Straw weaving

Straw weaving

Grass weaving is a popular folk handicraft. It makes use of the grass produced in different places to make materials locally and weave into various daily necessities, such as basket, fruit box, cup set, pot mat, hat, slippers and pillow mat, etc. Some use pre-dyed grass with various colors to weave various patterns, and some use pre-dyed grass to print decorative patterns. It is not only economical and practical, but also beautiful and generous.

In 2008, it was selected as the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

Historical origin

Grass knitting is a kind of handicraft made from various flexible herbs. Its raw materials grow in a wide range of areas, and easy to get, so straw weaving technology is very popular among the Chinese people.

In order to make the works circulate for a long time, the producers gradually use ribbons instead of plant leaves. Some use pre-dyed grass with various colors to weave various patterns, and some use pre-dyed grass to print decorative patterns. It is not only economical and practical, but also beautiful and generous.

According to textual research, as of December 30, 2012, we can see that the earliest cursive relics in China were made by Hemudu people, 7000 years ago. According to the Book of Rites, there were Guanxi banquets in the Zhou Dynasty compiled by Guan (Pucao). At that time, there were professional "grass workers" and "tools for reed cultivation". By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were hats made of Hemerocallis fulva and cattail grass. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, straw weaving was widely used among the people, including straw shoes, straw mats, straw fans, straw curtains, and putuan for monks and followers to meditate. From the Han Dynasty to the flourishing Tang Dynasty, the drafting was also developed. In addition to cattail clothes and shoes, there are cattail sails.

The raw materials for straw weaving in the Yangtze River Basin are mostly wild yellow grass, sassafras, mat grass (Herba Clematis), hypericum, cattail grass, loquat grass, iris, sargassum, bamboo husk, and so on. The cultivated straw is also used as raw materials for straw weaving. Suitable for straw knitting, straw stem smooth, less knots, fine and flexible, with strong tension and folding resistance; the harvested straw must be selected, sorted out and processed before it can be compiled. Grass mats, straw shoes and other daily necessities are the most distinctive types of straw weaving in the Yangtze River Basin. They are distributed in Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, among which Zhejiang is the production base of Chinese straw weaving and has been sold abroad since the 1940s.

Grass weaving is widely distributed in China. The main producing areas are Shandong, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Henan. Farmers and artists make use of rich local resources such as corn husk, mat grass, grass and wheat straw. Knitted into hats, baskets, slippers, handbags, carpets, sleeping mats and other daily necessities, the variety of colors, good quality, rich in simple and elegant style, popular at home and abroad.

In addition, Sichuan's Brown knitting and Zhejiang's hemp knitting are also famous for their solid, wear-resistant, light and comfortable traditional characteristics.

Main varieties

There are wheat straw weaving in Hebei, Henan and Shandong, Jiading in Shanghai, Huangcao weaving in Gaoyao and Dongguan in Guangdong, golden thread weaving in Zhejiang, Longxu weaving in Hunan and grass mat weaving in Taiwan.

Straw mattress

A straw mat is a mat woven with flexible straw stems. Generally, a straw mat cannot be folded, but can only be rolled up. But the improved straw mat can fold and store. Grass mat absorbs water more strongly. Grass-woven artwork (straw mat) Jiangsu mat, Yizheng Park mat and Zhejiang Ningxi are also known as the "three national seats". Substraw mat is made of natural herbs by crushing, drying, anti-mildew, sterilization and wire drawing. Historically, Park Xi Town has said that "nine wells and eighteen alleys in three bays are busy weaving seats in every household". The products of Park Xi are strong, well-knitted, clean and uniform in color, and have the reputation of "upright, watertight, and twenty years of good". At present, the largest straw mat trading center in East China, Chunghwa Puxi City, has been built.

Jiangsu Puxi, produced in Yizheng Puxi Village, Jiangsu Province, is characterized by strict grass selection, strong hemp tendons, sophisticated weavers, close weaving, smooth mat surface and durability. It is called "standing up, holding water and not leaking, not bad for twenty years". Tiger mat in Suzhou, produced in the Qing Dynasty, is a kind of mat made by the grass near Huqiu in Suzhou. Gu Lu's "Tongqiao Yishilu": "The best person is Tiger Hill. See"Gusu Zhi". Shantang is only one or two stores. There are two different kinds of mats: Pu mat and Tan mat. In the past, the residents around the mountain had many kinds of sown grass, and weaving mats was their business. They were called "tiger beard mats" in all directions. They were extremely delicate and could not be found anywhere else. The weavers of this kind of seaweed are very close to Huqiu, but the names of Tiger Hill still have a number of seats. Hunan Linwulong grass mat, Laotian grass mat, Qiyang grass mat and Wuyang recommendation grass mat (blanket) are also very famous.

Straw sandals

Straw shoes are made of straw, which is the product of rice culture. The production of straw shoes is very simple. It only needs to make the sole, twist the straw rope at the foot, and tie the knot with straw rope after the heel is connected with the sole. This shoe is cheap, delicate and easy to walk. It can be worn for daily work up and down hills. If the soles are worn out in the evening, they are often discarded. Therefore, it is also called "no hesitation", "no borrowing". Each pair of shoes is updated day by day. According to legend, straw shoes began in the Xia Dynasty, to the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States, the princes and nobles also fashionable wear these shoes. Chuang Tzu, a great thinker, not only knitted himself, but also wore worn straw shoes to see King Wei. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, the nobles no longer wore straw shoes, which became vulgar things for the people. The literati once wrote the words of straw shoes: "Young people, young people and old people come to Huang, ten thousand dollars and ten thousand dollars knot into a pair. He knots with one heart when he can, but he is afraid that others will say something short or long. I accept the rain and clouds, but unfortunately I can't go into the orchid house. One day, my stomach will be broken and I will abandon the old love and leave the new road next to it.

There are many kinds of straw shoes in the Yangtze River basin. The straw shoes made of cloth strips instead of straw are called "straw shoes", the straw shoes made of hemp are called "straw shoes" and the straw shoes made of kudzu vine are called "straw shoes of kudzu vine". Similar in shape, they are suitable for walking on steep rocky cliffs, rugged mountain roads, mossy stone roads and muddy ridges. The mountainous areas where moso bamboo is abundant are shoe-weaving with shell, which is more sharp and durable in rainy days, and mostly used by mountain people. The cattail shoe, which is made of cattail grass, has boat-shaped upper, which is superior to straw shoes, and is worn by small merchants and shop assistants. Hanzhou straw shoes in Sichuan Province were originally made of cereal straw as the main raw material, several hemp ropes as warp and cereal straw as weft. Later, in order to be beautiful, the hemp rope nose was changed to color silk thread, and the hemp rope for shoes was changed to color ribbon. It is said that this kind of comfortable and light straw shoes was once favored by Emperor Qianlong. In the old days, the local people paid tribute to silk ear straw shoes in early summer. Since then, more women have woven straw shoes in Hanzhou, and the technology has been constantly improved. Zhizhou in Hanzhou also set up a straw shoe market opposite the Yamen Gate to facilitate the selection of tribute shoes for officials. Nantong produces a kind of straw boot, also known as "Pushoe", which is made of reed flower twisted into flower rope. It is a practical handicraft with good warming effect. The stage pier village in Wuzhong Township of Nantong County is Maoshu Village, where there used to be many ditches and branching branches with strong cold soil and heavy alkali atmosphere. It is suitable for reed growth. As the main material of reed boots, reed flowers are readily available. Because the material of making reed boots is easy to get, the technique is simple, and it can resist cold and moisture, so it is easy to popularize. Here men and women, old and young, will be compiled. Generally, the sole is made before the beginning of spring. When the summer Luhua blossoms, picking the Luhua and drying, they begin to insert the bottom of the boots with the reed rope, along the blue print edge, a pair of thick and generous, hand-made fine boots will be made. Maotai boots are a local well-known sideline.

Other classes

Jiading, Shanghai

It is famous for making daily-use crafts. Jiading straw weaving takes yellow grass as raw material. Huangcao belongs to Cyperaceae, a monocotyledon plant. It is native to the beach river in Dongchengqiao Town, Jiading. It is called "the number of Huangcao produced by famous city treasures". The stem of yellow grass is smooth and flexible. Since the Ming Dynasty, local residents have used it to weave cattail shoes. Huangcao was well developed in Guangxu period. In modern times, yellow grass has developed into artificial cultivation. Knitted varieties include hats, bags, bags, blankets, etc. The design is simple and beautiful, cheap and tasteful, light and durable. Grass knitting technology is also abundant in Changhe, Taizhou, Wenzhou, Huangyan and other places in Cixi, Zhejiang Province. There are various kinds of daily necessities and toys.

The Yellow River Basin

Taking Shandong and Henan as representatives, Shandong is particularly prosperous.

According to the pottery unearthed from the Dawenkou Cultural Site in Tai'an City in 1959, the folk cursive edition in Shandong Province existed as early as 6000 years ago. Folk straw knitting technology can be divided into wheat straw knitting, corn husk knitting, cattail straw knitting, Langya straw knitting, horse mixing straw knitting, trigonal straw knitting, straw knitting, hemp knitting, arrowhead (also known as "oil straw") knitting and so on. Among them, wheat straw weaving, corn husk weaving and cattail grass weaving are the most common. According to the use of knitted fabrics, there are baskets, baskets, boxes, plates, boxes, tea mats, cushions, basket cages, rice bags, fences, vegetable sieves, pot caps, fans, flower pot sets, paper baskets, letterboxes, tea cup sets, straw toys and so on. There are straw hats (gift caps, children's caps caps, hat, sun caps, hemp caps, etc.) and straw shoes (traditional winter wearing "Pu" There are also various kinds of slippers and sandals, castor clothes, cornskin sandals, and so on. There are grass screens for furniture, and grass carpets, umbrellas, wall decoration paper, straw wallpaper and so on for architecture and interior decoration. In addition, there are various straw braids as semi-finished products. According to the classification of technology, there are various kinds of goods, such as cargo compilation, cargo masonry, chain cargo and nail cargo. As a kind of traditional arts and crafts products and agricultural handicraft products, straw weaving is widely distributed in Shandong Province. The more concentrated areas are Yantai, Weifang, Binzhou, Liaocheng, Qingdao and Jinan.

Shahe Town, Laizhou City, Yantai City, is the early distribution center of Chinese straw weaving and intangible cultural heritage. It is still a very active place for straw weaving production. The straw braids, mats, hats and boxes made from wheat straw still have traditional characteristics. Grass braids, such as "Shahe Huang", "Shahe Bai" and thousands of "pattern braids", are well-known both at home and abroad for their exquisite craftsmanship and fabrication.

The main products of straw weaving in Yantai have been changed from straw weaving to corn skin weaving. Corn skin carpets in Haiyang and Rushan, Malian stack basket in Haiyang, twisted bar basket in Longkou and corn skin door curtain in Zhaoyuan are all popular products with distinctive features. Changyi County of Weifang City is famous for hand-knitted straw hats. Golden silk straw hats produced locally are very valuable. Up to now, rural women in the county can knit many kinds of straw hats by hand.

Tancheng County in Linyi District is a famous producing area of Royal Grass Knitted Fabrics. Langyacao, also known as Huangcao, was named Langyacao because its main producing area was Tancheng County in Qin Dynasty. Langyacao leaves are slender, soft and elastic, suitable for weaving. Local people have used them for generations to weave straw shoes. In 1913, local Yang Xitang and others created a straw hat knitting technology based on the folk weaving method, in which the yak grass was the weft and the yak grass was the warp, which made the straw hat knitted by the yak grass famous in the world. There are various techniques in Yamao weaving: eye weaving, rhythmic harmony, eagle claw pattern, lively and dynamic, and rope-grass weaving with spacious style. The combination of several weaving methods has the effect of combining reality, density and shade. Besides straw hats, there are slippers, basket, tea cup sets, fruit boxes, flower boxes and so on. Pingdu city is also the traditional area of grass weaving production in Shandong Province, with wheat straw braid and straw tea mat being the most distinctive products.

Boxing County in Binzhou area has its own unique features in cattail tea mats and cushions woven by twisting technology. They insist on keeping pace with the times and focus on making various kinds of grass wall mats with reeds and cattails, making traditional grass into interior building materials of modern buildings.

Shandong straw knitting technology is very rich, commonly used are braid, plain knitting, twist knitting, flower knitting (such as "Ma Linduo", "Set Button", "Chain Button", "Small Wave", "Cross Button", "Curved Button", "Zongzi Button", "Plum Blossom Button"), coning method, series nail, series nail, twist buckle, entanglement saw, entanglement, wrapping, twisting, folding, sewing embroidery, etc.). Paste, cut flowers Zale all kinds.

In the hands of the creative Shandong people, Shandong straw weaving, which is rich in history and folk tradition, will become a modern folk handicraft with the style of the times and weave happiness, harmony and happiness for the modern life of all mankind.

Inheritance significance

Grass weaving is a traditional Chinese folk handicraft with rich cultural connotation and accumulation. Its value is not only confined to an economic and practical chain, but also has a high aesthetic pleasure and appreciation function.

Raw material craftsman

Raw material area

[Magnolia japonica in Hunan] [Sucao in Jiangsu and Zhejiang] [Wheat grass in Shandong] Scraping rattan [Red willow of Hebei] [Grey rattan of Rucheng]

The raw materials vary from region to region. The raw materials for straw weaving in the Yangtze River Basin are mostly wild yellow grass, SOD grass, mat grass (Hairwort), golden thread grass, cattail grass, Longxu grass, horseshoe grass, sarsage, recommendation grass, bamboo husk, and so on. The cultivated straw is also used as raw materials for straw weaving. In the Yellow River basin, for example, straw weaving in Hebei, Henan and Shandong is mostly wheat straw. In addition, there are yellow straw in Dongguan, golden thread grass in Zhejiang and Longxu grass in Hunan.

Craftsman

Li Yong Mei

Qiao Daughter-in-law Li Yongmei makes Liu Bian and returns a Santana every year.

Li Yongmei, a 27-year-old farm woman in Xiaowangzhuang Village, Dongshu Town, Ningyang County, has a set of delicate willow knitting. Ordinary wickers can be turned into more than 2000 kinds of handicraft products such as flower baskets, fruit baskets, food boxes and so on, all sold abroad. Li Yongmei told reporters: "I can earn a Santana with wicker in one year!"

Xia Xiao Bing

He was a self-taught man who could weave different animals out of palm leaves. He integrates with each other and applies the "True Classic" of bamboo strips compiled by his grandfather to the braiding of palm leaves. After special treatment, the handicraft he has worked out will not be deformed for 50 years.

Small pheasant tail 600 folds

The grass weaver, Xia Xiaobing, lives in Lishui County and Fengzhen.

Walking into his house, we can see hundreds of crafts, including Jiaolong, which is one meter long and has different shapes, and grasshoppers, which are as small as fingers. Xia Xiaobing introduced that among all the crafts, it is more difficult to compile Jiaolong. The first is the selection of materials. Each palm leaf is about the same size. In addition, it is double-sided. Every time, according to his imagination, he worked out dragons with different shapes, such as takeoff dragons, platforms on pillars, upraised dragons and bowed dragons. The reporter picked up a pheasant and could see the shining eyes. Xia Xiaobing introduced that a small pheasant had 600 wrinkles on its tail.

He said that he was afraid to make too many cursive works of art before, because the fresh brown leaves did not last long, the leaves dried, and the animals deformed accordingly. However, after four years of groping and trying more than thirty methods, he mastered the preservation method. He was inspired by his grandfather. Grandfather originally made bamboo strips. In order to make bamboo strips flexible and insect-resistant, bamboo strips were boiled in boiling water in a large iron pot every time, so that the bamboo strips would not be deformed in 50 years. Xia Xiaobing also tried to boil the brown leaves in a pot, and the results were really like bamboo strips, soft and tough, and insect-proof. Small animals made in this way can not be broken, torn, very strong, and not afraid of water immersion!

Eighteen years old, working for a career

When Xiaobing Xia was 12 years old, he often picked palm leaves after school, looked at the leaping grasshoppers, and played with them like a fiddle. He showed it to his classmates. Everyone said it was like that.

When he was 18 years old, he made grasshoppers and sold them on the street. He sold them for 90 yuan in an hour, which touched me a lot. Xia Xiaobing started his childhood skills and decided to work as a career. When he attended an exchange meeting outside, he knitted a lot of grasshoppers and mantis, but none of them was sold. He had the ingenuity to compile butterflies, dragonflies and many other small animals on the spot. As a result, he attracted many children's eyes at once. Everyone rushed to buy them, and both grasshoppers and Mantis were sold well. In about 10 minutes, Xia Xiaobing can make peacocks and phoenixes.

The greatest wish is to rush out of the country.

With the market for straw-knitted animals, Xia Xiaobing's reputation is growing. Every major event, Lishui County Cultural Bureau, Tourism Bureau and other units invited him to participate. In October 2012, when he was invited to attend the only cursive exhibition in Nanjing Art Exhibition Center, the booth was crowded with people. The original three-day spare materials were not expected to run out in a day and a half. A long line was formed for customers who ordered cursive crafts from him.

Although the grass-woven varieties developed to pigeons, mandarin ducks and Jiaolong, he still felt that they were not enough to reflect Chinese traditional culture, so he racked his brains and came up with the twelve zodiac. He lay down in front of the TV and watched the animal models in the animal world and cartoons. Two months later, the twelve zodiac cursive artworks came out.

Xia Xiaobing's greatest wish is to register Xia Xiaobing brand cursive arts and crafts, and hang new products on the Internet, sell to all parts of the country, or even rush out of the country, so that Chinese traditional culture can spread to all parts of the world.