Xinjiang Weiwuerzuaidelaisichouzhiranjiyi
01 · Historical Records
Atlas silk is the most famous local handicraft of Luopu County, and the Jiya and Buya townships are regarded as its earliest places of origin; this weaving-and-dyeing craft has been passed down from generation to generation locally. The ground colors and patterns of the fabric are things familiar to the locals: the black-ground line mostly takes images such as earrings, tassels, fences, ram horns, and sickles; the red-ground line takes pears, apples, saws, wooden mallets, plant leaves, and small flowers, and also shows the rawap lute and almond; the yellow-ground line has apples, wooden combs, chains, fences, and almonds. Unlike the inland brocades that mostly feature flowers, the patterns here are closer to pastoral life and orchard harvests, so the place of origin can be recognized at a glance.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Atlas silk is a famous ethnic handicraft of Luopu County in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Jiya and Buya townships of the county are important places of origin of Atlas silk. Atlas silk can be divided into four major categories: first, the black-dominant type, whose patterns mainly include earrings, tassels, fences, ram horns, sickles, and flowers; second, the red-dominant type, whose patterns mainly include pears, apples, saws, wooden mallets, plant leaves, small flowers, the rawap lute, and Badam apricots; third, the yellow-dominant type, whose patterns mainly include apples, wooden combs, chains, fences, and almonds; and fourth, the Shache type, in which colors are separated from one another, forming multiple combination forms and presenting a kind of leaping rhythm. Jiya Township has an Atlas silk weaving-art training school, and the registered Atlas series products "Flower of the Desert" and "Beauty of the Desert" have been widely welcomed by domestic and foreign tourists over the past ten-odd years. At present, the role of the Jiya Township Atlas silk weaving-art training school in protecting and developing the Atlas silk weaving-and-dyeing craft is constantly growing.
Black-ground silk
Black-ground cloth carries motifs of earrings, tassels, railings, ram's horns and sickles picked out in pale tones.
Red-ground silk
Red-ground cloth shows pears, apples, saws, mallets, leaves and flowers, together with the rawap and the badam nut.
Yellow-ground silk
Yellow-ground cloth carries apples, combs, chains, railings and badam nuts in an open, cheerful key.
Shache-style silk
In the Shache group the colours stand apart and combine into a jumping rhythm of their own.
The weaving school at Jiya township
The Jiya weaving school registers products such as Desert Flower and registers them with tourists at home and abroad.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Luopu County takes the Jiya and Buya townships as the main production areas of Atlas silk; among them, Jiya Township has an Atlas silk weaving-art training school that brings in outside orders and technology. Over the past ten-odd years, the series of registered Atlas products of this township, such as "Flower of the Desert" and "Beauty of the Desert," have been quite popular among domestic and foreign tourists; the Luopu County Cultural Center is the protecting unit for this craft, and the school's role in protecting and developing the weaving-and-dyeing craft keeps growing.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Apart from the classification by main color, there is also a Shache-type line, in which colors are separated from one another and, under multiple combinations, present a leaping rhythm, the most lively in tempo when compared with the other three lines. Taken together, the four lines have formed their own system of patterns, ground colors, and color schemes: the black ground is composed, the red ground warm, the yellow ground bright, and the Shache leaping. The weaving-and-dyeing craft is now supported by a school, and its transmission is steadier than many concurrent projects, but those who can both weave and dye are still concentrated in Jiya and Buya townships; once the weavers of these two places disperse, the orally transmitted chain of patterns and color schemes is easily broken.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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