畲族是一个具有千年历史的少数民族，一千多年来，勤劳、勇敢、智慧的畲族人不断繁衍、生息，形成了自己独具特色的民族文化，尤其是在服装、发式、头饰等各方面形成了自己特有的风格，刻上了畲族独特的烙印，当我迈入浙江景宁畲族自治县，当即被畲族的美丽震撼了。
　　畲族的节日庆典，是畲族人劳动生活和文化的集中写照，畲族的许多节日庆典，大都是人们对神灵的膜拜，对民族英雄的景仰，对男耕女织生活的向往。如今，畲族与汉人往来频繁，逐渐淡化了一些民族特征，但每逢重大节日，喜庆的畲族人依旧会穿上传统的服装，带上别具特色的头饰，配上银片、珠宝等饰物，向世人展示畲族人独特的审美意识和悠久的历史文化底蕴。
　　畲族妇女们不分季节都穿短裤、裹绑腿、腰间束彩色条带；男子的装束一般穿着色麻布圆领、大襟短衣、短裤，冬天穿没有裤腰的棉套裤，老年男子则扎黑布头巾，外罩背褡。这些穿着其共同特点是上衣有许多的刺绣，衣领、大襟、袖口上有各色图案，而且图案纹样大都选用祥瑞喜庆的题材，表现出畲族人对图腾的崇拜和追求。
　　令畲族人骄傲的刺绣工艺，很早就被载入了书籍。李调元《南越笔记》曾载：“女初嫁，垂一绣袋”，后来随着畲族人手艺的不断进步，刺绣工艺已发展到绣帐额、枕面、围腰、衣领、袖口、裙边、鞋面、扇心、女子绑腿和围涎、围项、童帽、肚兜等生活衣着用品。这些绣品首先看重厚实耐用，在艺术上推崇吉祥的图案，婉约的畲族姑娘很讳忌凶恶残暴的图像，讲究形象完整，避免残缺。绣品中的艺术形象经过概括、夸张、抽象，使其有别于自然原型，色块对比醒目，富有朴中见真、拙中见善、陋中见美的情趣。
　　畲族的发式、头饰都带有很浓的民族特色和风情。畲族少女通常将头发盘梳在头顶上，形成一个螺髻，上束红色绒线，透露出少女青春的气息，但最独特的装束则是畲族妇女的“狗头冠”，虽然其形式因地域或姓氏的不同而各有差异，然而结构非常相似，都分成“狗头”、“狗身”、“狗尾”三部分，妇女装束“狗头冠”，那是对其祖先盘瓠的纪念。
　　畲族的婚礼也很有讲究。在古老的婚礼上新娘头戴凤冠，身披霞帔，宛如神仙妃子。畲族所谓凤冠是一种用竹壳做的尖帽，上面的配饰有银牌、银铃、红布，插有银簪，垂着串珠等饰物，佩戴时用带子束在发髻上，后面还垂有四条长长的红飘带，前面有一排银质的小人儿坠在额前，整个造型如同一只凤凰，故称凤冠。新娘的服饰也很特别，戴笄、穿花边衫、扎以拦腰，并在服饰和围裙上绣满各种彩色花纹，镶上金丝银线，再配上花鞋，形成整体装束，这就是畲族姑娘的“凤凰装”。关于凤凰装的来历，最普遍的一个传说依然与畲族的始祖盘瓠有关：相传盘瓠王因平番有功，高辛帝把自己的女儿三公主嫁给他，成婚时帝后给女儿戴上凤冠，穿上镶着珠宝的凤衣，祝福她像凤凰一样给生活带来祥瑞。后来三公主有了儿女，也把女儿打扮得像凤凰一样。从此，畲家女便以穿凤凰装示意吉祥。畲族在整个婚娶过程中，还以唱歌贯彻始终。从婚嫁迎娶开始，新郎及双方亲人得先后唱《拦门歌》《开门歌》《接亲歌》《脱草鞋》《对盏歌》《嫁女歌》等等，直到山歌缭绕中新娘和新郎同去婆家才算婚礼结束。
　　
　　畲族人在一千多年的历史变迁中留下来的这些风俗、传统工艺和民族文化，经过千年岁月洗炼又悄然渗入到了现代生活中。在浙江景宁畲族自治县，我有幸看到畲乡人不带修饰的生活场景，勤劳朴实的畲族姑娘们时而低头劳作，时而引吭高歌，优美的身姿穿梭于群山间，悠扬的山歌不绝于耳畔，这是畲族姑娘的日常生活，更是千年的文化艺术传承，你无论用什么样的笔触，都无法描写和表达这种特有风俗文化之美!
　　
　　She Ethnic Minority in Jingning
　　By Qian Liqing
　　
　　The She people are an ethnic minority with a history over a millennium. In addition to valor, industriousness and intelligence, they have also developed a distinct style in costume, hairdo and headgear. I noticed the uniqueness when I came to Jingning County in southern Zhejiang where the ethnic minority lives in compact communities.
　　Festivals and celebrations in the She tradition fully embody the ethnic group’s lifestyle and custom. Celebrations are held to worship gods and heroes, and express best wishes for a simple ideal life in which men farm and women do house chores.
　　Frequent contacts with the Han people in their neighborhoods have inevitably diluted some ethnic features of the She people. They do not look very special in everyday life, but on important gatherings, they shine after donning ethic garments and headgears.
　　The She ethnic women wear, among other things, short pants, leg wrappings and a colored sash all the year round. Men sport short trousers and round-neck jackets. In winter, men put on padded trousers without the waist part. Old men use a black headband and wear a waistcoat. All the jackets have one thing in common: the collar, fronts and cuffs display lavishly embroidered patterns to celebrate happiness and good luck. The designs reflect the minority people誷 homage to their ancient totems.
　　
　　They take huge pride in their embroidery art, which is honorably mentioned in historical documents. The ethnic traditional embroidery has evolved over centuries. Nowadays, pillows, bed curtains, garments, skirts, shoes, fans, leg wrappings, hats, and bellybands are all places to show off embroidery. Women give first priority to durability in making important embroidery. Designs on embroidery signify good luck and happiness. Young girls avoid using ferocious images in embroidery and they prefer full images to incomplete ones. Done in colors that are in salient contrast, embroidered images depend on summary, exaggeration, and abstraction to embody a simple and unpretentious style.
　　
　　The She women wear unique hairdos and headgears. Young girls often make their long hair into a tight bun on the top of the head, fastened with a red piece of wool cord. The most exceptional hairdo is in the shape of a dog. Different villages and people with different surnames may display different dogs, but you can always see the head, the body and the tail of a dog in a hairdo. The dog-shaped hairstyle is in memory of the common ancestor of the She ethnic people.
　　A bride’s phoenix cap is always a great eye-catching attraction at a traditional She wedding. The name suggests a phoenix image: the pointed bamboo cap features a great variety of adornments such as silver spangles and bells, red fabric pieces, silver hairpins and stringed pearls. The cap is fastened on the hair bun. Four slender and long red ribbons dangle from the rear edge of the cap and a string of tiny silver human figurines suspends from the front edge. The bride also wears a wedding gown with decorated laces and embroidered patterns in golden and silver threads.
　　The bridal costume is known as the phoenix garment, presumably dating back to Pan Gu, presumably the first ancestor of the She ethnic people. According to the ancient legends about the first ancestor of the She people, the emperor married his third daughter to Pan Gu for his significant role in a great military victory. In that wedding, the bride was dressed as a phoenix, thus starting the millennium-long tradition.
　　A traditional She wedding is always a gala of songs. People sing a set of songs to mark each step of the ceremony until the newlyweds leave for the house of the groom’s parents.
　　The millennium-long tradition of the She ethnic people is characterized by its ethnic art, culture and custom. Jingning County in southern Zhejiang is home to the She ethnic people where they live true to their past and their dreams of the future.
　　(Translated by David)