😅).
Today will be carving out the insides, and then shaving down the top 👍✨
My rejected Ling'guan stencil (right) and the final version (left). My teacher said the butt of my first attempt was too pointy 😂
Asked by Anonymous
