Blue Calico Printing and Dyeing Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
Blue calico (lan yinhua bu) was originally called "jiaohua bu" (poured-flower cloth) and was termed "yaoban bu" (medicinal-spot cloth) in the Song dynasty; it is a textile printing-and-dyeing product long circulated among the Chinese folk. The Ming-dynasty "Tiangong Kaiwu" by Song Yingxing records that indigo can be extracted from indigo plants (lancao), and gives a detailed account of the indigo-making methods of that time. Shaoyang blue calico began roughly during the Zhenguan reign of the Tang dynasty and has a history of over 1,400 years to this day. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, thanks to convenient water and land transport, Shaoyang became the largest blue calico production base in the central-south region.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Hunan Province is a major production area of blue calico in China, and the blue calico printing and dyeing of Fenghuang County and Shaoyang County stand out in every respect. The blue calico printing-and-dyeing craft of Tuojiang Town in Fenghuang County has a long and distant history. Blue calico already appeared during the Western Han period. The blue calico printing-and-dyeing craft divides into two major categories—pure blue calico dyeing and colored blue calico dyeing: pure blue calico has a plain surface with no decorative patterns and is generally used to make garments and headscarves; colored blue calico has complex decorative patterns and is generally used to make quilt covers, mattress sheets, bed-curtain valances, aprons, waist wrappers, door curtains, tablecloths, wrapping cloths, and the like. Before dyeing it must go through the treatment processes of paper-mounting the stencil, tracing the draft, carving the stencil, oiling, mixing the dye, scraping the paste, and dipping into the dye; after dyeing it must further go through the process steps of airing, rinsing, rolling the cloth, and fulling the cloth (also called "stepping on the cloth"). The renowned Tuojiang Town artisan Liu Dapao created a double-sided blue calico on the basis of single-sided blue calico; its printing-and-dyeing method is relatively complex and has very precious craft value. According to the "Shaoyang County Annals," the Shaoyang people at that time created a printing-and-dyeing technique that used soy milk and lime to replace wax, based on the Miao ethnic group's batik craft. Shaoyang blue calico features archaic patterns, fine and dense dots and lines, emphasis on large-area contrast and detailed depiction, and a fresh, simple style. Its patterns mostly draw from folk legends and traditional auspicious designs, expressing the yearning and pursuit of a beautiful life.
Archival Account of the Process Steps
Before dyeing, it must go through the treatment processes of paper-mounting the stencil, tracing the draft, carving the stencil, oiling, mixing the dye, scraping the paste, and dipping into the dye; after dyeing it must further go through the process steps of airing, rinsing, rolling the cloth, and fulling the cloth (also called "stepping on the cloth").
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Shaoyang County is a key production area of blue calico printing and dyeing in Hunan, and together with Tuojiang Town in Fenghuang County is known as one of the two great hometowns of blue calico in central Hunan. The blue calico printing-and-dyeing craft divides into two major categories—pure blue calico dyeing and colored blue calico dyeing: pure blue calico has a plain surface with no decorative patterns and is generally used to make garments and headscarves; colored blue calico has complex decorative patterns, and a single set of stencils must be overprinted more than ten times to produce a finished piece. The Shaoyang County Cultural Hall is the protecting unit for the item.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Nantong Blue Calico Printing and Dyeing Craftsmanship · Blue Calico Printing and Dyeing Craftsmanship · Blue Calico Printing and Dyeing Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In the past, over a hundred households in Tuojiang Town were engaged in the dyeing industry; now only a dozen or so small family workshops remain, and most of the dyeing artisans are advanced in age. Under these circumstances, the Fenghuang blue calico printing-and-dyeing craft faces the danger of being lost. With the development of the times and changes in social lifestyles, the blue calico printing-and-dyeing crafts of Fenghuang and Shaoyang have been impacted by mechanical printing and dyeing, are in daily decline, and have fallen into an endangered state, urgently requiring rescue and protection. Jiang Liangshou (recorded in the official inheritor archive): Male, Han ethnicity, born in April 1951, from Shaoyang County, Hunan Province. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item "Blue Calico Printing and Dyeing Craft." He collected and organized twelve traditional printing stencils and six blue calico quilt covers, and restored thirty-two traditional stencils including "Phoenix and Peony," "Butterfly Sporting with Peony," and "Duck Sporting with Lotus." Beginning in 2008 he took on apprentices and taught the craft, successively training sixteen craft enthusiasts including Jiang Yaping and Wang Jian. In early 2013 he served as a technical instructor for the "blue calico printing-and-dyeing craft enters campus" activity and compiled a blue calico textbook. He actively participated in large-scale promotional and exhibition events such as the third Chengdu International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the fifth Shenzhen International Cultural Industries Fair.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wu Yuanxin 01-0144
- Liu Dapao 03-1312
- Wang Zhenxing 04-1839
- Zhou Jiming 05-2733
- Jiang Liangshou 05-2734
- Liu Xinjian 05-2735
- Aijingwei
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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