Animation by Qianwen Yu 动画：于千雯
Music by Bryan Away 音乐：Bryan Away

'The Blueness in Zhuang' was created to celebrate Asian-American Pacific Islander Month with Fiverr. It is a stop motion animation using indigo dyes on cloth about the cultural heritage of the Zhuang people in my hometown of Guangxi.
这个作品是和Fiverr网站庆祝亚太裔月(AAPI month) 制作的。是一个关于我家乡广西的壮族文化习俗的蓝染定格动画。

The Zhuang are an ethnic minority in China. My hometown Guangxi is the place where most Zhuang live. The Zhuang used indigo dye for clothing and worshiped frogs and prayed to them for rain. In the stop-motion animation, the objects drawn are part of the Zhuang’s distinct culture and history.
壮族是中国少数民族之一，我的家乡广西壮族自治区是壮族人民居住最多的地方。壮人用蓝染的方式染制他们的衣服，奉蛤馍为神明以祈祷更多的降雨。在这个定格动画里通过蓝染的方式，将壮人重要的文化习俗串联在了一起。

The animation contains the following four visual elements:
动画里包含了以下四个视觉元素：

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Headpiece: a long strip of black cloth first woven and then dyed using the native indigo plants local to Guangxi. It functions as a hat for shade. It is an indispensable part of Zhuang’s clothing. Among the "Heiyi Zhuang" (a branch of the Zhuang ethnicity), they dye their clothing at least 30 times for a pure black color.
头巾：扎头巾是壮人服饰里不可缺少的一部分。在‘黑衣壮’（壮族的一个支系）人里，头巾是壮人自己纺织蓝染而成的长条黑布，有着帽子遮荫的作用。头巾在经过至少30次的蓝染之后成了纯正的黑色布料。

Frog: Zhuang respect and worship frogs and regard them as sons of their Thunder God. They believe frogs are messengers who can communicate with both heaven and earth. The Zhuang even have a "Frog Festival" and some strictly forbid killing or hurting frogs.
蛤馍:壮族人民对蛤馍敬若神明，视它为雷王之子，沟通天界和地界的使者。壮族人民甚至专门设立了祭祀蛙神的节日‘蛙婆节’，有些地方甚至禁止杀蛙。

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Frogmen: drawings of frog-men can be found in the Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art. The Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art is the first world heritage site in Guangxi and the only petroglyph heritage in China's world cultural heritage.
蛙人:从花山崖壁画（左江岩画）中能发现许多蛙人的图像。花山壁画是广西第一个世界遗产，也是中國的世界文化遺產里唯一的岩画类遗产。

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Sun: There is a sun in almost every Zhuang bronze drum. The bronze drum is essential for the rituals of the ‘Frog Festival’. The ancestors of the Zhuang believed that the bronze drum was a magical tool. They beat it to pray for rain from the God of Thunder and bless the local people with good weather.
太阳：在几乎每个壮族铜鼓中都有一颗太阳。在蛙婆节中，铜鼓就是不可或缺的重要乐器，壮族先民认为铜鼓是神器，敲打它就能够向雷神祈求雨水，保佑当地人们风调雨顺。壮族铜鼓是国家级非物质文化遗产。

The music in the animation uses samples of traditional Chinese percussion instruments and stringed instruments. Special thanks to Bryan Away for the amazing sound design!

动画里的音乐使用了中国传统敲击乐器、弦乐器的样本。感谢音乐家Bryan Away为动画丰富了听觉感受！

I am very grateful to Fiverr for providing this opportunity to present to everyone the culture of my hometown！
总而言之，很感谢Fiverr提供了这样的一次机会向所有人展示自己家乡的文化！