The Hoche nationality is an ethnic minority group with a long history in China's northeastern regions. It is mainly distributed in Raohe and Fuyuan Counties in Heilongjiang Province. The Hoche people living on riverbanks still make a living by fishing, with people of all ages and both sexes being expert fish catchers. They catch and eat fish, build houses, boats and clothes with fish skin. Thus, the Hoche people were historically known as a "fish skin tribe".
The fish skin culture is unique to areas at 45 (or above) degrees northern latitude. Numerous nationalities may have had the fish skin culture historically, but the culture has only been kept alive among the Hoche people of Jiejinkou Township in Tongjiang City of Heilongjiang Province. Traditional fish skin techniques include a whole set of complicated processing procedures, which were skillfully mastered by Hoche women in the past. Before the 1950s, Hoche people were all fond of wearing fish skin clothes, mainly including leggings, boots, gloves, leg wrappings and women’s long dresses.
The fish skin used in clothes making is carefully selected. Not any fish skin will do. First of all, you need to choose big-size fish ranging from five or more kilograms to dozens of kilograms in weight. Second, drawing from their long-time experiences, the Hoche people learnt that different types of fish skin are suitable for different clothes through repeated trials over the years. For instance, the skins of bigheaded fish and pikes are best suited for fish skin threads and pants; the skins of salmon, fine-scale fish, Hucho taimen and carps are perfect for boots and gloves; the big skin of Huaitou fish is a good choice for leggings, pockets, leg wrappings and shoe uppers etc. Clothes made of huso dauricus skin are endurable, waterproof and erosion resistant, so they are suitable to wear in summer. Clothes made of all other fish skins are worn in winter, when it’s a non-fishing season.
The Hoche women begin the processing steps by stripping the skin off the fish, slightly drying it before hammering it repeatedly till the skin becomes soft. To make fish skin threads, the skin should be stripped and stretched open for drying. The uneven parts at the four corners of the skin should be trimmed. Then, a coating of cod-liver oil is applied to the fish skin, making it curl up when wet. After that, the skin is pinned down with a small wooden board before being cut into fine threads with a sharp knife. The thread is thinner at one end than the other for the ease for getting through a needle. The threads are dyed into various colors with wild flowers. When ready, they can be used to make all sorts of clothes according to daily-life needs.
