Mountain Patterns

de Stevan Harrell, Bamo Qubumo, Ma Erzi

"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." "Mountain Patterns: The Survival of the Nuosu Culture in China, prepared to accompany an exhibit at the Burke Museum in Seattle, introduces the history and culture of the Nuosu and illustrates their traditional 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."--Jacket.