ID Number

Title

Item Name

Culture

Material

Manufacturing Technique

Place Made

Date Collected

Collector

Date Owned

Owner

Acquisition Date

Source

Source

Measurements

Item Classes

Condition

Accession Number

Description

Narrow, thick, straight-edged belt woven of coarse, off-white cotton thread with a red line running down the centre. Ends are cut off and unfinished.

Iconographic Meaning

The red line may have been to make the belt auspicious, as to wear one that was entirely white would suggest that the wearer was in mourning.

Specific Techniques

Woven on a simple backstrap loom with a continuous circular warp. The weaver first set up the warp by winding a series of circles in the order of the colours in which she wanted them to appear in the finished band. They were wound between a finger of her left hand and the corner of a stool that held them taut. She then tied the ends of the threads so that a continuous circle was formed, and inserted a chopstick through the end of the circle and tucked into a belt tied around her waist to keep the warp taut and her hands free. She then created a shed by taking a piece of bamboo about 10 cm long and 1 cm in diameter and winding the warp threads alternately around it above and below. She then made a bar heddle, using a dagger-shaped beater made from a smooth piece of wood, often from a broken carrying pole. The purpose of the heddle was to raise the lower warp threads. She used the beater to raise these threads and hold them, while a loop of strong thread was made between each pair of threads and the weaver’s hand. When all the loops had been made they were secured with a piece of strong grass that served as a handle. She then wove four lengths of strong grass (lease rods) near the end of the warp nearest to her body, to prevent the warp from being tangled. She then completed the weaving of the belt in double cloth.

Narrative

This object is one of a number of old and no longer used objects collected from relatives of Mrs. Yau Chan, Shek –ying. She understood the purpose of the museum and of developing its collections, and encouraged her relatives to donate them. She also documented the objects for MOA based on her remarkable memory because, like most women her age, she had no opportunity to go to school. In 1980, Chik Wai Koon Village was about to be destroyed to make way for the development of Shatin new town, and its residents moved to new housing. They would then have to give up agriculture. Hakka people are one of the two original land-dwelling groups that settled the area that became the New Territories of Hong Kong. Their spoken language, and some customs, differed from those of the other original group, the Cantonese or Punti. The Cantonese arrived first and settled on the best rice-growing lands, while the Hakka began to arrive after the late 17th century and settled the more hilly lands.

Cultural Context

daily use

History Of Use

Sets of tunics and pants, if made of cotton or hemp, were worn by women while doing farm work, cutting grass for fuel or wage labour. Hakka women were known for their ability to do heavy labouring work outdoors. Their clothing was plain, decorated only with the hand-woven bands worn on their aprons, head cloths, and hats. Their clothing was custom-made by tailors. Women’s pants had a wide waistband, usually made of a different kind of cloth than the body of the pants. When worn, the front of the pants was lapped over so that they fit, and they were secured with a belt like this one, which was tied to fasten it. After the mid-twentieth century the New Territories of Hong Kong began to undergo fundamental changes. The people who had been settled there before 1898, when the British colonizers claimed the area, began to give up rice agriculture and coastal fishing, turning instead to wage labour and increased employment overseas. By the end of the century, educational opportunities leading to the possibility of white-collar work also increased, together with western influences. These changes meant that objects and clothing once useful and appropriate were no longer needed and generally were discarded. Some were saved by their owners, who sometimes were willing to donate them to museums, sharing, also, their knowledge of how they were made and used. By the late 1960s, women were giving up traditional Chinese-style clothing in favour of western-influenced blouses and pants.