Guarding the "Shu Valerian" for thousands of years, they "stained" a piece of sky in the deep mountains of Wumeng
Our reporter Wu Guangyu
"Blue is taken from blue and blue is blue." Green is the indigo dye dyed by the ancients; blue is blue grass, and its root has a well-known name-isatis root.
From blue grass to dye, it has to go through a long process of picking, lowering the altar, removing the slag, washing the ash, stirring, precipitating, and producing indigo. Add plant ash, rice wine, glutinous rice, spring water, and wait for 5 to 7 days. After fermentation The dyeing water gradually changed from blue to light green, and then changed to dark green, yellow, and dark brown...After experiencing such "lifting up", you can dye cloth.
Before dip-dyeing, the fabric should be "tied" with a string, or wrinkled, or folded, or rolled, or squeezed, then stitched up and tied up stitch by stitch, tightly stitched and put into the dyeing vat .
After dip-dyeing for a while, pick up the fabric and remove the valerian knot. The water-soaked part is still green when exposed to air, and gradually turns blue after oxidation. The degree of dip-dyeing determines the color of the fabric...
Today, when colorful textiles are at your fingertips, in Xuyong County of Sichuan Province in the depths of Wumeng Mountain, a group of left-behind women still follow the ancient ways, immersing the fluttering garments with the colors bred by nature.
Their hands are thick and rough, but the tie-dyeing skills flowing through their fingertips are exquisite and delicate.
Learning, inheriting, creating... They continue the ancient skills and use it to create a new life.
Deep Mountain Dyeing Vat
Tie-dye has been recorded since the Qin and Han dynasties.
In Sichuan, it is named "Shu Valerian" because of its unique craftsmanship.
"Shu Valerian" has been continuously used in folk incense for more than 2000 years, but it has disappeared for many years in Xuyong County, Luzhou City, deep in Wumeng Mountain.
Back in time to 2015, the original Department of Culture of Sichuan Province took over the task of helping Xuyong County, and Fan Wen, a professor at the Sichuan Sculpture Art Institute, was assigned to be responsible for the investigation and project implementation of poverty alleviation work.
Fan Wen has only dealt with Yangchun Baixue all his life, and Fan Wen is very nervous about this task.
She still remembered that during the initial survey, a group of people came from the hustle and bustle of the city to the green hills and the gurgling countryside, feeling refreshed and happy.
However, it is difficult to see a few middle-aged people in the village, who appear depressed and silent.
Following the cadres in the village, the Miao embroidery and batik in some farmers’ houses made Fan Wen's eyes shine, and a thought suddenly flashed: "We can teach the villagers to do tie-dye on this basis."
In the 1980s, when Fan Wen's mother Zhong Maolan was teaching at the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, she looked for tie-dye masters and learned art from her teacher.
The past reappeared before her eyes again, those endless patterns, pure and freehand colors, and simplicity contained endless beauty, which made her fascinated.
"Xuyong is a multi-ethnic settlement area, and the design of patterns can be combined with the characteristics of ethnic minorities. There are abundant plant species here. The isatis root, hematoxylin and turmeric used as dyes can all be sourced locally; tie-dyeing is also relatively easy to use. My mother has 50 Many years of practice and teaching experience can assist in teaching." Fan Wen returned to Chengdu, reported his ideas and quickly received support.
On October 10, 2017, with the support of the Sichuan Sculpture Art Institute, the first training course of tie-dye art finally started in Xixi Village, Shuiwei Town, Xuyong County.
Fan Wen took his parents who were over 80 years old and took a 7-hour car ride along the winding mountain road to Xixi Village.
Many of her younger brothers and sisters also came to "get to the place". A breastfeeding girlfriend even ran to Xuyong with a breast pump. Two volunteer teachers, who were nearly 70 years old, made a special trip from Chongqing. Assist in teaching...
At the opening ceremony, Zhong Maolan excitedly told the students: "My tie-dye art is learned from the folks, and I must double it back to the folks."
White cloth dyed colors
However, teaching a craft about "beauty" to the villagers is like dyeing a pattern on a white cloth. The process is not easy.
Only 15 people came in the first class of the training course, and there were 6 left on the second day.
"At first, I really didn't want to learn. I felt that it was too time consuming. I might as well dig more bamboo shoots to make money." Xixi Villager Zhang Kaili recalled.
Sitting among the daughter-in-laws, Zhang Kaili, who is thin, always looks very worried.
Her husband works outside all the year round. She has to take care of the food and daily life of her four children and her parents-in-law. There is still endless farm work in the field.
People are in the classroom, but the heart is still at home.
In the first class, Zhong Maolan started with the relatively simple "pinch dyeing method"-first use chopsticks or clamps to clamp the cloth together, and the clamped area is less exposed to dyes, resulting in beautiful patterns.
A small handkerchief, because of the embellishment of a few blue water ripples, suddenly appeared agile.
This made Zhang Kaili's eyes bright, following the teacher's steps step by step, she was also successful.
After that, the teacher began to teach more complex patterns. Considering that the students did not have any art foundation, she simply drew all the patterns on cardboard and cut them into models.
The women draw calabashes according to the gourd, outline them according to the model, and then freely combine them.
Pillowcases, scarves, tablecloths, tea seats... were born one by one.
Zhang Kaili gradually became fascinated.
The grass that was not weeded in the ground, and the pot stove that was not cleaned in time were left behind for the time being. She recorded every step the teacher said in detail. Suddenly she found back when she was a little girl many years ago, sitting in the classroom hungry and thirsty. The feeling of absorbing knowledge and nutrients.
Master the basic skills, the design is all personal.
The teacher found that Zhang Kaili had a unique insight into the color and the design of ornamentation.
The colors of her works are full of changes, and the patterns are simple and exquisite.
"What a delicate and rich heart this is." Fan Wen sighed.
At the end of the first training session, Fan Wen took the works of the training class to the poverty alleviation exhibition held by the Cultural Tourism Department and sold hundreds of dollars.
"It seems that doing tie-dye can really make money." The women began to discuss.
In the second training session, the number of people suddenly increased. Old sisters from the village came in twos and threes to find poverty alleviation cadres.
During the holidays, Zhang Kaili also signed up for her daughter and niece who went to junior high school.
Tao Jiaxiu, 68, was also fascinated.
"Since class started, I was lying in the quilt at night with my hands still drawing patterns on the outside of the quilt."
Each training class is held in the mountains, and there is a scene that Chongqing volunteer teacher Chen Wei has never remembered.
One night there was a sudden power outage during a class. I thought that the students would disperse, but I didn't expect someone to find a flashlight. Everyone gathered together and listened attentively.
At that moment, the light in their eyes was extremely shining.
Stained the sky
In September 2018, Zhang Kaili followed Fan Wenhe and the cadres in the village for the first time away from her hometown-to Xi'an to participate in the Western China Cultural Industry Expo.
Standing in the crowded exhibition hall, being surrounded by people asking about this and that, she suddenly realized the feeling of "confidence".
"This is not my world originally, but I walked away with my own ability."
More than ten days later, the Australian Workstation of the Federation of Returned Persons from Sichuan Province held the Sichuan Food Culture Festival in Melbourne.
At the charity dinner, more than 200 tie-dye works from Xuyong made their debut.
A 7-meter-long and 2.6-meter-wide wall hanging made by Zhang Kaili sold for 800 Australian dollars (about 4,000 yuan).
The work is dotted with more than 400 white "spider flowers" of various shapes, which took her 14 days.
This once again strengthened her confidence.
In 2018, Xuyong County established a tie-dyeing batik Miao embroidery professional cooperative, and both Xixi Village and Qunying Village established tie-dyeing workshops.
The flowers, birds, fish and insects of nature are transformed into primitive dresses, scarves, handbags in a pair of clever hands... to decorate the lives of people far away.
Zhang Kaili spent almost all her free time thinking about this craft. She also tried to use many plants to make natural dyes. The colors were richer and the works became more exquisite.
This summer, she tried to teach the nature experience camp, teaching tie-dye to the children in the city.
Today, tie-dye has become her most important source of income, which can increase her income by more than 20,000 yuan a year.
It's not just her who embraces the change.
"My hands were originally used to grow crops. Now I start tie-dyeing. I have a way to increase income and an appreciation of beauty." In May of this year, Liu Xinglian, director of the tie-dye and batik poverty alleviation workshop in Mani Town, walked in festive costumes of the Miao nationality. Entered Southwest Medical University and gave a hand-dye class to college students.
That day was the highlight of her 55-year-old life.
For the 68-year-old Zou Hongying, tie-dye not only brings hope of increasing income, but also heals her grief of losing a loved one.
"I feel comfortable doing tie-dyeing and immersing in it," she said.
Strolling in Mani Town, Xuyong County, you can find "Xuyong tie-dye" in courts, restaurants, and guest houses.
Women are also used to putting a tie-dye pillow on their sofa, a tie-dye bed on the bed, and a tie-dye painting on the wall...Tie-dye has quietly integrated into the daily life of the small town of Wumeng Mountain.
In the past four years, the team of only 6 people has grown. Now it has covered more than 260 villagers in 12 villages in 8 townships in Xuyong County. The oldest of them is 83 years old.
Both the cadres in the village and them firmly believe that the future of rural revitalization is bred in this craft.
Countless love also gathered here: some enthusiastic people donated 10 sewing machines to the cooperative; some promoted "Xuyong tie-dye" overseas; caring companies started free advertisements on the high-speed trains sent from Chengdu to the whole country; Kuanzhai Alleys and Dachuan Alleys in Chengdu, which are rich in land, provide free sales channels...
In July of this year, a group of teachers from all directions gathered in Mani Town, Suryong. Although it was the eighth training course, the popularity remained undiminished.
Chen Aidi, a tie-dye teacher from Shanghai, repeatedly emphasized the design concept and quality control of the works.
Because the stitches were not neat enough, a handbag in Zou Hongying's hand was asked to redo it five times.
"Our tie-dye cannot always rely on the help of others to sell products. We must make something with competitive quality and style to gain a firm foothold in the market." Chen Aidi repeatedly urged them.
Attentive women nodded, and in the workshop late at night, their feet stepped on the sewing machine in a cheerful rhythm.