【Commentary】In the workshop, the sound of the machine is sounding, and the shuttles are deftly shuttling between the longitude and latitude lines. The "weaver girls" skillfully make the "intangible cultural heritage at their fingertips" - Huichang earthen cloth. Located in Dongkaizhang Village, Yongji City, Shanxi Province, Huichang Tubu Cultural Tourism Industrial Park is very lively.
The local earthen cloth production is complex and exquisite, and it goes through 72 processes such as ginning, bouncing, whole cotton wool, spinning, bending thread, dyeing thread, tasseling, brushing thread, weaving, hammering cloth, etc., to make a finished product. These earthen cloths are colorful, beautifully patterned and comfortable to the touch, and are known as "breathing earthen cloths".
Yu Yanping, secretary of the party branch of Dongkaizhang Village, Yongji City, Shanxi Province
Huichang old coarse cloth (production) has a total of more than 70 processes, the first process is to rub cotton wool, and then spinning, turning wire, threading, pulp line, dyeing thread, barreling, tongue closing and other more than 70 processes. Closing the tongue is to pass the threads through the inside of the tongue one by one, which is more troublesome.
【Commentary】Shanxi Yongji is a national high-quality cotton production base, and old coarse cloth has been used in the people for more than a thousand years. The villagers of Dongkaizhang Village weave their own cloth and make clothes, and their craftsmanship is passed down from generation to generation. Relying on traditional craftsmanship, in 2006, the local Huichang Cotton Professional Cooperative was established. The coarse cloth produced here is skin-friendly and comfortable, and it is very popular with the market.
Yu Yanping, secretary of the party branch of Dongkaizhang Village, Yongji City, Shanxi Province
In 2006, we organized more than 60 women to start the handmade cloth heritage. So far, we have participated in the production of old coarse cloth, and currently more than 300 people are weaving cloth in the factory, and we have solved nearly 180 surplus laborers in the village.
【Commentary】In 2012, Huichang Cultural Creative Company was established to carry out the design and development of old coarse cloth. At present, it can produce more than 100 kinds of products such as bedding, clothing, cloth shoes, etc., directly driving the employment of more than 800 people. The "weaver girls" of weaving in the workshop are the youngest 51 years old and the oldest 96 years old, with a per capita monthly income of more than 2000,<> yuan.
【During the same period】Hu 17, a villager in Dongkaizhang Village, Yongji City, Shanxi Province
I started weaving cloth when I was a child, and it was not difficult to learn to weave at that time. Since childhood, he has been mainly based on earthen cloth at home. Dry for seven or eight hours a day, weaving one meter of cloth an hour.
Yu Liangliang, a villager in Dongkaizhang Village, Yongji City, Shanxi Province
There is a lot of life at home, and I am usually here when I am fine. There are old people, they can't go out, and doing this can subsidize the family.
【Explanation】In 2021, Huichang earthen cloth making skills were selected into the fifth batch of national representative items of intangible cultural heritage. Today, Dongkaizhang Village has built Huichang Tubu Cultural Tourism Industrial Park with Huichang Tubu as its core industry. The women in the village not only "weave" a happy life with looms, but also "weave" traditional handmade earthen cloth out of the country.
Yu Yanping, secretary of the party branch of Dongkaizhang Village, Yongji City, Shanxi Province
Now there are more than 100 kinds of products, after all, they are handmade, the annual output is limited, the annual output value is more than 8000 million yuan, sold to Singapore, South Africa, Russia. There are also a lot of orders across the country, and basically the supply is still in short supply. Since February this year, I have received more than <>,<> students.
Reporter Wang Huilin reported from Yuncheng, Shanxi
Responsible Editor: [Li Ji]