Panel from a bed cover (xilankapu)

Tujia is the sixth largest ethnic minority in China. Tujia women are best known for their heavy, woven bedcovers known as Xilankapu (“bedcover with local flowers”), which were often part of their trousseau. Most Tujia Xilankapu bedcovers are constructed of three woven panels sewn together, usually with matching borders on the top or bottom and occasionally on all four sides. Made of a cotton weave with natural plant dyes, they are often designed in a diamond pattern filled with dense geometric shapes in indigo and other colors.