What are the traditional batik crafts?

Miao people have a long history of batik printing, and the Yi people in Southwest China (the later Han Dynasty) have records of "knowing dyeing, color and embroidery", which shows that the ethnic minorities in Southwest China mastered the skills of dyeing, weaving and embroidery at least in the Han Dynasty. There are two legends about the origin of Miao batik. One is the story that Chiyou, the ancestor of Miao nationality, fought against the Yellow Emperor, and Chiyou was captured and sentenced to death, which resulted in the dyeing method of "wind leaves as a dye repellent".

It is said that batik was originally used to imitate the patterns on bronze drums. The method is to cover the copper drum with a cloth, rub it back and forth with wax, and then dye it. The pattern on the bronze drum is transferred to the cloth, which is a bit like a rubbing. Later, we used wood carvings to imitate the patterns of bronze drums, then put the wood carvings on white cloth, poured wax liquid into the hollowed-out patterns and dyed them with indigo. This method is similar to printing on clothes.

This phenomenon is related to the worship of batik by Miao people, who take possession of many exquisite batik products as their virtue. Many branches not only use batik as decoration in ancestor worship, weddings, funerals, festivals and other important occasions, but also can not do without small and exquisite batik products. Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan Miao batiks use special wax knives to spot wax, and use beeswax to melt juice to draw flowers on white cloth. Take out boiling water after dyeing, and flowers will appear after dewaxing. The making method is to spread a piece of white cloth on the table first, and then put the beeswax into a small pot.

Among Miao batiks, Danzhai in Guizhou is the most representative. On the thirteenth ancestor worship festival and the ancient Tibetan calendar festival, the Li family will receive several offerings, which are decorated with batik patterns, mostly dragon patterns, showing the dragon totem worship of the Miao people. The dragon pattern of Miao nationality is different from that of Han nationality. The dragon pattern of Miao nationality has no sharp claws and teeth.

The patterns are mostly simple and solemn bronze drum patterns and vortex patterns. In addition, the Miao batiks in Nayong and Shuicheng in northwest Guizhou also have their own characteristics. Its patterns are dense and full, with flowers, butterflies, grass and some geometric patterns. Because batik evolved from imitating bronze drum patterns, many bronze drum patterns, such as ganoderma lucidum patterns and moire patterns, were preserved in batik.