Gather Ingenuity To Weave, Print And Dye Between Warp And Weft

Picture ①: Ai guards check a batch of blue calico that has just been dried. Photograph provided by respondents

Photo ②: Li Fengzhen weaves in front of the traditional wooden loom. Photographed by Wei Le

Picture ③: Wang Xiaoqin shows Qiang embroidery sachets. Photographed by Gao Bing

Raising vats and scraping the pulp to dye exquisite blue printed cloth; Dye and sew to embroider unique national costumes; The beautiful life of Xiuniang is woven with light picking and slow twisting... Each piece of textile works rooted in the vast fields, blending with the historical echo and the times, not only carries exquisite skills, but also shows the cultural heritage.

Between longitude and latitude, ingenuity is condensed. This issue is specially planned to walk with you to the famous village craftsmen of embroidery, printing and dyeing, and feel their spirit of dedication, excellence, meticulousness and excellence.

——Editor

Ai Guard, Inheritor of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Zhejiang Tongxiang Blue calico Printing and Dyeing Technology——

"Promote traditional skills to reach more young people"

In the courtyard of Fengtongyu Dyeing House, a "time-honored Chinese brand", Shimen Town, Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province, a batch of newly printed blue calico was hung up, with beautiful flowers and other patterns on it. Ai Weiwei, the head of the dyeing house, is not only a master of Chinese arts and crafts, but also a inheritor of the printing and dyeing skills of Tongxiang blue calico, a national intangible cultural heritage project. The design of this batch of blue calico is his own.

The printing and dyeing industry was once an important industry in Tongxiang. As a native of Shimen, Ai Guard lived near Fengtongyu Dyeing House when he was young. The most profound memory of his childhood was playing with his friends in the cloth room.

Later, Ai guards learned from Shen Jialin, a dyer in Fengtongyu Dyeing House. The sad guard recalled that in order to dye the cloth well, he had compiled a dense list of dyeing skills.

"When dyeing blue calico, you should first learn to 'raise vats' and be flexible according to the season, weather, temperature, etc." Guard Ai said, for example, in plum rain days, you should pay attention to the mildew in the sizing process, and in hot summer, you should be careful about the inconsistency of flower shapes and sizes before and after dyeing

In addition to learning from Master Shen, Ai Guard also searched for the content of "blue printed cloth" in various ancient books, and went to Phoenix, Hunan, Nantong, Jiangsu, Dali, Yunnan and other places to study. After years of accumulation, Ai guards have combed and mastered the printing and dyeing skills of a complete set of blue calico. In 2003, he founded Fengtongyu Blue Printing Fabric Co., Ltd. on the basis of Fengtongyu Dyeing House, bringing new changes to this century old shop.

Old technology should also reflect more sense of the times. "Traditional printing patterns such as grapes, pomegranates, peonies and peonies are not attractive to young people, and I want to promote traditional techniques to reach more young people." Ai Weiwei said that in 2014, while adhering to traditional printing and dyeing techniques, he began to pay attention to skill training and innovation, and recruited a number of post-80s and post-90s young people who graduated from professional colleges. In 2018, the first batch of Jiaxing key cultural innovation teams was announced, and Tongxiang blue calico innovation team was among them.

Picking up a cotton and linen dress, the Ai guard talked about the difference: "This blue calico work is lighter than the traditional style, while the white pattern is darker than the traditional style." In order to create such a blue calico work, the team tried to innovate in the dyeing technology for many times. The Ai guard explained that the white pattern is actually a pattern formed by mixing soybean powder and lime powder with water to make an anti dye paste, which can prevent the fabric from being dyed by using pattern leakage printing.

In the exhibition hall of Fengtongyu Dyeing House, in addition to the common blue calico clothes in the public's impression, there are also backpacks, stationery, dolls and other items made of blue calico.

"In the future, I want more people to experience the cultural beauty of blue calico." Ai Guard said that if you want to pass on the technology, you can't do without the development of its use scenes. You should not only keep the tradition, but also consider practicality and fashion.

Li Fengzhen, inheritor of intangible cultural heritage of Yao costumes in Nandan, Guangxi——

"Use printing and dyeing skills to help villagers increase income"

Reporter Zhang Yunhe

A square of plain cloth rises and falls in the vat, and the cloth gradually becomes blue. Rub it evenly with your hands and then dry it. A light blue cloth sample will be dyed in one day. After repeated for a week, the color will deepen, and after another month, it will become a deeper color. The color will be bright and lasting. Li Fengzhen has been engaged in dyeing cloth with indigenous methods and making Yao costumes by hand for 44 years.

In Nandan County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, there lives a branch of the Yao nationality, the white pants Yao, named after the men who wear black clothes on the upper body and knee length white pants on the lower body. Li Fengzhen, a villager in Yaozhai Village, Bawei Yao Township, Nandan County, is the inheritor of Yao costumes, an autonomous region level intangible cultural heritage project.

"I learned costume making skills from my elders when I was young," Li Fengzhen said

Grain rain grows cotton, sticky paste is collected in summer, and cloth is dyed after autumn harvest. Among them, paste painting is the most distinctive. "When painting, draw various patterns on the cloth with a painting shovel (a triangular piece of iron) dipped in sticky paste juice," Li Fengzhen said, and then went into the dyeing and embroidery process to finally form exquisite cloth.

With the continuous improvement of skills, Li Fengzhen came to Yaozhai Primary School, Mangchang Town Central Primary School, Bawei Middle School and other schools to serve as the teacher of the "Yao Embroidery Inheritance Class", and carried out activities to teach the skills of Yao costumes in the county, with 1600 trainees.

"Can traditional skills become an industry?" Li Fengzhen has been exploring. She has successively set up Nandan Fengzhen Blue Indigo Dyeing Shop and Nandan Donu Handicraft Shop, and explored the "workshop+cooperative+farmer" model. The workshop subscribes farmer orders. The annual operating income of the two workshops exceeded 2 million yuan, which has led to more than 100 rural women's home employment.

"I am too old to do heavy work, thanks to the Donu Handicraft Workshop, which provides me with a source of income," said He Simei, a 68 year old resident of Donu Community in Lihu Yao Township. In 2020, He Simei entered the Donu Handicraft Workshop and learned the Yao costume making skills. With her skills, Sister He has a source of life and confidence in life. "Working in a handicraft workshop, I earn more than 2000 yuan a month, which guarantees my life," said He Simei.

"Use printing and dyeing techniques to help villagers increase their income. In the future, I will try to use indigo dyeing techniques in pillows, backpacks and other daily necessities to make products sell better," said Li Fengzhen.

The small dye house has a great prospect, and the old handicrafts here radiate new vitality

Wang Xiaoqin, inheritor of intangible cultural heritage of Qiang embroidery in Ningqiang, Shaanxi——

"Let everyone embroider a better life"

Reporter Gao Bing

"The design of this claw flower is very unique" "This mixed stitch embroidery has improved a lot"... An embroidery needle, a ball of colored thread, and an embroidered stretch. Embroidering women pick up gently, twist slowly, and spin quickly. In the workshop of the Qiang Embroidery Intangible Cultural Heritage Industrial Park in Ningqiang County, Shaanxi Province, Wang Xiaoqin, the 46 year old inheritor of Ningqiang Embroidery, a provincial intangible cultural heritage project, shuttled back and forth between the embroidery mothers, giving instructions one by one.

"As a traditional skill, Qiang embroidery used to be one of the important skills of Qiang women. Flowers, birds, fish, insects, birds and animals can all become the patterns of Qiang embroidery works." Wang Xiaoqin introduced that in 2015, he returned to his hometown Ningqiang County with years of experience in the clothing industry, and Chengli Company was engaged in the design, research, development, processing, production and sales of Qiang embroidery.

"We should not only let Qiang embroidery be inherited, but also let the sisters in the village earn money with Qiang embroidery." After several years, Wang Xiaoqin traveled all villages in Ningqiang County to find Qiang embroidery lovers and encourage them to regain their needlework. "After finding it, we will organize free training to teach you embroidery skills," said Wang Xiaoqin

Shu Yanling, a villager in Xinmin Village, Da'an Town, was "found" by Wang Xiaoqin. "The husband is in poor health, the child is going to school, and there are two old people in the family who need to take care of." When she met Shu Yanling, she was farming and doing odd jobs, which is the main labor force in the family. "Unexpectedly, embroidery is a hobby that can make money to support the family," Shu Yanling said.

Shu Yanling never failed in Wang Xiaoqin's training class in the town. When she came home in the evening, she still took the embroidery bandage to practice repeatedly. With diligence, self-improvement, good foundation and professional guidance, Shu Yanling's Qiang embroidery skills soon improved greatly. "With Qiang embroidery, we can now earn more than 3000 yuan a month," Shu Yanling said.

For many years, Shu Yanling has become a "senior embroiderer" in the company and served as a sample craftsman of Qiang embroidery. "When receiving new orders for Qiang embroidery products, she first tries them out, and then formulates the process standards, design and production processes for everyone," Wang Xiaoqin said.

Shu Yanling's change is not an exception. In order to promote more rural women's employment, with the support of relevant departments in the county, Wang Xiaoqin has set up 10 Qiang embroidery teaching bases, 6 professional cooperatives, and 3 community factories, attracting more than 1700 embroidery mothers, including more than 50 "senior embroidery mothers" and more than 600 "intermediate embroidery mothers".

The fingertip technique has brought development highlights, and the traditional Ningqiang Qiang embroidery has come to life. Wang Xiaoqin, who pays attention to the traditional charm of Qiang embroidery, has also entered professional colleges to learn advanced embroidery concepts; Invite the design team to integrate new elements into the primitive art.

"The past is protection and activation, the present is inheritance and integration, and the future needs fashion and innovation." When talking about development, Wang Xiaoqin expressed his wish, "while embroidering exquisite works, we can also embroider a better life." (Reporter Dou Hanyang)

(Source: People's Daily)