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She was not yet born when her kinsmen were
thrown into labor camps during Japan's occupation of Manchuria
in the 1930s and 1940s.
"Many Hezhen clans perished, but my mother survived to pass on
her fish-skin knowledge to me," said You, 68.
A Tungusic people native to Siberia and on the Black Dragon
river, as the Amur is known in China, the Hezhen rebuilt its
population to 5,000 from 300 after World War II.
But that hasn't stopped the decline of Hezhen culture, including
the tradition of making garments from the skin of carp, pike and
salmon.
Few in the current generation are interested in learning the
craft. Fish-skin clothing is also no longer a regular part of
daily Hezhen attire.
Sensing the end, You started to impart her knowledge to some
local Han Chinese women in Tongjiang, a quiet city near the
northeastern border with Russia where she now lives.
Her disciples also learn the Yimakan, a storytelling genre that
switches between speech and song in the Hezhen language.
The education is arduous, with You's acolytes committing to
memory songs of fishing, hunting and ancient tribal conquests
through phonetics alone.
With little prompting, You burst into song in her studio
apartment during a visit by Reuters, singing of a woman's wish
to bear a son for her hunter-husband.
Hezhen hunters rode on canoes made from birch, or "swift
horses", You said, smiling.
Such is their skill on water that legend says the Hezhen
descended from mermaids.
"When the forests flooded to the treetops, there'd be fish
everywhere," she said. "Just throw your spear into the water and
there'd be fish."
These days, fish are sourced from the marketplace. And instead
of tiger bone and deer tendon, embroidery needles and cotton
thread are used.
A top and a pair of trousers for a woman require 50 fish, and
for a man, 56, You said.
She would de-skin the fish and dry the skin. It is then
repeatedly passed through the wooden jaws of a rudimentary press
to soften it. The process takes a month. Sewing requires a
further 20 days.
Finding commercial functions for fish-skin might save the craft.
Fish-leather has inspired some luxury fashion houses such as
Dior and Prada to occasionally include it in their garments and
accessories, but the fabric is still largely a curiosity.
"Look at the criss-cross pattern on the skin," You said. "It's
stronger than most skins."
(Reporting by Ryan Woo; additional reporting by Beijing
newsroom; Editing by Sam Holmes)
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