Willow Weaving
01 · Historical Records
According to the Gazetteer of Huoqiu County, the local willow-weaving craft originated very early; legend traces it to the Zhou dynasty. By the Ming and Qing dynasties it had already become the principal sideline of local farmers. Willow-woven products were once sold as far as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, and exported overseas.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Huoqiu County lies at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, on the south bank of the Huai River. Within and beyond the great Huai embankment there are numerous beaches, bays, and low-lying lake lands where qi willow (Salix integra) — which fears neither drought nor flood and is inexhaustible — grows, along with reeds and di cane and other crops; these are the main raw materials for weaving all kinds of craft products. The folk jingle circulating in Huoqiu — 'weaving brings a new house, weaving brings a new bride, weaving brings moderate prosperity, weaving brings happiness' — truthfully reflects the tangible benefits that qi-willow weaving has brought to the people along the Huai. Willow weaving requires considerable technical skill. Production passes through several process steps — soaking, trimming, cutting to size, basing, twisted weaving, and plain weaving, then closing the mouth and assembling — and products come in more than one hundred varieties, including badou (large round baskets), manure baskets, pole-carried baskets, winnowing trays, packing cases, hand-carried baskets, hanging baskets, laundry baskets, hat baskets, chairs with backs, and coffee tables. Today, willow weaving has developed from traditional single-color weaving to several dozen weaving techniques — refined weaving, fine weaving, openwork (transparent) weaving, contrasting-color weaving, dyed weaving, and mixed weaving (willow with bamboo, willow with hemp, willow with wood, willow with grass and wood) — gradually forming a distinctive willow-weaving technology on a traditional foundation.
Archival Record of Process Steps
Willow weaving requires considerable technical skill. Production passes through several process steps — soaking, trimming, cutting to size, basing, twisted weaving, and plain weaving, then closing the mouth and assembling — and products come in more than one hundred varieties, including badou (large round baskets), manure baskets, pole-carried baskets, winnowing trays, packing cases, hand-carried baskets, hanging baskets, laundry baskets, hat baskets, chairs with backs, and coffee tables.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Huoqiu willow weaving is distributed mainly in Linhuaihuang Township, Linshui Town, Zhouji Town, Chengxihu Township, Songdian Township, and Xindian Town in Huoqiu County, Anhui Province; it is a folk art passed down from generation to generation by the local people.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Pan Tongli (from the official file of the associated representative inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born August 1961, a native of Huoqiu County, Anhui Province. Senior craft artist. In his youth he studied willow weaving with local weaving artisans. In 1976 he entered the willow-weaving factory of Linshui Town, Huoqiu County; later he took the veteran willow weaver Zheng Deyun and Professor Liu Yiyun of the Academy of Fine Arts as his masters, studying willow-weaving craft and art design. His works are plain and natural in form, smooth and rounded to the touch, and tightly and solidly woven — fine examples of traditional willow weaving. In long-term practice he has continuously summed up experience and raised the technical level of willow-woven products, leading his research and development team to create nearly ten thousand new varieties. Alongside weaving and product development, he attaches importance to transmitting the craft and cultivating talent. He is a representative inheritor of Willow Weaving (Huoqiu Willow Weaving), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project of the fifth batch. He founded the 'Huaanda' Huoqiu willow-weaving brand, whose products have won multiple provincial-level awards.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Wenzhong 04-1796
- Jiang Chaochun 05-2655
- Pan Tongli 05-2656
- Yang Jinbang
- Zhang Wanfu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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