What is straw weaving?

Straw weaving is a handicraft made by hand with all kinds of straw and straw. Straw weaving is one of the traditional handicrafts in China and enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad.

The famous straw weaves are: Zhejiang approximate straw weaves, Lu Yu wheat straw weaves, Guangdong yellow grass weaves, Hunan Gracilaria lemaneiformis, Taiwan Province straw mats and so on. The fine products of Zhejiang straw weaving are: Yin county straw mat, similar straw hat and Malan straw basket, among which Malan straw basket was once known as "the star of straw weaving" in the United States. Shandong straw braid is the most famous straw braid. Straw hat braid is a traditional handicraft in Shandong province, which can be woven into more than 100 varieties. Shandong straw hat braid and Zhejiang golden silk straw hat are two famous straw hats in China. There are more than 200 varieties of straw in Shandong.

Straw weaving is a handicraft made of various flexible herbs. Its raw materials grow widely and are easy to obtain and make, so the straw weaving technology is very popular in China. At present, the earliest straw-woven relics in China were made by Hemudu people, 7000 years ago. According to the Book of Rites, by the Zhou Dynasty, there were already ten thousand seats made of ten thousand cattails, and there were also professional "grass workers" who were "tools of cattail reed". In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, people began to use hats made by Ma Xuan and Pucao.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, straw weaving was widely used by the people, including straw sandals, straw mats, straw fans, straw curtains and futons, for monks and believers to meditate. From the Han Dynasty to the prosperous Tang Dynasty, straw weaving also developed. Besides clothes and shoes made of cattail, there are also cattail sails made of cattail.

Most of the raw materials for straw weaving in the Yangtze River Basin are wild yellow grass, perilla grass, mat grass (water grass), Hypericum japonicum, cattail grass, Chinese alpine rush, iris, weeds, recommended grass, bamboo shells, bamboo shells and so on. There are also some artificially cultivated crop straws that are also raw materials. Straw mats, straw sandals and other daily necessities are the most distinctive in the Yangtze River valley, distributed in Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and other places.