Native Cloth In Southern Shanxi: "Weaving Mother" In Countryside, Building Dreams And Going Abroad

On the 21st, representatives of overseas Chinese media from the United States, France, Canada, Sweden, Italy and other countries and regions walked into Dongkaizhang Village, Yongji, Yuncheng, Shanxi Province. In Huichang Native Cloth Cultural Tourism Industrial Park, they saw more than ten "weavers" rushing to make orders, one shuttle shuttling back and forth between thousands of colored threads, accompanied by the creaking of looms, Colorful homespun cloth slowly takes shape and will be sold at home and abroad.

On the same day, the activity of "Walking East of the River, Watching Intangible Cultural Heritage Along the Yellow River" by overseas Chinese media was held in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province. This activity was guided by the Publicity Department of the CPC Yuncheng Municipal Committee, hosted by the Yuncheng Returned Overseas Chinese Federation, and undertaken by the China News Service International Communications Group Shanxi Branch.

On the 21st, the activity of "Walking East of the River, Watching Intangible Cultural Heritage along the Yellow River" by overseas Chinese media was held in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province. Photographed by Wu Junjie

The local cloth production technique attracted the overseas Chinese media to take photos or record videos, and under the guidance of "Zhiniang", experience weaving. Zheng Haiyan, vice president of Venezuela's Overseas Chinese News, said that this was her first attempt to operate the seemingly simple but skillful loom. Every movement in the weaving process needs to be extremely focused and meticulous, revealing the complexity and subtlety of this craft.

"After finishing the weaving of a piece of cloth, I can't help but pay deep respect to this craft." Zheng Haiyan said that this is not just a piece of cloth, it is a witness of history, which contains great cultural value and craftsmanship spirit.

Yongji is a production base of high-quality cotton in China. Villagers grow cotton seeds in spring, manage cotton fields in summer, sell cotton in autumn, and weave cotton cloth in winter. Homemade cloth has been used for more than 1000 years in the folk. The villagers of Dongkaizhang Village weave their own cloth to make clothes, and the craftsmanship is handed down from generation to generation. In 2021, the local Huichang homespun production skills were included in the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects.

Overseas Chinese media representatives walked into Huichang Tubu Cultural Tourism Industrial Park located in Dongkaizhang Village, Yongji, Yuncheng, Shanxi Province. Photographed by Wu Junjie

Yu Yanping, 60, is one of the inheritors of this national intangible cultural heritage project, and also the secretary of the Party branch of Dongkaizhang Village. Under her leadership, Huichang homespun production skills have been inherited and developed. More than ten years ago, in order to increase the income of villagers, she took the women in the village to inspect industrial projects all over the country. After many investigations, it was decided to process cotton into textiles.

Yu Yanping introduced that in Dongkaizhang Village, almost every household has a loom, the elderly can weave homespun, and there are many local farmers planting cotton, so the development of hand-made homespun has certain advantages. "This not only allows the old people in the village to use their surplus heat, but also drives the left behind women to increase their employment and income."

Under the guidance of "Zhiniang", overseas Chinese media representatives experience weaving. Photographed by Zhang Yuhua

In 2005, Yu Yanping found a weaver to inherit the local cloth production skills. At the same time, the company acquired equipment such as looms and spinning machines, and established the company. Relying on traditional handicrafts, more than 60 women in the village set up a cooperative one year later. With their products, they have developed local cloth markets in many parts of the country.

The production of local native cloth is complex and particular, and a finished product can be made only after 72 processes, such as ginning, marbling, cotton batting, spinning, turning, dyeing, ear twisting, thread brushing, weaving, and cloth hammering. Yu Yanping told reporters that these homespun products are very popular in the market because of their bright colors, exquisite patterns and comfortable hand feel.

With the creaking of the loom, the colorful homespun slowly takes shape. Photographed by Zhang Yuhua

In order to inherit and innovate the development of handmade homespun industry, Dongkaizhang Village set up a cultural and creative company in 2012 to carry out research and development of homespun design. At present, it can produce more than 100 kinds of bedding, clothes, cloth shoes and other products. In addition to weaving, traditional techniques such as grass and wood dyeing, hand embroidery, hand painting and so on are used for dyeing and decoration.

These products are sold at home and abroad, with an annual output value of more than 40 million yuan, directly driving the employment of more than 800 people. At present, the "weavers" of workshop weaving are the youngest over 30 years old and the oldest 97 years old, with a per capita monthly income of more than 2000 yuan.

At present, the workshop weaving "weavers" are the youngest over 30 years old and the oldest 97 years old. Photographed by Wu Junjie

Today, Dongkaizhang Village takes Huichang homespun as its core industry to build Huichang homespun cultural tourism industrial park, gradually forming a characteristic rural tourism destination integrating sightseeing, experience, leisure, research, food and recreation, and helping rural revitalization. The peasant women on the bank of the Yellow River not only "weave" a happy life with looms, but also "weave" hand-made homespun cloth abroad.

(Source: China News Network)