Maiterouzi Maimaiti

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He is the fourth-generation transmitter of printed-cloth weaving and dyeing techniques. Within the regional tradition and school record of Huazhanyinhuabuzhiranjiyi in Qiemo, Xinjiang: Qiemo County is an important production area for flower felt. Its flower-felt making craft includes pressed, printed, painted, and appliqué-embroidered flower felt, with rich motifs and bright colors. The flower felt used locally for covering kang, flooring, worship, and wall hangings can be seen everywhere in dwellings; the felt must undergo repeated rolling, pressing, and dyeing before it is set. The Qiemo County Cultural Center is the protecting unit for the item. Until the 1990s, felt carpets (flower felt) had never been absent from Uygur daily life, and to this day a few households with earthen kang still use them.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, of Uyghur ethnicity, he was born in April 1952 in Qiemo County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. He is a representative bearer of the Weaving and Dyeing Craftsmanship of Huazhan (patterned felt) and Printed Cloth, a third-batch national intangible cultural heritage project. He is proficient in rolling patterned felt, a skill passed down in his family. He makes his own tools for the felt weaving and dyeing craft, is highly skilled in the techniques, and has a complete command of every stage, namely wool carding, rolling and treading, rolling and pressing, dyeing, cutting and assembling. The patterned felt he produces is firm and durable, with clear patterns and an handsome appearance. Within the documented technical tradition of Huazhanyinhuabuzhiranjiyi in Qiemo, Xinjiang: The weaving and dyeing techniques of the Xinjiang Uygur people have a long history, among which the weaving and dyeing of flower felt and printed cloth are the most renowned. The Uygur have a tradition of using wool felt; in daily dwellings, every visible place is carefully decorated, and the flower felt used for covering kang, flooring, worship, and as wall hangings is among these decorations. The flower-felt making craft of Qiemo County includes pressed flower felt, printed flower felt, painted flower felt, and appliqué-embroidered flower felt, among others. Its motifs are rich in subject matter, bright in color, and numerous in type, varying by region. They include the longevity pattern, meander pattern, and antique-pattern influenced by Han culture; Arabic-style geometric and floral motifs; motifs of Uygur daily utensils and tools; Islamic-style ewer and mihrab motifs; and even Nestorian and Buddhist motifs. Flower felt is also an important daily necessity of the Kazak people, who call it "Syrmaq" in their language. Kazak flower felt is mostly double-layered, thicker than ordinary wool felt, densely sewn, durable, and can be passed down through several generations. It is mainly distributed in Kazak pastoral areas such as Tacheng, Yili, Altay, Mori, and Barkol. Tacheng is a region where Xinjiang's Kazak people are relatively concentrated, and flower felt is used very widely. The making of Kazak flower felt has a history of over two thousand years. Its main raw materials are wool, wool yarn, colored cloth, and dyes. The entire process consists of shearing wool, beating wool, felting, drawing and designing, and pattern dyeing. The making methods include felt appliqué, cloth appliqué, combined felt and cloth, and embroidery. Kazak flower felt mainly includes types such as seat-cushion felt, bed felt, dowry felt, and felt used beside the stove. These flower felts are brilliantly colored with richly meaningful patterns, reflecting the ideals and wishes of Kazak herders and providing concrete material for research into Kazak ethnic traditional culture, aesthetic thought, and life customs. Their making craft and process are strict and reasonable, meet scientific requirements, and also hold research value for the history of ethnic-minority crafts. At present, industrial carpet production and the advent of chemical-fiber carpets have greatly impacted the market for hand-felted and embroidered flower felt. Under these circumstances, most young people are unwilling to learn flower-felt making; only a few elderly people master the craft, and the traditional flower-felt making craft has no successors and faces the danger of being lost. Mold-stamped earthen printed cloth is an ancient traditional manual craft of the Uygur people in Yengisar County, Xinjiang; people use self-woven white cloth as the base and print it with relief-patterned blocks. The molds used for printing and dyeing are all hand-carved from wood, their size determined by the size of the pattern. The colors of mold-stamped earthen printed cloth are mostly bright red, pink, fruit green, medium yellow, and pale yellow, with patterns mostly drawn from flowers, fruits, plants, and household utensils. This printed cloth is mainly used to make wall borders, wall hangings, waist scarves, tablecloths, mattress pads, and curtains, among others. It has a strong ethnic style and local color, giving a sense of archaic simplicity, refined elegance, and grace, and is deeply loved by the Uygur people. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Pressed felt": Wood and stone moulds are pressed into damp felt beaten until the fibres interlock, so the pattern keeps sharp rather than sinking. "Appliquéd felt": Coloured felt patches are laid on plain felt and sewn down — the most elaborate of the four families, and less liable to fray than cloth. "Felt in daily life": Because every visible surface is decorated, felt mats cover the bed, the floor, the prayer place and the wall.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He has practiced the craft since 1975 and has trained a number of apprentices.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Maiterouzi Maimaiti · National Representative Bearer Archive