Chinese-Scottish Tartan

[Raphael]

Hopefully, I will have it by next year. I will have to get a 8 yard kilt for this particular tartan.

[Chinese A&SH Highlanders]

I just read this old news just now,Hello every one,I am a Chinese and living in China,I must to say I really never hear this Tartan before,not bad,isn't it?But I don't think it's a good idea to appear the red and yellow as China's nation flag on tartan.

It have something to say,almost 3,000 years before in Xinjiang(Another name is Eastern Turkeystan,I am not sure this name is correctly)That's a province of China,When Gaius Julius Caesar invading France there have belong to China.There have many Caucasian ,Today they are all Muslim，They are something realationship with Turk.They have some tartans,But after they changed to be Muslim,I think the tartan had being lost.

[gilmore]

I just read this old news just now,Hello every one,I am a Chinese and living in China,I must to say I really never hear this Tartan before,not bad,isn't it?But I don't think it's a good idea to appear the red and yellow as China's nation flag on tartan.

It have something to say,almost 3,000 years before in Xinjiang(Another name is Eastern Turkeystan,I am not sure this name is correctly)That's a province of China,When Gaius Julius Caesar invading France there have belong to China.There have many Caucasian ,Today they are all Muslim，They are something realationship with Turk.They have some tartans,But after they changed to be Muslim,I think the tartan had being lost.

"The area is largely inhabited by the 8 million [Muslim] Uyghurs, 7 million Han Chinese, 1.5 million Kazakhs and 16 other ethnic groups with significant numbers." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Turkistan


It's true that the Han Empire invaded what is now East Turkestan or Uyghurstan in 60 BCE and it was a Han protectorate until the late 5th century CE. Since that time East Turkestan (or at least parts of it) was an independent country until the 19th century, for the most part, fending off Mongol and other invasions.

In 1881 it formally became part of the Chinese Empire, but regained its freedom in the early 20th century, only to loose it again when the PLA invaded in 1949. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Xinjiang

See also http://www.cornucopia.net/uighurs.html

[thoth51]

Ok, I feel I have to pipe up here...

The general wisdom here on choosing a tartan, if you do not have Scots heritage, is to pick one that holds meaning for you. At first glance this tartan may seem like a great choice for Chinese kilties. However, of the handful of Chinese XMTS members here, I believe most of us are Chinese by ethnicity but not by nationality. How comfortable would you be wearing the colours of a foreign country in your tartan, even if it is the country of your forefathers?

[Raphael]

I just read this old news just now,Hello every one,I am a Chinese and living in China,I must to say I really never hear this Tartan before,not bad,isn't it?But I don't think it's a good idea to appear the red and yellow as China's nation flag on tartan.

I have to wonder why you do not like the idea of including Red and Yellow in the tartan. Aside from being the colours on the PRC's flag, these colours also represent wealth and good fortune. I am sure many people would like to wear these lucky colours.

[Morris at Heathfield]

I can understand being put off by the intended symbolism in the the Chinese-Scottish tartan, but its colors are blue, white, green, red, and yellow, not just red and yellow (like Dress MacMillan). The vast majority of national flags use some subset of those colors, as do the vast majority of tartans. Viewed in that light, the major defect of the Chinese-Scottish tartan is that it's missing the color black.

[Raphael]

Ok, I feel I have to pipe up here...

The general wisdom here on choosing a tartan, if you do not have Scots heritage, is to pick one that holds meaning for you. At first glance this tartan may seem like a great choice for Chinese kilties. However, of the handful of Chinese XMTS members here, I believe most of us are Chinese by ethnicity but not by nationality. How comfortable would you be wearing the colours of a foreign country in your tartan, even if it is the country of your forefathers?

You should look at the design as the symbol for Ethnicity than the country or the government. It doesn't matter what Nationality I am, I will always be Chinese first.

[Raphael]

I can understand being put off by the intended symbolism in the the Chinese-Scottish tartan, but its colors are blue, white, green, red, and yellow, not just red and yellow (like Dress MacMillan). The vast majority of national flags use some subset of those colors, as do the vast majority of tartans. Viewed in that light, the major defect of the Chinese-Scottish tartan is that it's missing the color black.

I am please to see that Black wasn't included in the tartan as it is not a lucky colour.

[lethearen]

I can understand being put off by the intended symbolism in the the Chinese-Scottish tartan, but its colors are blue, white, green, red, and yellow, not just red and yellow (like Dress MacMillan). The vast majority of national flags use some subset of those colors, as do the vast majority of tartans. Viewed in that light, the major defect of the Chinese-Scottish tartan is that it's missing the color black.

So red and yellow for China, blue and white for Scotland... and green for... good fortune? buena mota?

Wzup with the green?

[Morris at Heathfield]

Wzup with the green?

Well, I can think of several things, but here's the official explanation, straight from Strathmore:

These are interwoven with green bands to symbolise the great co-operation between Scottish and Chinese botanists in the Botanic Gardens of Edinburgh - home to the world's largest collection of Chinese plants outside China itself.