Batik Craftsmanship
01 · Historical Records
In 1987, Song-dynasty batik garments were excavated from a Miao cliff-burial group coffin tomb in Pingba County, Anshun City. Their rich colours and rigorous patterns fully demonstrate the superb skill of Anshun batik.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Batik in Anshun City, Guizhou Province, has a long history: as early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the inhabitants here had already mastered the batik-making process. Apart from differences in pattern, Miao and Buyi batik in Anshun use essentially the same tools, materials and process: a copper wax knife is dipped in molten wax to outline designs on white cloth, which is then passed through dip-dyeing and other steps to make batik pieces. The Anshun batik trade has no lack of folk master craftspeople of superb wax-drawing skill. They have travelled to Europe, America and the Taiwan region of China to demonstrate batik technique, winning acclaim everywhere they went.
Archival Record of Process Steps
Apart from differences in pattern, Miao and Buyi batik in Anshun use essentially the same tools, materials and process: a copper wax knife is dipped in molten wax to outline designs on white cloth, which is then passed through dip-dyeing and other steps to make batik pieces.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Anshun batik is divided mainly into two broad categories: Miao batik and Buyi batik. Miao batik is distributed across all thirty-eight Miao branches in Anshun. Its dyed patterns are rich and varied, incorporating ancient legends and primitive understandings, and collectively reflect the nature worship and totem worship of the ancient forebears. Buyi batik is distributed mainly in Zhenning, Guanling, Huangguoshu and other counties and districts. Its finished pieces have ingenious, endlessly varied compositions; the motifs are mostly realistic flowers, birds, fish and insects, or abstract geometric forms such as spirals, water ripples, lozenges and thunder-and-spiral patterns, expressing people’s understanding of the cosmos, their reverence for mountains and rivers, and their aspiration towards a better life.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Miao Batik Craftsmanship · Batik Craftsmanship · Batik Craftsmanship · Batik Craftsmanship.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Anshun batik is an outstanding rarity among ethnic crafts, and has considerable value for the study of history, folklore and the local culture of ethnic minorities. In recent years, with the steady strengthening of economic globalisation and cultural diversification, the living space of Anshun batik has been shrinking, its craftspeople are ageing, and there is no one to carry it on. This precious folk handicraft is on the verge of extinction and urgently needs rescue and protection. Wang Yueyuan (as recorded in the official inheritor archive): Female, Miao ethnicity, born in June 1957, from Anshun City, Guizhou Province. Representative inheritor of the batik technique, a national-level intangible cultural heritage item from the fifth national batch. Influenced by her grandmother and mother, she learned batik drawing from childhood, beginning with dotting wax flowers and gradually mastering wax-drawing technique. After many years of study her batik skill improved greatly and she developed her own drawing style. With her keen instinct for batik art and her inventive character, she distilled the wax-drawing technique in an innovative way and created a new artistic form — the wax panel painting — taking batik into an entirely new field. She has actively conducted Miao batik training and teaching, transmitting the technique through batik production by taking on disciples and pairing experienced hands with newcomers. More than one hundred and fifty of her students have completed their apprenticeship and mastered the Miao batik technique.
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
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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