Yi culture Yi weaving culture "waist machine" weaving history

Weaving culture has a long history in China. The earliest loom is the sitting loom, commonly known as "waist loom". There is a weaving culture of "waist machine" in Yi culture, and the clothes woven are the oldest handmade.

"The craft comes from materials endowed by nature. Without materials, there is no technology. Craft has no hometown, but because of different types, changes and interests, it has produced different hometowns. Local characteristics also reflect the beauty of craftsmanship. Because it is a product of special materials in special places, it is a natural gift. " From this point of view, for any clothing, the materials used to make clothing are the most basic material carriers. Without the material carrier, there is no way to talk about patterns, accessories and crafts on any clothing. Textile tools and weaving methods for making clothing fabrics determine the style of clothing in texture, style, color and art. The existence of "waist machine" weaving technology of Liangshan Yi people inherits the ancient civilization of China traditional clothing interwoven with warp and weft.

The History of "Waist Machine" Weaving

The earliest loom in textile history is the sitting loom (also called waist loom). This pedal waist machine has no frame, but binds one end of the cloth winding shaft to the waist, treads the warp beam at the other end with both feet and tightens the fabric, divides the warp yarn into two layers according to odd and even numbers with a warp splitter, lifts the warp yarn with a heald to form a shed, introduces the weft yarn with a bone needle, and tightens the weft yarn with a beating-up knife. The most important achievement of waist weaving is the adoption of heald lifting rod, warp splitting rod and beating-up knife. Although this loom is very simple, it has three actions: opening the shed up and down, inserting the weft left and right, and tightening the weft back and forth. It is the prototype of the modern loom.

Therefore, the "waist machine" is called a living fossil in the history of textile, and the clothes made with it are the oldest hand-made creation. It stores the most primitive breath of human beings and carries the cultural genes of ancient primitive people. It condenses the wisdom of our ancestors and pours their expectations for life, thus making us feel the aura of our ancestors and bringing us closer to our ancestors.

Weaving skills of Liangshan Yi people's "waist machine"

The diversity of artistic forms and styles of Liangshan Yi costumes is closely related to the well-preserved ancient spinning skills and weaving techniques such as "spinning specialty" and "waist machine".

The traditional clothing materials of Liangshan Yi people are mainly self-rolled, self-spun, self-woven and self-dyed wool and linen fabrics, especially wool fabrics. Liangshan Yi people have lived in the mountains for generations. Sheep are not only delicious meat for them, but also the main raw materials for blankets and weaving. They raise sheep, shear wool, roll blankets, "spin" yarns, arrange warp yarns, weave fabrics on waist machines and dye colorful clothes. In a word, the whole process from wool to all kinds of clothing production is done by hand, thus forming an original ecological system of clothing manual production. The clothing style presents the beauty of naturalness, naturalness, massiness, roughness, simplicity, simplicity and broadness, and constructs a complete and colorful clothing cultural space.