民俗之肚兜

A CHINESE VEST——DUDOU
In the long history of China, many things can trace back to their sources either by telling their own tales or in twists and turns. Sometimes we can also peep into the facts through folktales or legends somehow. Now let's inspect an interesting Chinese children's dress DouDu which has been making its way all through the history on children's stomach till today.
As you can see in the picture, the so-called dress in fact is a simple piece of cloth covering on a baby's belly. We get the impression of simpleness from the first look of it. But a nice one usually takes a lot of time to make; first you have to lace it, then make some drawings on it and embroider it with colorful silk thread. Even it was once the point through which people learned the mother's ability in sewing. Today, doudu is still popular in the countryside, for it allows a child the greatest latitude of movement and of enjoying the cool in summer, as well as some grace in front of people. Of course, it has another reason for its being popular. That is the traditional moral. Here is one of the stories about it.
Long ago, a widow mother lived with her little son in a distant village inland. One winter, the mother had a strange disease. The only prescription was to take a kind of red fish in the river as medicine. Her four-year old son, by all appearances, was too young to get fish in the river. But he wanted to manage it to save his beloved mother. The river, however, was covered with thick ice which was even difficult for adults to deal with. The worried son soon thought out a unique way to catch fish in the frozen river.
In the snowy world, a naked boy was seen seated on the ice in the river.
When people got to know the purpose of his doing, everyone was shocked. In order to get the fish under the thick ice, the little boy was trying to get the ice melted into a hole using his body. The time seemed endless, but the boy held out firmly. As he could hardly resist the freezing coldness, came an old man with long white beard. The old man came silently but affectionately to him to dress him in a simple but beautiful vest which was called doudu afterwards and then left silently. It was a magic gift, in spite of a small piece of cloth. It was especially warm. Thanks to the vest, the boy no longer felt cold; instead, a stream of warmth came up to him and in the end the hole was completed. He caught the fish for his mother and eventually his poor mother recovered. The story of the little boy was spread all over. He was admired by all other parents.
From then on people would place good hope on their children by letting them have doudus on. They hoped their children dutiful to them and brave in life. As time passes, some changes have taken place in the dress including the style. The ones made by machines have almost taken the place of boondoggles. But the good hope for peaceful and happy life has forever been kept in them.
中国传统服饰——肚兜
在中国的历史长河中，如果要追根溯源的话你会发现很多东西背后都蕴含着一个特别的故事，或跌宕起伏，或委婉曲折。

从这些民间故事和传奇中你时而可以发现很多新东西。

现在让我们来了解一下贯穿中国历史且经久不衰的中国孩子的传统服饰之一—肚兜。

从图片中我们可以看出，所谓的肚兜实际上就是一块简单的不能再简单的用来遮盖小孩肚子的布料。

我们对它产生的第一印象就是它的简约。

虽然看似简单，但要真正的制作一个这样精致的肚兜却着实需要花费很长时间。

首先，你需要裁剪延边定型，然后要绘制设计一些图案并将这些图案用彩线绣到肚兜面上。

这至关重要的一步以往都是由擅长女红的母亲完成的。

现在肚兜在民间依然很流行，这是因为肚兜为孩子提供最高限度的灵活性，而且肚兜集美观与清凉于一体，特别是夏天这一特点尤为明显。

当然它的流行还有一个重要的原因，那就是它所承载的传统寓意。

下面就是一个有关肚兜的故事。

很久以前在一个偏僻的小山村里住着一对母子，一年冬天，这位母亲得了一种怪病，而要想治愈这病必须用河里红色的鱼下药。

然而一切迹象都表明她四岁的儿子还太小不能到河里为她捉鱼。

但他却希望自己能帮母亲摆脱疾病的困扰。

这个时候的河面已经结了一层厚厚的冰即使是成年人也难以破冰取鱼。

焦急不安的儿子却想到了一个独特的方法。

于是，在冰天雪地里人们看到一个赤裸的男孩坐在冰封的河面上。

当人们得知他这样做的原因，无不震撼。

为了能够捉到厚积冰层下的鱼，小男孩试图用自己的体温来融化冰面希望融出一个洞来供他捉鱼。

时间漫无尽头的流逝着，男孩却依然坚守在那。

就在他快要被冻僵的时候，以为白胡子老头漫步而来，她亲昵地为男孩穿上了一件简单漂亮的背心，也就是肚兜，然后轻轻地挪步离去。

尽管只是一片小小的布料却是一件神器的宝物，非常温暖。

有了肚兜男孩不再寒冷，相反，一股暖流油然而生遍及全身，终于河面被融出一个洞来。

男孩
成功的为母亲抓到了鱼最终母亲的身体康复了。

男孩的故事很快的流传开来，得到了所有父母的赞许。

从那以后，人们通过给自己的孩子穿上肚兜来寄予自己对孩子美好的期望和祝福。

他们希望孩子们懂得孝顺父母并且勇敢的面对生活。

随着时间的推移，肚兜的样式和风格都有所改变。

同时机器制作地肚兜几乎取代了耗时耗力地手工缝制。

但是对和平安定和幸福生活的期望永远都寄托在肚兜之中。