Rattan Weaving
01 · Historical Records
Before the 1980s, it was widely distributed across the nine counties and two districts of Hanzhong City, Shaanxi Province; today it is mainly found in Huangguan Town, Nanzheng District, Hanzhong City. The Hanzhong region is rich in bamboo, rattan, palm, and grass resources, and hand weaving has a long history; during the Republican period there were already several rattan weaving factories.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Hanzhong rattan weaving is an ancient handicraft that uses wood and bamboo as its frame and green rattan as its weaving material, applying traditional hand-weaving techniques to weave everyday vessels. The Hanzhong rattan weaving process is complex, comprising more than twenty steps, including material preparation, frame making, rattan-surface weaving, and polishing. The first step is material preparation. After the seventh lunar month each year, two-year-old wood bamboo and green rattan are cut, placed in a ventilated place to dry naturally in the shade, and then boiled in a pot for six to eight hours to kill insect eggs and make the fibers softer and stronger. They are then removed and, after peeling, rinsing, sun-drying, and removing the nodes, become usable materials. Next comes the frame-making stage. Fine wood and bamboo are selected according to the form and dimensions of each vessel; the method of fire-burning and water-quenching is used to bend them into various geometric shapes, which are fixed with bamboo nails and lashed with rope to form the vessel's frame. Then begins the core stage—rattan-surface weaving, in which rattan strips are woven over the frame in a filling pattern. After the warp is fixed, the weft is woven in, with various colored patterns worked alongside, and the frame is wrapped and edge-locked. Finally, the piece is handed to a polishing master, who trims loose ends, applies putty, sands with sandpaper, and lacquers it, and the work is complete. Hanzhong rattan weaving has a rich range of products. In the past it consisted mainly of rattan chairs, rattan baskets, and rattan bags, produced, sold, and used by the makers themselves; from these single-purpose household items it gradually developed into composite products combining craft goods for daily life with tourist souvenirs. There are now more than 120 types, including chairs, tables, screens, and bookshelves. Its techniques are varied and its patterns rich. Seven techniques are commonly used, including warp-and-weft interlocking weave, dense-and-loose combined weave, broken-warp weave, dyed-color weave, three-dimensional weave, and pepper-eye openwork weave. There are more than thirty pattern designs, including papaya-heart, diamond lattice, chrysanthemum, and two dragons playing with a pearl. Its production is carried out entirely by hand, using purely natural materials such as green rattan and wood bamboo. The products are simple and beautiful, highly breathable, light and durable, and green and eco-friendly. Its vessel types and weaving techniques show different characteristics in different eras, and are of profound significance for the study of production and living customs, natural resource use, and the evolution of traditional handicrafts in the Han River basin.
Archival Record of Process Steps
The Hanzhong rattan weaving process is complex, comprising more than twenty steps, including material preparation, frame making, rattan-surface weaving, and polishing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Hanzhong rattan weaving has a long history, combining local traditional aesthetic orientations with the infiltration of outside cultures, and is living material for the study of cultural diversity in the Han River basin. In recent years, Hanzhong rattan weaving has transformed traditional handcraft into a local specialty industry, playing an active role in promoting inclusive economic development in the region.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Rattan Weaving.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Hanzhong rattan weaving continues through family transmission and master-to-apprentice transmission.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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