Maofangzhijiganzhijiyi
01 · Historical Records
By the Tang dynasty, the use of felt had become widespread; the saddle felts of Yuanzhou (present-day Gu County, Ningxia), Lingzhou (present-day Lingwu County, Ningxia), Ningzhou (present-day Ning County, Gansu), and Fengzhou (present-day Wuyuan County, Inner Mongolia) were all renowned throughout the northwest.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Wool-textile fulling is a special weaving craft. It first soaks wool or camel hair in hot water, then compresses it; by rolling and rubbing it with wooden sticks the fibers are made to bind together, forming a non-woven wool fabric known as 'felt' (zhan). In antiquity felt was also known by other names; as early as the Neolithic period, China already possessed the craft of fulling felt by rolling it with wooden sticks. Histories of the Zhou dynasty record: 'Felt is wool; it is made by rubbing wool into felt.' Jia Sixie's Qimin Yaoshu (Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People), of the Northern Wei (386-534), states: 'In making felt, thickness and size are not what matter; rather, it should be tightly compacted, thin, and even to be good.' That such guidance appears shows felt-making was already fairly common at the time. According to the New Book of Tang, the Tubo kingdom (located on the present-day Qinghai-Tibet Plateau) was also famous for its red felt and rosy-hued felt, and presented them as tribute to Chang'an. At present, the main felt-producing areas are concentrated in the northwestern minority regions of Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia. By use it is divided into many varieties, including kang felt (bed felt), cushion felt, prayer felt, inner-wall felt (wrapped around the inner walls of a yurt), outer-wall felt (wrapped around the outer walls), colored felt (fulled from dyed wool), embroidered felt (decorated with embroidery), cut-and-carved felt (cut into relief following the outline of the colored pattern on the felt), and stove felt (placed by the stove). Felt is also used to sew satchels, dalian (shoulder pouches), and miscellaneous bags, and is an indispensable necessity in the daily life of northwestern minority peoples. The Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province lies in the southwest of the province and is China's largest Yi-inhabited area. The Yi people mainly live in the Liangshan area at an altitude of about 2,500 meters, where sheep are abundant; over their long productive and daily life the Yi have formed the custom of making garments such as the jiashe, wala, woolen skirts, felt hats, and felt socks from wool and sheepskin. The 'jiashe,' known in Chinese as the cape-felt, is made mainly by fulling wool. It is an indispensable garment for Yi men, women, and children alike, and its colors are mainly black, white, and blue. The tools for fulling the jiashe include bamboo mats, bow-shaped beaters, clamping boards, and bamboo curtains; the fulling process is fairly complex. The jiashe comes in single-layer and double-layer types. After the single-layer jiashe is fulled, it is wetted with water and folded into 30 to 90 pleats two inches wide, then clamped with boards and dried in the sun, whereupon it is finished. A single-layer jiashe generally uses 2 to 3 jin of wool, while a double-layer one requires 5 to 7 jin. The 'wala' is another representative Yi garment; its making consists of steps such as shearing, twisting yarn, beating the wool, plying the thread, weaving the wool cloth, and sewing. Once the wool cloth is woven, it is cut with scissors to the set length, and the separate lengths of cloth are sewn together to form the rudimentary shape of the wala. Then the hanging threads left over from weaving are twisted three threads to a strand and three strands to a tassel, forming tassels about one chi long; next a flat wool cord plaited from wool yarn is sewn at the collar to gather it in. In this way a complete wala is made. The wala comes in two styles, with or without tassels; it can be worn alone or draped over the cape-felt. Besides the natural wool color, the Yi often dye the wala blue, dark green, and other colors with plant dyes according to their preference. The Yi wala is heavy, warm-retaining, and durable; it shields from the sun in summer and keeps one warm in winter, making it an essential garment for the Yi year-round. It fully displays characteristics that distinguish it from the clothing of other minority groups and carries emblematic significance.
Archival process record
The tools for fulling the jiashe include bamboo mats, bow-shaped beaters, clamping boards, and bamboo curtains; the fulling process is fairly complex.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Zhaojue's wool-textile work follows two lines, the jiashe and the wala, using locally gathered tools-a set of bamboo mats, bow beaters, clamping boards, and bamboo curtains is enough to begin. The single-layer jiashe is fulled from two to three jin of wool, while the double-layer needs five to seven jin. The wala is carried through from shearing and yarn-twisting to wool-beating; at the collar the hanging threads are combined three into one and twisted into roughly one-chi tassels to gather it. Shuoge Requ learned the craft from her mother early on in Laluo Village, Kuyi Township, and later took on ten apprentices at her workshop on Renmin Zhonglu in Xincheng Town.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Maofangzhijiganzhijiyi · Maofangzhijiganzhijiyi · Maofangzhijiganzhijiyi · Maofangzhijiganzhijiyi.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The wool-textile and fulling craft of the Liangshan Yi is complex in its process steps and laborious and time-consuming; at present the artisans who practice it are steadily dwindling, and energetic rescue and protection measures are needed. Shuoge Requ (per the official archival record of the associated inheritor): Female, Yi ethnicity, born June 1965, a native of Zhaojue County, Sichuan Province. Representative inheritor of the fifth batch of the national-level intangible cultural heritage item 'Wool-textile and Fulling Craft (Yi Wool-textile and Fulling Craft).' From December 1972 to December 1988 she learned the Yi wool-textile craft from her mother in her hometown. From December 1988 to September 1999 she studied and practiced the Yi wool-textile craft in Laluo Society, Laluo Village, Kuyi Township, Zhaojue County, and carried out the transmission of the Yi wool-textile and fulling craft. From September 1999 to October 2015 she taught apprentices at the Yi wool-textile and fulling craft workshop on Renmin Zhonglu, Xincheng Town, Zhaojue County; she now has ten disciples. She has mastered the entire process of the Yi wool-textile and fulling craft; her spun yarn is even in thickness, her setting of warp and weft is smooth and well-judged, and her wala-making is exquisite and fine in its stitching. Her work, a white Yi 'wala,' embodies the local clothing character.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Mashelei 03-1360
- Abulizi Tuerxun 04-1879
- Shuogerequ 05-2801
- Dongcuo 05-2802
- Basang
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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