Needlework shines at Lisu people’s Needle and Thread Festival

The Needle and Thread Festival, which lasts from October to November on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, is an interesting festival of Lisu people of Yunnan Province. During the festival, Lisu women gather in the sunshine and sew clothes for the coming New Year.

Before the Kuoshi Festival which is the Lisu New Year Festival, the Lisu people often hold the Needle and Thread Festival to prepare and make clothes and decorations for the coming New Year.

Lisu people worship the sun. After worshiping the sun and the needles, they start the Needle and Thread Festival. They often embroider in the sunshine. Therefore, during the festival, in the forest, high hills or flat areas, wherever there is sunshine, you can find Lisu women gathering and doing needlework.

Lisu women make clothes for different family members in a certain order: firstly for the elders, then for would-be husbands and wives, children and finally for themselves. They chat and learn from each other while doing the needlework.

When cutting the clothes, Lisu people believe whether the first cut is smooth influence the fortune of next year. So they are often careful when cutting the clothes. However, if their fingers are pricked by the needle, they regard the needlework as a cherished one.

The patterns of Lisu embroidery range from the sun, the moon and stars to flowers, birds and fish. The patterns about celestial bodies are often sewn on hats and flowers are often on women’s clothes. 

Editor: Wang Shixue