• The Story of the Silver Bracelets
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets

The Story of the Silver Bracelets

It wasn’t until we listened to her story that we realized that perhaps every pair of silver bracelets carries the unique memories of their owner’s years.
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets
  • The Story of the Silver Bracelets

Description

The Story of the Silver Bracelets
By Yahan Zhang



(1)The Returning Maiden

During the Sisters Festival, we saw a dazzling array of silver bracelets; every Hmong girl had more than one pair adorning her wrists. The variety of styles no longer stirred the sense of wonder we had upon first seeing them. At first glance, these silver bracelets seemed no different from others. However, after hearing her story, we came to realize that perhaps each pair of silver bracelets carries the unique memories of its owner's years.

She was a Hmong girl born in Shanghai. Due to her parents' long-term employment there, they had settled in a Hmong enclave in the city. For eleven years, she had studied and grown in this bustling metropolis, yet she had never set foot in the distant and mysterious homeland of her ancestors. She was destined to be different, somewhat out of sync with the rhythm of the bustling city. For her, the traditions deeply rooted in the Hmong bloodline were both unfamiliar and filled with unknown significance.

During the festival that year, she returned to her ancestral Hmong village for the first time, witnessing a vivid and colorful scene. Crowds thronged the streets, and every corner was filled with the warmth and joy of the festival. Every household was busy preparing grand feasts, slaughtering chickens and ducks, joyfully welcoming relatives and friends from afar, In front of every house, firecrackers burst loudly, filling the air with sounds not only of celebration but of the Hmong people's prayers and hopes for a good life.


For the Hmong people, festivals are far more than a day of celebration, they are a feast for the soul, a profound inheritance of traditional culture and family emotions. To her, all of this felt like a dreamlike journey, allowing her to find peace of mind in the balance between the bustling and the serene, and she became deeply immersed in it.

Three years later, after the passing of her grandfather, she began to cherish even more the time spent with her relatives. Meanwhile, her friends also returned to the Hmong village, and she could no longer suppress her desire to return, deciding once again to embark on the journey back to find the warmth of her memories.

(2) The Thorny Path

Upon returning to her homeland, she carried within her a profound love and reverence for Hmong culture, embarking on a journey of self-discovery. However, this journey was not without its challenges.

Upon her return, she immediately realized that the teaching methods in the village school were completely different from those in bustling Shanghai. Moreover, teachers
and students often conversed in the Hmong language, making it difficult for her to fully integrate, leading to academic setbacks, After graduating from junior high school, she enthusiastically entered the county vocational high school. However, it seemed that fate had not given her enough time to adapt and grow, After only a year of study, the school arranged for students to leave for work, a decision she could not understand.

Nevertheless, with firm determination, she embarked on the path of learning the Hmong language and deeply integrating herself into Hmong life. The Sisters Festival which she eagerly anticipated each year, became her most awaited event. Originally, she thought that such magnificent attire belonged only in wedding halls, but to her surprise, during the Sisters Festival, these garments also bloomed in all their splendor on the body of every Hmong woman.

Even under the scorching sun, she did not hesitate to wear her festival garments for several days, so reluctant was she to remove them. Her love for and longing toward Hmong culture were plain to see.


At first, the elders from her family doubted her ability to handle the delicate art of embroidery, believing her personality might not be suited to such meticulous work. However, through deep exchanges with the Hmong women, she gradually mastered embroidery techniques, and she also learned the arts of dyeing cloth and crafting silver ornaments. She eagerly sought advice from her elders on Hmong customs and traditions, and she was filled with curiosity and admiration for the ancient myths and legends of the Hmong people, often pestering her elders to tell her those captivating stories.

She maintained a deep interest and desire to explore every corner of Hmong culture. This passion for and dedication to cultural discovery allowed her to find a sense of belonging in Hmong life, nourishing her heart and fostering her personal growth.

(3) "Stealing Marriage"

At the age of 18, her family began arranging a marriage for her, a custom in Hmong culture called "Diu-Gai," which signifies a gentle collision of two horns, symbolizing the hope of sparking a romance.

Her mother and aunts carefully selected a suitor for her, but with her strong independent character, she naturally resisted such arrangements. After meeting the young man for the first time, she felt even more that he lacked the sense of responsibility and commitment she expected.

In the same year, another young man actively sought a matchmaker to approach her family, hoping to "Diu-Gai" with her. Although her initial impression of this young man was slightly better than the previous one, she did not immediately feel any strong affection for him, only a growing curiosity.

After going out to work, she deleted all of the young man's contact information. Unable to reach her, he silently topped up her phone with 60 yuan of credit —— a gesture that has since become a humorous anecdote shared among relatives. However, her family was unimpressed by the young man's background. With the exception of her grandfather and grandmother, who supported and understood her, the rest of the family pushed for her to marry the original suitor and even began to restrict her freedom of movement.

Fearing that she would be forced into marriage, the young man waited outside her house. In a bold move, she told her parents she was going out to work but instead secretly eloped with the young man to Phoenix Ancient City, where they quietly got married. However, secrets cannot be kept forever, and eventually, their marriage was discovered, leading to much family discord and conflict between the two families. When she became pregnant, her grandfather urged the young man to hold a formal engagement ceremony.


Yet fate intervened, and her grandfather passed away not long after, leaving her and her child with nothing but deep memories and the silver bracelets that symbolized the family's affection, filled with the endless love and blessings of her grandfather.

She was destined to be unique, but just as she put on those silver bracelets, her roots became firmly planted, and she had finally found her way back to her origins.