Huazhanyinhuabuzhiranjiyi
01 · Historical Records
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 · Core Techniques & Process
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.
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 · Regional Records & Related Items
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.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Uyghur Huazhanyinhuabuzhiranjiyi · Huazhanyinhuabuzhiranjiyi · Huazhanyinhuabuzhiranjiyi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The mold-stamped earthen printed cloth of Yengisar County reflects the living conditions of the local people a thousand years ago, providing material for exploring the development and changes of the Uygur people, and holds relatively high historical research value. Maitirouzi Maimaiti (per the official archives of the associated inheritor): male, Uygur ethnicity, born April 1952, a native of Qiemo County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item "Flower Felt and Printed-Cloth Weaving and Dyeing Craft." He is proficient in felting flower felt, a skill inherited from his family. He makes the tools needed for the flower-felt weaving and dyeing craft himself, is skilled in weaving and dyeing, and has fully mastered every process of the flower-felt weaving and dyeing craft, including fluffing wool, rolling and treading, rolling and felting, dyeing, cutting, and arranging and piecing. The flower felt he makes is sturdy, durable, clearly patterned, and beautiful and elegant. Since beginning the trade in 1975 he has trained many apprentices.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Yasheng Abudoureheman 01-0142
- Yaoerdaxi Ahong 01-0143
- Maiterouzi Maimaiti 03-1311
- Musileimujiangqiaerfuhan 04-1838
- Wujiaximu Wushuer 05-2732
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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