Traditional plant dyes and dyeing heritage

When it comes to maple leaves, we think of red leaves all over the sky. Red leaves are the most affectionate, and a word sends acacia.

Fengxiangye

Fengxiang dyeing is a poetic folk printing and dyeing process, which has been spread among Buyi, Yao and Miao nationalities in Guizhou so far.

In A.D. 1083, Song Shenzong personally wrote the word "Tian Ran" for the Buyi people.

In 2008, it was selected into the national intangible cultural heritage list.

Liquidambar formosana is beautifully dyed and painted, simple and elegant, with rich ethnic customs. The main raw material used is Liquidambar formosana sesame oil produced by Liquidambar formosana, so it is named Liquidambar formosana Dye.

Liquidambar formosana has been circulating for thousands of years, and there is also a beautiful legend, which is recorded in the ancient songs of creation.

In a village called Buyi, there was a girl named Chawei Shaomiao, who translated into a fairy-like girl in Buyi language. Tea is delicious, beautiful in appearance and ingenious in mind, especially good at weaving. She is also good at thinking and often worries about the single dress of her own nation.

One day, Shaomiao at the end of tea put the knitting bed under the maple tree as usual, and the melted maple oil dripped from the old tree, just dripping on the woven homespun. The tea tastes less. Miao is in a hurry and goes to wash it. I didn't expect that no matter how hard she rubbed it, she couldn't wash it off, so she could only dye it. After soaking and rinsing in indigo vat, white flowers appeared on the dripping part of Liquidambar formosana oil.

Buyi people believe that this is a dye given by God to Buyi people. Liquidambar formosana is regarded as a sacred tree by them, and Chawei Shaomiao is regarded as the ancestor of Liquidambar formosana dyeing by them.

Fengxiangran paid tribute to the court 13 times in the Southern Song Dynasty. In order to reward Buyi people, Song Shenzong personally wrote the word "Tian Ran" and made a plaque for Fengxiang Dyer.

Buyi people are very happy. They held a 15-day Cattle Killing Festival on the anniversary, and set a clan rule of "passing on men but not women". Wash your hands and burn incense before dyeing. Outsiders can't watch it, nor can their own women. This is to safeguard the interests of Buyi people and prevent the leakage of skills.

Liquidambar formosana dyeing can be said to be a gift from Song Shenzong. With its unique raw materials and refined production technology, it can be selected as an intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

The raw materials used in the dyeing of Liquidambar formosana in Buyi nationality are unique, mainly including Liquidambar formosana, butter and indigo, as well as the ash burned by green wood, a unique local tree species.

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2. Butter is used to increase toughness and facilitate degreasing after dyeing.

3. Indigo juice is a dye. It used to be collected from natural plants and made by itself. The common plant is Isatis indigotica, yes, it is known as Isatis indigotica. The stems and leaves of Isatis indigotica contain a substance called [dài]. After the stems and leaves of Radix Isatidis are mashed and soaked in water, anthocyanins will be dissolved in water, and indigo will be absorbed and precipitated by lime for dyeing cloth. Indigo will turn blue after air oxidation.

By the way, indigo is not only a pure natural dye since ancient times, but also a good medicine. As early as Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica and Compendium of Materia Medica, it was recorded:

Therefore, there is also a folk saying that if people cut their hands and feet while working in the mountains, they will not be easily infected with suppuration, and wearing indigo-dyed clothes can also prevent itching on the skin.

1. iron the cloth, put the rice soup on the homespun, and flatten it with stones to keep the cloth flat.

2. painting oil, this step can be said to be the soul of maple dye. Dip the mixed maple oil and butter with a brush and draw a pattern on the cloth.

This step is a test of the craftsman's Chinese painting skills, because the maple oil painting will solidify afterwards, and the craftsman should ensure that the pattern can't go wrong, and in order to dye pure and uniform white, the maple oil should penetrate into the cloth and the back, and the pattern lines should be smooth.

Do you think this step is like Tang Hua? There are similar results and colors, but the requirements for basic skills are quite different.

Oiling is the key step in the dyeing production of Liquidambar formosana. It is with this step that Liquidambar formosana dyeing can become a printing and dyeing technology with lasting fragrance, also known as blue and white porcelain on cloth.

It carries not only Liquidambar formosana, but also the skills honed by craftsmen for ten years. The edge of the sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from bitter cold.

Cold water bubble

4. Go to the dye vat to dry. Soak the painted cloth in the dye vat with indigo juice. If it is not dyed, use lime. If there are bubbles in the tank during the process, add wine (the locals think that adding wine to raise the tank, I don't know if you have heard this saying), soak it repeatedly, and dry it in the sun after three or four days.

5. Oil it again. If the color of the pattern is different, oil it again and put it in the dye vat.

6. Boil water for degreasing. The traditional way is to burn alkaline Lei Zhenmu into ashes and make it into plant ash water, pour it into a pot filled with boiling water, and put the cloth into the pot to cook, so that the maple oil on the cloth can be removed, showing a pattern of blue background and white flowers.

7. Rinse: After degreasing, rinse with clear water, dry and smooth.

From the production process of Liquidambar formosana dyeing, it can be seen that behind the romance and elegance of Liquidambar formosana dyeing is the continuous improvement and tireless repetition of this process by craftsmen, and because it is purely handmade, the time cost is high and it is impossible to produce on a large scale.

For example, Miao people like morning glory, big vase flower, big bowl flower, big dish flower, butterfly and other patterns, while Buyi people like patterns such as "double phoenix rising in the morning", "carp jumping on the pearl", crooked peach, pomegranate and moon flower.

These patterns are full of people of all ethnic groups' beautiful yearning and pursuit for life. They draw patterns with excellent meanings and make clothes to wear on their family members who travel far away. I wish them peace and happiness in their clothes.

Dye with maple fragrance, and send acacia with a touch of maple fragrance.

There is a kind of beauty called Fengxiang Dye, which came from thousands of years ago. It is simple and elegant, and behind each stroke, the craftsman silently inherits and protects it.

This brushstroke and painting adorn the world, and I hope this persistence and persistence adorn your heart and mine, so that the simplicity and feelings precipitated in the long river of history can give you a peace of mind.

In this vast universe, I am fortunate to know you.

I am a country wind ~, please pay more attention and support ~