Dali Xiangyun Lisu nationality huocaobu

Yunnan province has the laurels of animal kingdom, plant kingdom and non-ferrous metal kingdom. There are 26 ethnic groups in the whole province, and 15 ethnic groups are unique to Yunnan, with rich natural resources and diverse ethnic cultures. In recent years, the characteristic industry of ethnic and folk handicrafts with "Jin Mu Earth-Rock Cloth" as the core element has developed rapidly, which not only protects and inherits the ethnic and folk culture, but also contributes to increasing the income of local people. The fire summer cloth woven by the Lisu people living in Bailongtan, Xiangcheng Town, Xiangyun County is warm in winter and cool in summer, with excellent breathability and warmth retention. In 2020, Huocao textile processing (the production process of Lisu Huocao cloth) was announced by Dali Prefecture People's Government as the fifth batch of national intangible cultural heritage representative projects in Dali Prefecture.

Huoxiabu is a kind of characteristic cloth in southwest minority areas of China. Its raw material is fire grass, which is a common millet in green ditch and hillside. Chinese herbal medicine book is called fire grass. According to historical records, there are many ethnic groups wearing Huocaoyi, including Lisu, Naxi, Yi and Bai. Southwest ethnic minorities have made and used Huoxiabu for more than 500 years. It is also very unique and rare in China's textile history, which can be said to be an important invention in southwest minority areas of China.

Each plant has 5 ~ 65,438+00 sharp spear-shaped leaves, the leaves and roots are covered with yellow and white fine hairs, and the back of the leaves is a thin film of white fibers, which is intertwined in disorder. In ancient times, people took it to dry. When using flint to make a fire, it is called "fire grass" because it is used as the tinder of the fire sickle. The Lisu people in Xiangyun tore off the white fibers on the back of the fire grass leaves, twisted them into threads and woven them with coarse cloth or cotton.

The manufacturing process of Huoxiabu mainly goes through the following procedures: picking Huoxiacao → untwisting → pulling hemp skin → twisting hemp thread → spinning hemp thread → boiling hemp thread → oven washing hemp thread → drawing warp thread → weaving → Huoxiabu.

Collecting fresh fire grass is a highly seasonal technical activity. Every year from the Torch Festival on June 24th to the Mid-Autumn Festival on August15th of the lunar calendar, it is a busy season for Lisu people to go up the mountain to collect fire grass in Bailongtan, Cunde Village, Xiangcheng Town. Lisu people should finish collecting fresh fire grass before this season, because the white velvet of fresh fire grass collected after this season is not easy to tear off. The fresh leaves picked home need to be cleaned, and then the velvet is torn immediately that night, because it is not easy to tear off the white velvet once the fire grass loses water. When tearing, pinch off the tips of the leaves, tear off half and connect the other half, twist them into threads while tearing, and connect all the leaves together at the same time, then wind them into thread branches in a standard way, dry them and prepare for weaving.

Hemp yarn woven from fire grass yarn can be woven on the loom through a series of processes such as scouring, dyeing, washing, beating, bleaching, softening, curing, lubricating and stretching. In the process of spinning, weft yarns are added to the warp yarns. You can add fire grass yarns, hemp yarns and favorite colored yarns to the weft yarns according to your own needs, and then spin your favorite fire grass cloth one by one.

Huoxiabu made by Lisu people in Xiangyun has the effect of blending cotton and wool because it is woven with hemp thread and colored thread. The clothes, bags, quilts, handkerchiefs and other daily necessities made by them not only retain the comfort brought by the ecological materials of the fire grassland, but also increase the authenticity, practicality, artistry and regional nationality, which fully embodies the charming scenery of Xiangyun. With the establishment of the workshop on the production technology of fire grass cloth, more and more Lisu people in Bailongtan have joined the inheritance team of fire grass cloth. The finished products of live straw cloth are also favored in Shanghai Peach Blossom Festival, Yunnan Tourism Fair, Yunnan Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition, and entering the community and campus. Gradually formed a cultural tourism industry chain that integrates folk festival consumption and intangible rural tourism experience. (Rodin Gu Guilan, Xiangyun County Culture and Tourism Bureau)