Chinese Vest Doudu
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.
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