SPECIAL COVERAGE >> Daily Specials
7 fast vanishing folk arts in China
The refined silverwork-making tradition of the Miao people dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The Miao silverwork craftsmanship, which is inscribed on the country's intangible cultural heritage list, is regarded as the epitome of the Miao folk culture and history.
Silver represents good luck in Miao culture, and children wear ornaments made from the metal, such as necklaces, from birth. Women wear the headgear during festivals.
The tradition of creating silver accessories was born when the Miao needed to bring their silver with them as they migrated across the country as war refugees in ancient times. They discovered wearing the precious metal to be an efficient way to transport it.
56-year-old Wu Qiubiao is one of the few existing Miao silversmiths living in the Fenghuang County in Central China's Hunan Province. Wu joined the business when he was only 13. He says traditionally all the silver accessories to complete a Miao woman's dress must be hand made. And there are as many as ten parts like head wear, necklace, pendant, bracelet and waistband.
It's never easy to create a silver piece. Firstly, a silver nugget needs to be melted, before undergoing hammering, forging and molding. Then comes the most difficult part which really tests a silversmith's skills - the carving.
Wu adds that nearly all the patterns carved on Miao silverwork are a token of auspiciousness. And that's why the silver accessories are a necessity for Miao women on festive occasions.
Unfortunately, there are few skilled silversmiths working today.
Facts about Miao Silverwork:Largest Silver PointsMiao women in Xijiang region of Leishan Mountain use the biggest silver points in their headware. At 70 centimeters high and 50 centimeters wide, the silver points have the embossed pattern of a double dragon trying to find treasure. At the central part of the silver point is a big silver fan, which is called palm leaves and silver flower by the locals.
Oldest Silver AdornmentsMaidens of the Miao group in Daluo Village of Leishan County wear “W” shaped head adornments and twisted neck adornments. These adornments are said to have a history as long as that of the lusheng musical instrument.
Heaviest Silver AdornmentsWhen formally dressed, women of Miao in Xijiang region of Leishan County wear beautiful silver adornments all over their bodies and on their heads. They also wear necklaces and ornamental chaplets around their necks, silver locks on their chests, silver flakes with embossed patterns, silver chains and silver bells on the back. All the gorgeous silver adornments weigh more than 10 kilograms.
Largest Number of Silver Adornments Women of the Miao group in Shidong of Taijiang have silver adornments all over their bodies. They wear several chain necklaces and flake chaplets. They also have large, heavy silver locks on their chests and several silver bracelets of different shapes on their wrists. This group is the Miao group with the largest number of silver adornments.
Source: cultural-china.com;English.cntv.cn
Chinese wax printing is a special Chinese handicraft typical of ethnic characteristics and local styles. As one of the most ancient arts still in practice, it is perceived as an important part of China's ancient civilization.
Wax printing, which is known as the first printing in the East, is the most ancient handicraft in China. More than two thousand years ago, in the Qin (221-207BC) and Han (202BC-220AD) Dynasties, China began to print pictures on the cloth and dye it later. When the wax was removed, the pictures could be seen. In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), products of wax printing were exported to Europe and Asia.
Later, with the further development of the economy in Central China, industry gradually took the place of hand-made operations. The wax printing technique was lost in one place after another. But in some remote areas, such as Guizhou Province, this precious craft was passed down orally for two reasons. These remote regions had little contact with the outside world and they are quite rich in the natural resources used for wax printing. For years, wax printing has been used to ornament clothes and rooms for ethnic minorities in Guizhou Province.
Today, wax printing is mainly practiced among the ethnic minority areas of Guizhou, Yunnan Sichuan Provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In the course of its development, the art acquired its unique folk artistic features and is one of the most characteristic national arts in China.
Wax printing is a way of decorating fabric by covering parts of it with a coat of wax and then dyeing it. Beeswax is the main ingredient but other resins can also be used. To make a wax printing, certain areas of the fabric are selected and blocked out by brushing or drawing wax that has been heated in a little pot over the cloth; the cloth is then dyed different colors. The parts covered by wax resist the dye and retain their original hues. This process of waxing and dyeing can be repeated to create more elaborate and colorful designs. After the final dyeing the wax is removed and the fabric is prepared for usage or display. The wax printings can be framed and, if used properly, can make any house or office more unique and inviting.
The raw materials used in wax dyeing are pure cotton fabrics; the usual tools used for applying wax include a piece of copper and brass with bamboo handles. They are made from two small triangular pieces of metal, with their apexes bound to a bamboo holder by a copper wire. It is held like a pen either upright or on a slant in relation to the cloth, which is laid flat on a board. This tool is convenient for drawing straight or slightly curved lines.
Wax printed products are various, such as wall hangings, letter bags, bags, aprons, cushions, tablecloths, door curtains and cloth-made dolls. The style ranges from abstract to realistic. The content varies from figures, flowers and birds, landscapes to calligraphy.
Miao and Bouyei minority women are highly skilled at wax printing. Miao wax printings convey the independent idea for beauty and the way of thinking of Miao women, expressing their yearning for happiness, respect and admiration for life, and worship of ancestors.
Source: Cultural-china.com
Related:
Chinese Wax Printing
Tie-dyeing is an old Chinese textile dyeing technique. Nowadays this traditional technique is still popular in Zhoucheng village, Dali in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture and some places in Weishan Yi and Hui autonomous county. The Zhoucheng, Bai Nationality tie-dyeing technique is the most famous and the area was named 'the Land for National Tie-dye' by the Culture Administration.
The tie-dyed materials are usually are white cotton cloth or a blended fabric of cotton and flax, and the dye is mainly made from indigo plants. The main tools used are jars and sticks. There are many kinds of Bai tie-dyed items, using natural patterns with auspicious meaning. The finished products are aesthetically valuable and pleasing to consumers both at home and abroad. Dali Bai tie-dye shows strong Bai customs and taste.
To make the dye, woad leaves are collected and fermented in a pit until they are indigo in color. White cloth is tied and sewn into various patterns by hand and then dyed. After the cloth is dried and rinsed, designs of bees, butterflies, plum blossoms, fish, or insects can appear with an artistic effect that cannot be achieved by painting.
The concept behind tie-dyeing is to restrict the dye from reaching certain areas of the cloth, this is achieved through the use of knots, threads, rocks, sticks and rubber bands. The color of the parts the dye reaches changes but the restricted parts stay untouched, giving a pleasant color contrast.
This method appeared in China between the 3rd to 4th centuries and is still used today. Bright colors, an unlimited variety of patterns and color combinations, and the simplicity of the techniques contribute to its enduring appeal.
However with increased industrialization, the techniques are in danger of dying out. Many problems need to be solved, such as the disappearance of the original folk features, pollution and the lack of dye. Only by solving these problems can the development of Dali traditional tie-dyeing be promoted.
Source: Cultural-china.com
Related:Tie-Dyeing Techniques of Bai Ethnic Group
Lusheng is the Chinese name for a musical instrument with multiple bamboo pipes, each fitted with a free reed and joined by a long blowing tube. It most often has five or six pipes of different pitches, and is thus a polyphonic instrument. It comes in sizes ranging from very small to several meters in length.
Lusheng is used primarily in the rural regions of southwestern China, and in nearby countries such as Laos and Vietnam, where it is played by such ethnic groups as the Dong and Miao. Performers often dance or swing the instrument from side to side while playing. Since the late 20th century, a modernized version of the instrument has been used in composed compositions, often as a solo instrument with Chinese traditional instrument orchestra.
Leishan county in Guizhou Province is an important Lusheng production base. In addition to some musical knowledge, the making of Lusheng also requires the craftsmen to know some physics and mechanics. Traditionally, the craftsmen in Leishan make Lusheng by using bellows, hammers, brass, axes, chisels, saws, drills, bitter bamboos and Chinese wood oil and chalk (some have replaced it with latex).
In Leishan, the making of Lusheng is taught by example, without any written records.
In Daguan County of Yunnan Province, Lusheng is produced mainly in areas where the Miao live. The Lusheng there are made from bitter bamboos, birch barks, firs, and copper with such tools as Chinese knives, saws, planes, drills, hammers, knives and furnaces.
Traditionally Lusheng has six pipes of different pitches. But Wang Jiefeng, a Lusheng-making master in the Daguan area, innovated Lusheng by adding two and four pipes to it, making it an instrument with eight or ten pipes of different pitches. He also increased the proportion of the lead when smelting brass for the Lusheng, which makes the reeds in Lusheng more elastic and the sound more dulcet. From then on, the Lusheng made by Wang gained great popularity and fame among the Miao villages around the borders of Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces.
Unfortunately, there are few craftsmen who are capable of making Lusheng skillfully like Master Wang Jiefeng in the area.
Source: Cultural-china.com
Related:
Lusheng-making Technique of the Miao Minority
Lusheng
Lusheng Dance
| Traditional Popcorn Popping Machine |
To make popcorn, people used to heat corn or other grains in a hand-operated, coal-fired popper. The operator uses bellows and a crank to agitate to grains inside until - “bang” - a puff of white smoke rises into the air and the devices produces hot popcorn. Street vendors typically use canvas bags or boxes to catch the kernels that pour out of the pressurized cooking chambers.
To many Chinese, especially those born after 1980, this is one of their most endearing childhood memories. Street vendors making popcorn using this method during the cold winter months were still numerous towards the end of the 20th century. Many Weibo users say that the tastiest popcorn can only be made with old, cast iron poppers, and that modern machines cannot reproduce the “taste of their childhood.”
Source: English.CNTV.cn
Sugar-figure blowing is a traditional folk art of China. It has a long history but is gradually disappearing.
Also known as “sugar opera,” this folk art began during the Tang dynasty (618-907) and prospered during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The art of sugar-figure blowing involves shaping malt sugar with scissors, small combs, knives, bamboo strips, springs and other auxiliary materials to create different figures.
Folk sugar-figure blowers first heat up the sugar and then pull and knead it into a ball. With their index finger, they press a deep hole in the ball and remove it immediately, creating thin strands of sugar. The sugar strands are then collected and are blown into shapes. From there they use different techniques to further shape and paint their creations.
With proper care, a blown-sugar sculpture can last for weeks. However, it degrades quickly when exposed to water or humidity.
Source: Cultural-china.com
Related:
The Sugar-figure Blowing art - watchable yet inedible
How to Make Blown-Sugar Art
Traditional popcorn popping machine a hit in USShen Hao, a deputy curator of the Nanjing Folklore Museum, said it will be a sad day when people will only know these old trades from history books.
Shen said the main reason traditional crafts are vanishing is because the markets they occupied are dying. Also, young people don’t have patience to learn traditional crafts and often see such work as beneath them.
The lack of government support is another burden. Only a handful of crafts are scheduled for protection under the National Intangible Heritage Act.
Fu Qiping, a deputy to the National People’s Congress, encouraged some old businesses to reinvent themselves as traveling products. He suggested the government begin compiling notes, pictures and videos about vanishing industries.
Fu also said the government should give subsidies to craftsmen and open classes to help young people learn and pass on the crafts.