Miao Batik Craftsmanship

01 · Historical Records

Batik was known in ancient times as “laxie”, and in the Miao language as “wutu”, meaning “batik garment”. Danzhai, Anshun and Zhijin in southeastern Guizhou are the core producing areas of Miao batik. The three places, in a harsh environment cut off from the outside world for long periods, developed a self-sufficient way of life in which cloth, dye vats and embroidery patterns were all produced at home, and the ancient batik technique was thereby preserved. According to Miao custom, girls must learn batik from childhood, and a mother must teach the craft to her own daughters with her own hands before her duty as a teacher is considered fulfilled. Miao women learn the technique from childhood, growing indigo and cotton themselves, spinning and weaving cloth, drawing wax and doing embroidery, dip-dyeing and cutting, passing it on from generation to generation. This system, centred on transmission from mother to daughter, is the key reason the craft has continued unbroken for a thousand years, and it is what distinguishes it from other crafts transmitted from master to apprentice.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Batik is a traditional technique handed down for generations by the Miao people of Danzhai, Anshun and Zhijin counties in Guizhou Province. In ancient times it was called “laxie”, and in the Miao language “wutu”, meaning “batik garment”. Danzhai, Anshun and Zhijin counties are multi-ethnic settlement areas with the Miao as the principal group. In a harsh environment isolated from the outside world for long periods, the inhabitants gradually developed a self-sufficient way of life, and the ancient batik technique was thereby preserved. By Miao custom, all women are obliged to transmit the batik technique, and every mother must teach her own daughters to make batik. Miao women therefore learn the technique from childhood, growing indigo and cotton themselves, spinning and weaving cloth, drawing wax and doing embroidery, dip-dyeing and cutting, and passing it on from generation to generation. Under these conditions, these Miao settlement areas have developed a customary culture in which batik art is dominant — dress and adornment, marriage and festival etiquette, forms of social interaction, and funeral customs. Miao batik is an art created for the producers’ own needs. Its products are mainly articles of daily use, including women’s clothing, bedsheets, quilt covers, wrapping cloths, head wraps, satchels, handbags, baby carriers and shrouds used in funerals. Makers of Danzhai Miao batik favour large floral designs based mainly on naturalistic motifs. These patterns are vivid and boldly simplified yet true to life, lively and fluent, richly exaggerated, and full of a strong rustic flavour. Anshun Miao batik is dominated by geometric patterns, with loose compositions and vivid forms. Zhijin Miao batik is dominated by fine, dense white areas, filled with geometric spiral patterns whose structures interweave and merge into a single whole. The main tools of batik making are the copper knife (wax pen), porcelain bowls, water basins, large needles, bone needles, rice straw and dye vats. In production, the homespun cloth is first soaked in water filtered through plant ash to remove grease from the fibres, making it easier to apply wax and take colour. An appropriate amount of yellow wax is then placed in a small porcelain bowl, which is set on hot wood ash; once the wax has melted into liquid under the heat, it can be dotted and drawn onto the cloth. The cloth with the wax pattern applied is then moistened with warm water and put into a prepared indigo dye vat, being immersed repeatedly until the cloth is judged sufficiently dyed. It is then taken to the river to be rinsed, letting clean water wash away the surface colour, and afterwards put into a pot of boiling water so that the yellow wax melts and floats to the surface, where it is collected for reuse. The batik is then rinsed repeatedly until all remaining yellow wax is removed, at which point the work is finished. Danzhai batik is further touched in with red and yellow after this: the red is generally taken from madder root, and the yellow from gardenia. To prevent fading, colouring is generally applied only after the batik piece has been completed. Besides the steps described above, batik also involves process steps such as preparing the indigo and fermenting the dye vat. The successive steps link together to form a complete, mature body of technique and operating rules. With the development of technology, the variety of textiles has continually increased, and batik’s position as the mainstream textile of the Miao areas of Guizhou has gradually been shaken. Along with the growth of tourism, batik handicrafts have been pushed onto the market as distinctive tourist souvenirs.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Miao batik has two techniques: dotting wax and painting wax. By pattern it falls into two broad categories: geometric motifs and naturalistic motifs.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Batik Craftsmanship · Batik Craftsmanship · Batik Craftsmanship · Batik Craftsmanship.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

However, in order to meet market demand and pursue economic profit, large numbers of crude batik products have appeared, posing a threat to the orderly transmission of the technique. It is therefore evident that the Miao batik technique urgently requires genuine protection and rational development. Wang Ayong (as recorded in the official inheritor archive): Representative inheritor of the Miao batik technique, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item from the fourth national batch. She began learning Miao batik at the age of eight and gradually mastered the whole technique and process of traditional Miao batik drawing and production. The spiral “gewo” patterns she drew have fluent, natural, accurate lines; her naturalistic bird, flower, fish and insect designs are bold and original. Her works fuse traditional craft perfectly with modern fashion, and she has developed a series of batik products each with its own style. She twice travelled to the United States to demonstrate the Miao batik technique. She has conducted transmission and training activities, training more than three hundred inheritors of the batik technique and producing nearly ten thousand batik works a year, which has increased the income of the local Miao people and effectively led local Miao women to prosperity. Female, Miao ethnicity, born in February 1944, died in November 2013, from Danzhai County, Guizhou Province. Yang Fang (as recorded in the official inheritor archive): Female, Miao ethnicity, born in October 1966, from Danzhai County, Guizhou Province. Representative inheritor of the Miao batik technique, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item from the fifth national batch. She learned the Miao batik technique from childhood, can independently reproduce the ancient patterns handed down by her elders, and has independently researched and developed updated products carrying the cultural content and characteristics of the local Miao tradition. Her batik works embody the history and culture of her own people and sub-lineage, and have both practical and collectible value. She has repeatedly been invited to demonstrate the Miao batik technique in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and in France, Russia, India and other countries. She founded a local batik specialised cooperative, managed on a “cooperative plus members” model. The cooperative now has more than four hundred members, and she is a leader in guiding local women towards common prosperity.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

• Wang Ayong 04-1840
• Yang Fang 05-2736
• Wang Yueyuan 05-2737
• Luo Wenzhen
• Cai Qun
• Xiong Zonghui

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Miao Batik Craftsmanship (Danzhai, Guizhou) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Wang Ayong · National Representative Bearer Archive
3. Yang Fang · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗