There is a unique custom in Xunpu 蟳埔village on the north coast of Quanzhou 泉州Port in Fujian Province 福建, the starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road in China. The women in Xunpu village wear flower headdress all year round, and this headdress is called “the garden on the head”. According to textual research, stone inscription data and field research, this custom for women in Xunpu should be a surviving custom of wearing flowers in South Indian Tamils during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. The more than 300 Tamil-related Hindu stone inscriptions and Tamil inscriptions found in Quanzhou are favorable evidence that Tamils had established a community in Quanzhou and lived there for a long time.
Part of 05-13 Material Narratives, Friday, November 03, 10:30 am–12:30 pm