II. Clothing

        This category includes garments of local ethnic groups in different styles made in the Ming and the Qing Dynasties, such as loose-sleeve jackets, sleeveless jackets, cloaks, skirts, gowns, dresses worn on special occasions, official uniforms of local headmen, garments worn at wedding ceremonies or funerals, embroidered shoes and hats, and clothing made of hides, grass, flax and palm fiber. Bestowed by the Court of the Ming Dynasty, the Spun Gold Frontal Dragon Robe of the headman of the Dai Ethnic Group and the official uniforms of the headman and headwoman of the Yi Ethnic Group are very significant in studying the political, historical, cultural and economic situations of the time.

        This category includes various kinds of headwear, earrings, shawls, neckwear, bracelets, finger rings, buttons, satchels, chains, and knives as paraphernalia. The museum has collected some valuable dressing ornaments of Yunnan ethnic groups, which were made in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, such as a gold-plating headwear of the wife of a headman of the Dai Ethnic Group, a necklace in the shape of two dragons contending for a pearl and two phoenixes flying toward the sun, a Longevity Shawl worn by girls of the Bai Ethnic Group, and a Barrel Bracelet worn by women of Achang Ethnic Group. These ornaments can be said to be rare and precious collections in China.

IV. Laboring tools

        Some tools for farming, transportation, hunting, weaving and food processing that local ethnic groups made in modern times are displayed in the museum. These collections still bear the social and cultural features of the ethnic groups in remote antiquity. The Magic Axe of the Dulong Ethnic Group was ever used each time when they began to clear a land. It is actually a tone axe with shoulders that came into being in the Stone Age. The wooden pitchfork, wooden harrow, wooden rake and bamboo harrow are rough gear, but they well reflect the splendor of the Wood and Bamboo Culture, which coexisted with the Stone Culture and the Bronze Culture. However, the archeologists can no longer excavate such wooden and bamboo relics while the ethnic cultures can still offer living fossils.

         The range of living culture is wide and its contents are varied. The collections of this category in the museum can be classified into daily necessities, official documents, official seals, insignias of local headmen, instruments of torture, weighing apparatus, measuring tools, primitive communications tools, genealogies written in ethnic languages, rubbings from stone inscriptions, and fire lighters. The fire lighters by rubbing bamboo pieces or horns have only been found in Yunnan and are still workable. The insignia of the headman of the Dai Ethnic Group in Xishuangbanna and the bronze drum symbolizing wealth and power are splendid, reflecting the relic of the time. The practice of using stuffs with different implications to correspond with each other is a vivid and amazing way of communication.

        Yunnan ethnic groups are good at singing and dancing. They usually make their own musical instruments with simple swing and lingering charm. A local saying goes as "music is like salt without which life is meaningless." Therefore, Yunnan people "always carry musical instruments and dance whenever they are free." There are many kinds of folk musical instruments, which can be classified into wind instruments, reed instruments, stringed instruments, plucking instruments, percussion instruments and body-sounding instruments. The Wood Drums of the Wa people are composed of a male one and a female one, as large as bulls, and their sounds spread far. The drums can be said to be the best among the folk musical instruments and phallic species. The Nose Flute of the Yi people is played with nose while one is smoking. The Liegui Bamboo Tube of the Jinuo people and the Duo Zhutong of the Hani people are certainly pilot musical instruments, signifying the relic of ancient times.

VII. Weapons

        When mankind entered the age of competition, the tools ever used for protecting themselves from nature became the weapons of the tribes to protect themselves from being attacked by others. In some underdeveloped areas in Yunnan, some ethnic groups still use some primitive weapons to strive for their freedom and sustenance, such as Cowhide Helmets, Elephant Hide Armors, Bamboo Armguards, Wood Board Shields, Bamboo Spears, Long Knives, Three-head Forks, Reaphooks, Chopping Knives, Crossbows, Slingshots as we as Flintlocks that appeared afterwards, which give people a clear clue to the progress of human weapons.

        The techniques for making folk craftworks have been passed from generation to generation by means of oral instruction. The basics remain the same while minor improvements have been made. The knot embroideries and the woven straw work of the Bai people, the batiks of the Yao people, the woven bamboo work of the Dai people, the Mutai painted work of the Yi people, the Piaohua Tunkou of the Buyi and the Shui people are made in traditional ways. There are also some famous local craftwork in Yunnan such as the brownish-bronze articles of Kunming, the brownish-tin articles of Gejiu, the wood and stone carvings of Jianchuan, the marble craftwork of Dali, the black potteries of Xishuangbanna, the silver ornaments of Heqing. Many ethnic groups produce embroideries, sachets and ivory carvings in Yunnan. The modern Dongba paintings of the Naxi people as well as the calligraphic work in the Yi language, the Dai language, the Dongba language and Arabic are amazing in its own way.