Guizhou Intangible Culture: Interpretation of Ancient and Mysterious Guizhou Batik Patterns and Vines

"Take two pieces of wood, carved with fine flowers, used to clip cloth, and then pour the wax on the carving. Then, collect the cloth, take the cloth and throw it into the blue. Because the cloth is blue and boiled to remove wax, it can be made into very fine dots, which is quite impressive. "

-"Questions and Answers Outside the Ridge" Zhou Qufei in the Southern Song Dynasty

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origin

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The origin of Miao batik can be traced back to more than 2000 years ago, and it was called "wax valerian" in Qin and Han Dynasties. There are many theories about the origin of batik. There is a saying: Miao girl's mind dyed beautiful patterns on her clothes, but she got nothing at the moment, depressed and groggy. A Hua Xian led her into a hundred flowers garden, and the flowers were blooming, and the fish and birds set each other off. The girl was fascinated by the fact that bees were crawling all over her skirt. When I woke up, I found that there were traces of beeswax on the skirt, so I dyed it again to remove the beeswax, only to find that the place where the beeswax fell off left beautiful white flowers.

The girl was overjoyed and sang all the things she met in the Baihua Garden, which attracted many people to watch and learn and passed on batik skills to this day. Editors respect the achievements of various historical studies, but if we say the origin, why not keep a romantic story? Batik culture is also a treasure of human culture.

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vignette

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The girl saw countless exotic fish, birds, insects and animals in the enchanted gardens introduced by Hua Xian. This is in contrast to the patterns in batik, which can also be said to be an extension of the rich imagination of Miao girls. Optimistic Miao people integrate their longing for a better life and memories of their ancestors' hometown into batik technology, thus evolving endless and lifelike batik patterns and totems.

If you look closely at the pattern, you will either be impressed by the delicate description or amused by a clumsy and lovely image. In this blue-and-white design, the Miao people's optimistic attitude and wisdom accumulated over thousands of years are printed.

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Elaborate patterns and totems

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Fish pattern

Fish patterns often appear in batiks of Miao nationality in Guizhou. In Miao culture, fish patterns represent the worship of reproduction and the blessing to many descendants.

● Dragon pattern

Man dragon and woman dragon

The dragon in Guizhou Miao batik is not limited to the traditional image of mighty dragon, but is more friendly to nature and people, and also has the meaning of driving away disasters and welcoming happiness.

● Bird pattern

Birds are the companions of Miao girls living in the mountains, and the bird patterns in Miao batiks are mostly cheerful and vivid images. Miao girls use this pattern to pin their hopes and longings for life.

● Bronze drum pattern

The bronze drum pattern is the oldest folk batik pattern in Guizhou. In the process of inheritance, the sun pattern with central annular radiation was preserved. Miao people express their nostalgia for their ancestors and worship of the sun through bronze drum patterns.

● Butterfly pattern

Butterfly patterns are common in Miao batik patterns, which contain beautiful and sacred legends to express love and worship for nature and ancestors.

● Spiral texture

The Miao nationality in Danzhai is also called "Wotuo" pattern. This pattern began with the ancestors' imitation of natural water, and different nationalities have different interpretations of this pattern. In Miao culture, spiral patterns also carry the memory of ancestors.

● Flower and plant patterns

Flower patterns are mostly used for decoration in batik works, while plant morphology is depicted. It is said that during the historical migration, in order to record the hardships on the way, Miao people will print flowers and plants on their clothes to remember their hometown.

● Stars and mountains and rivers

There are no realistic patterns of stars and mountains in the batik patterns of Miao nationality in Guizhou. Sometimes a curve represents mountains and rivers, and you can also draw houses and stars. This abstract expression can be integrated into any aspect of batik works, which can better reflect its deep meaning, that is, the nostalgia and respect for hometown rivers and mountains have been integrated into every moment of life.

Inheritance and protection

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Guizhou Miao batik is listed as the first batch of intangible cultural heritage in Guizhou. The connotation of Miao batik culture has been gradually excavated, and more cultural elements have been integrated into various works of art or commodities, which is easier to be discovered and accepted by the world.

Protecting and inheriting folk culture is the duty of every tourist. I hope that after many years, the younger generation will feel the charming charm of folk culture, and the treasures of human culture will still shine on the cultural and historical stage.

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