Shui

Tea

Trade route along 都柳江 Dūliǔjiāng: in 1728–1729, Guizhou governor Zhang Guangsi cleared the channel, and below Sandu wooden boats ran year-round — Sandu became the head of navigation, a transshipment point from pack and carrying pole to water. Downstream went mountain goods from Yunnan and Guizhou, upstream salt from the sea and goods from Guangdong and Guangxi; at the Guzhou docks over three hundred boats berthed per day. The Shui are also named among the co-author peoples of the 都匀毛尖 dūyún máojiān technique.

Top growth

A short mooring bollard post with a single turn of hemp rope cinched down to the very base: the rope fiber is matte, the post top worn smooth by hands to a dense matte finish — the satin sheen is left to the Dong, the wood here dry and muted in tone; pressed against the turn is a handful of tea leaves from a loosened bale.

Headwear

头帕 tóupà of indigo, not wound but FOLDED: the panel is folded lengthwise, so a longitudinal crest runs over the crown, both ends pinched into noses at the front and back; along the lower edge runs a narrow band of horsehair — 马尾绣 mǎwěixiù, the Shui signature embroidery. The slit for the bollard is cut into the crest.

Outline at 6 mm. Boat-crest: longitudinal crest forehead-to-nape with two pinches front and back. Differs from Zhunya by the absence of a cylinder and turn-up, from all the set’s wrappings — by the headwear being folded, not wound, with a ridge-seam along the axis; the Zhuang kerchief has no ridge at all and lies flat on the crown; differs from the Hezhen — in that the latter’s crest edge is ragged, toothed, and stands without a superstructure, while here the ridge is smooth with pinched noses and from it rises a bollard with a rope turn.

Clothing

Dark jacket with a horsehair trim, rolled-up trousers, a rope sling over the shoulder, bare feet.

Palette

Indigo, gray horsehair of the embroidery, hemp of the rope, wet bollard wood.