Bamboo Weaving
01 · Historical Records
The Liangping bamboo curtain weaving craft is spread in the area of Liangping County, Chongqing; according to tradition it originated in the Song dynasty and has a history of more than one thousand years.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Liangping bamboo curtains come in a great variety; by production technique they fall into two main categories: suxin (plain) curtains and tangxin (white-ground) curtains. Suxin (plain) curtains receive only a single coat of clear oil after weaving, with no other ground color. Tangxin (white-ground) curtains add a white ground over the painting area of the suxin curtain; the white pigment is mixed from tung oil and lide powder. By use, Liangping bamboo curtains include many varieties such as tiaoping (strip) screens, tongjing (continuous-scenery) screens, arhat screens, zhongtang (central-hall) hangings, tuixin curtains, hengtui curtains, doufang squares, folding screens, couplet scrolls, commendation certificates, letter inserts, embroidered curtains, door curtains, and lampshades; in recent years craftsmen have used bamboo weaving techniques to make everyday articles such as shoulder bags, fans, and slippers. By form of expression, Liangping bamboo curtains fall into three main categories: painted curtains, embroidered curtains, and woven-pile (zhirong) curtains. Liangping bamboo curtains are finely made; the weaving technique was improved from flat-loom cloth-weaving production: the shuttle used in cloth weaving was modified into a weaving gun about four centimeters in diameter, in which bamboo threads are placed and woven back and forth, greatly improving the efficiency of curtain production. Liangping bamboo curtains have both wide applicability and very high ornamental and decorative value; they are flexible and tough in texture, fine and smooth, plain and dignified in appearance, durable, and can be rolled and folded, making them very convenient to carry. The development of Liangping bamboo curtains is currently in difficulty, with problems of few practitioners, aging artists, and a shortage of successors that must be earnestly addressed.
Plain-core and hall-core mats
Plain-core curtains receive only a coat of clear oil, while hall-core ones add a white ground mixed from tung oil and lithopone where painting will go.
Weaving with the shuttle-gun
Adapted from the flat loom, the craft replaces the shuttle with a four-centimetre weaving gun loaded with bamboo threads.
Painted, embroidered and floss-woven curtains
By presentation they divide into painted, embroidered and floss-woven curtains, supple and easily rolled up for carrying.
The finest curtain under heaven
Mou Bingheng helped make a 3.5 by 6 metre plain curtain in 1959 that Marshal Zhu De called the finest curtain under heaven.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The production area of Liangping bamboo curtains centers on the area of Liangping District, Chongqing. The locality has abundant bamboo resources, and weaving is undertaken mostly by farm households and workshops; the Liangping District Cultural Heritage Protection Center of Chongqing is the project's protection unit. Bamboo-curtain painting is the product of combining bamboo curtains with calligraphy and painting: the artist must first control the penetration of ink according to the grain of the bamboo threads, then apply color to fix the form, so as to express the craft character of the bamboo curtain without losing the spirit of Chinese painting.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Mou Bingheng (from the official archive record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1939, from Chongqing. Master of Arts and Crafts of Chongqing. From 1947 he studied painting with his maternal grandfather, and in 1958 he entered the Liangping Craft Bamboo Curtain Factory, working on design and curtain production. He excels at painting tigers, landscapes, flower-and-bird subjects, and figures, able both to express the craft character of the bamboo curtain and to retain the spirit of Chinese painting. Building on the inherent qualities of the bamboo curtain, he originated several bamboo-curtain painting techniques, including spraying, rubbing, and accumulating (layering). In 1959 he participated in designing and making a huge unpainted plain curtain 3.5 meters wide (measured by the length of the bamboo threads) and 6 meters long, which was praised by Chairman Zhu De as “the finest curtain under heaven.” He is a representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the national intangible cultural heritage project “Bamboo Weaving (Liangping Bamboo Curtain).” Many of his bamboo-curtain paintings, including “Twelve Beauties of A Dream of Red Mansions” and “Panda,” have been exhibited at home and abroad and won awards.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yu Zhanggen 01-0119
- He Fuli 03-1265
- Song Zengli 03-1266
- Mou Bingheng 03-1267
- Liu Jiafeng 04-1794
- Su Chengjun 05-2640
- Chen Qinghe 05-2641
- Tian Xianmin 05-2642
- Wei Lumian 05-2643
- Tan Sujuan 05-2644
- Chen Yunhua 05-2645
- Zhao Sijin 05-2646
- Ding Zhiyun
- Hu Zhengren
- Lvcheng
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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