Maoxiu
01 · Historical Records
Chahar wool embroidery, also known as 'hair planting' (maozhi), is an ancient handicraft of the Mongolian people with a history of more than 800 years. The Mongols lived by moving with water and pasture, using leather and felt for clothing, tents, and saddles; the softest bristle hair on the hides (shed underwool) was therefore taken and planted into patterns. From the Yuan dynasty onward, the making of steppe tents and saddles grew ever more refined, and felt embroidery and hair planting coexisted; the Qing-dynasty work Tracing the Origins of the Mongols already contains records of embroidery worked with hair, and to this day the Chahar region still makes felt-embroidered saddlery and hair-planted tapestries for Nadam fairs and temple fairs.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Chahar wool embroidery, also known as 'hair planting' (maozhi), is an ancient handicraft of the Mongolian people with a history of more than 800 years. Chahar wool embroidery takes the bristle hair (shed underwool) from animal pelts as its raw material, planting it into gauze to form the shapes of various animals, for people to view or to make into everyday articles. Its production involves numerous procedures and complex craftsmanship; the handling is demanding and the technique difficult. The works are soft and smooth, plain and natural, and vividly lifelike, with marked regional and ethnic characteristics of color. Chahar wool embroidery uses natural materials, and its finished products are environmentally sound and reliable. The works can serve as ornaments for display or be used as bedding, seat cushions and backrests, garments, and other fur and hide articles, combining practicality with artistry. Its works are divided into two types, single-sided and double-sided embroidery, and the making follows certain established rules. On the day before work begins, the maker holds a sacrificial rite, expressing reverence for nature and awe for life. The production flow of Chahar wool embroidery is complex, with many process steps, mainly including design, hair selection, tanning the hair, sizing the hair, hooking the underwool, cutting the hair, planting the hair, and setting the background. Preliminary design is of two kinds: making a drawn draft and making no draft (that is, composing from the mind). The artisan must be thoroughly familiar with the habits of animals, have a clear picture in mind of the animal to be made, and possess solid drawing skill, so that the hand follows the mind. In production, the pelt is first tanned; then bristle hair of different lengths and colors is cut as needed, and by exploiting its variations in length and hue, following the form of the animal and the rule of hind before fore and lower before upper, as well as the direction of the hair, the bristle hair is planted into the gauze to form the basic contour of the animal; afterward the mouth, nose, eyes, and other external features are set in place for the animal; finally a background is configured for the animal made, completing the piece. Chahar wool embroidery is an outstanding representative and an important component of China's traditional felt and rug art, displaying the historical evolution of Chinese felt and rug craftsmanship and contributing to the development of traditional ethnic art.
Archival Records of Process Steps
The production flow of Chahar wool embroidery is complex, with many process steps, mainly including design, hair selection, tanning the hair, sizing the hair, hooking the underwool, cutting the hair, planting the hair, and setting the background.
Mao zhi and the shed undercoat
The shed undercoat, short and even in colour, is planted into netting to build animal patterns — a wild yarn taken directly from the herds.
Design to trimming
Design, selection, tanning, starching, looping and trimming, in single- or double-sided forms, and a rite of respect the day before work begins.
The rite before work
The eve-of-work rite expresses respect for nature and life, and the copying of grassland animals in fur records a distinctly Mongolian environmental ethic.
Five generations of teaching
Handed on teacher to pupil for five generations, its fur animals serve as decoration, bedding, cushions and clothing alike.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Its core transmission area is now around Chayouhou Banner, Ulanqab City, Inner Mongolia, and it is also found in parts of Beijing.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Chahar wool embroidery relies on the traditional mode of master-led apprenticeship and oral instruction, and has been transmitted through five generations to date. Reproducing steppe animals from pelts and hair reflects the fine tradition of the Mongolian people in honoring nature and revering life; it is of important historical value for exploring the views of life and ecology of steppe peoples and for studying the development of their primitive crafts. Protecting and transmitting it is of important practical significance for raising people's environmental awareness, improving the public's aesthetic taste, and promoting cultural exchange among different ethnic groups.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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