Looking for representative handicrafts in Nantong, Jiangsu.

Nantong, Jiangsu Province is located in the beautiful and rich alluvial plain of the Yangtze River Delta, bordering the Yellow Sea in the east and the Yangtze River in the south. Here, with mild climate, beautiful scenery and rich people, it is known as "the land of Chongchuan". Nantong has always been a place where people gather together, where Wuyue culture, Jingchu culture and Qilu culture blend together, forming a unique regional cultural style of Jianghai Plain. In the history of more than 1000 years, Nantong people have created and developed colorful and popular folk crafts. Such as tie-dyeing, colorful brocade, sentry kite (board kite), block printing, craft gourd, etc. Nantong blue calico is one of the most representative folk handicrafts. Nantong Blue Calico Museum founded by Wu Yuanxin is listed as the heritage base of China blue calico, and his "Nantong Blue Calico Printing and Dyeing Skills" is listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists. Nantong has also been named as "the hometown of blue calico", and these honorary titles are closely related to Wu Yuanxin's continuous research in the field of blue calico for more than 30 years and his persistence in inheriting the tradition. Nantong folk blue calico began in Ming Dynasty. Through the unremitting efforts of generations of folk artists, especially contemporary folk craftsmen, it has moved from a single home-made cloth product to a variety of fabric products, from practical life to various types of decoration, from fields to cities, and achieved unprecedented glory.

At the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Yu Xichang's ancestors moved from Jiangnan with genealogy and ancient books to escape the war. This not only brought abundant financial resources, but also brought the traditional technology of blue calico. There are the most blue calico dyehouses in Chengnan Dyehouse Park. After liberation, the main blue calico dyehouses in Yuxi town are: Wangzibiao dyehouse, Jichangchun dyehouse, and Yamenkou dyehouse. In the case of public-private partnership, Ji Changchun Dyehouse will join hands with Nantong City; Feng Jia Dyeing House and Hongying arrived in Erjia Town, Yuxi District, and the enterprise system has undergone several changes. The blue calico technology has also spread from the ancient town of Yuxi to Erjia Town, Yuxi District, and thus enjoys a good reputation at home and abroad in Nantong City. Yuxi Ancient Town is participating in the evaluation of China's famous historical and cultural town.

printing and dyeing technology

The most typical blue printed cotton cloth is white flowers on a blue background and blue flowers on a white background. White flowers on a blue background need only one disk, and the patterns formed are not connected with each other. Generally, two flower plates are overprinted with blue flowers on a white background. The first flower plate is called "front page" and the second flower plate is called "cover plate" when it is slightly dry. The cover plate is the connecting part covering the first pattern plate, which makes the pattern connection natural. It is difficult to carve blue flowers on a white background. They usually come from masters of folk artists. The traditional process of making this blue and white background color is complicated. Nantong folk blue calico is made by hand spinning, hand weaving and hand dyeing. Its patterns are all carved by hand, and each carved paper tray has a simple, rough and lively style like paper-cutting art, and its artistic image is often highly generalized and exaggerated, with strong local characteristics. Folk blue printing technology has basically maintained the traditional technology for hundreds of years, and its specific production process is as follows:

1, select the grey cloth.

In the process of selecting grey cloth, farmers generally choose fine cotton cloth and blue printed cloth; Ordinary grey cloth is mainly dyed with pure blue.

2, degreasing

Soak the selected cloth in water with additives such as Taikoo Oil at 50-60℃, then put the cloth in clean water, take it out after 2-3 days and dry it in the sun.

3. Paper mounting

Paper trays for carving flowers are usually made of 3-5 layers of paper. Paper is 2-3 layers of Guiyang paper or mulberry paper and 1-2 layers of Korean paper. Brush with homemade flour paste, dry it, brush with a layer of cooked tung oil, and then flatten it for later use.

4. Draw samples and alternate versions

First, make a brush with wool (4-5 cm in diameter), wrap one end tightly, and then replace the original sample with a brush with a little pigment powder or redesign a new sample.

5. Engraving edition

Generally, two or three layers of oil painting paper (kraft paper) are bound together to draw a general pattern on the kraft paper. Use a self-made carving knife instead of a knife to carve, and the knife should be vertical at all times, and strive to make the upper and lower layers have the same flower shape. After cutting the inclined plane with iron sheet, clamp and bind the carving knife with bamboo sheet. Carving knives can be divided into inclined single knife, double knife and iron round knife (commonly known as "chisel"). Single-knife faceted, double-knife scribed lines of equal width, chisels in several sizes, mainly chiseling the points needed for the faceplate. There are many ways to carve facets, lines and points in carving. The surface mainly uses the knife-breaking method to express large patterns, which is also the most typical knife method in blue calico. The lines in the blue calico pattern should be carved smoothly, and the lines are divided into negative lines and positive lines. "Carving points" are generally made with a self-made tool trowel, and points generally play a decorative role in the pattern. Besides carving, there are substitutes. The pages used in the early days were painted with colors to keep the patterns, and then carved so that they could be reused.

6. Tung oil

First, smooth the reverse side of the carved pattern with pebbles, then brush tung oil to reinforce it. After drying, brush the oil on the front and back for 2-3 times. Finally, dry and flatten it, classify and save it, and print and dye it directly if necessary.

7, scraping pulp

Before scraping the pulp, the grey cloth is sprinkled with water and then rolled up. The purpose of wetting is to make the white cloth absorb the dyed pulp better. Corn flour, wheat flour, glutinous rice flour, etc. It has been used as a dye-proof size for folk blue cloth. After several generations of exploration and practice, soybean powder with moderate viscosity was finally selected. However, simple soybean powder is easy to deteriorate in summer, and the cost is high. After adding lime powder, it is easy to scrape off not only the sizing, but also the mortar after dyeing. Therefore, people always use soybean flour and lime to make dye-proof pulp, the ratio is 1:0.7, and water is mixed to make it. According to the design requirements, glutinous rice flour and lime are sometimes used as dye-proof pulp. When mixing pulp, the thickness (viscosity) should be moderate. The finer the soybean flour, the more thoroughly the pulp is mixed, and the better the viscosity is. Put the engraved pattern on the white cloth and you can scrape the pulp. Force should be even when scraping pulp. In Jiangsu and Zhejiang, scrapers are generally forged of iron, and handles are made of logs. In Hunan and Hubei, they are also made of horns and boards. It is more important to pick up the plate when scraping. When the pattern is complex, the layout should be accurate and the typesetting should be free. Then, it takes two days to dry the grey cloth with dye-proof pulp in the shade. After the mortar is dried, it is put into the cylinder for dyeing.

8.dye ...

Pour indigo into a small jar, mix 5 kg indigo with 8 kg lime 10 kg rice wine and add some water to stir, so that indigo water turns yellow and indigo foam appears on the water surface. It is commonly known as "indigo flower" among the people, and then it is poured into a big jar for dyeing. Put the bamboo basket into the jar before dyeing. [ 1]

Process overview

Nantong blue printed cloth is made by hand engraving, hand scraping, hand dyeing, hand scraping, color fixing and air drying. Before dyeing, the anti-dye paste made of gypsum and soybean powder surrounds the white pattern on the homespun through the hollowed-out part of the pattern, and then dyes it with indigo to form a bright and harmonious blue and white beauty. The patterns of Nantong blue calico are simple and simple, mostly traditional broken branches, flowers, birds and animals, ancient figures and so on. They are very beautiful and elegant, so they are widely circulated among the people. Clothing, quilt cover, wall hanging, tablecloth, Baotou, curtain cloth, square towel and toy decorations made of blue printed cloth are not only daily necessities, but also unique and ornamental handicrafts. [2] The main producing area of Jiangsu and Zhejiang blue calico is Nantong, Jiangsu. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Nantong, Jiangsu Province has always been the cotton textile base in China, and the printed blue calico is "the best in the world". The printing and dyeing process of Nantong blue calico has continued to this day, and daily necessities are made by hand spinning, hand weaving and hand dyeing. Printing and dyeing patterns are mainly plants, flowers and animals, and there are also simple geometric figures. It is deeply loved by the masses because of its dirt resistance, wear resistance, firmness, practicality and auspicious patterns. It is famous for its harmonious blue and white beauty, full of strong local flavor, natural and fresh. Nantong is the key area of research, development and production of folk blue calico in China, and is known as the hometown of blue calico in China. [3]

Nantong blue calico museum

Nantong Blue Calico Museum was founded by China arts and crafts master Wu Yuanxin on 1997. It is the first professional museum in China integrating collection, exhibition, research, production and management. It has the Blue Clothes Research Institute of the Blue Calico Museum, the Dyeing House of the Blue Calico Museum in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the Tourism Product Development and Exhibition Department of the Blue Calico Museum. Since its opening ten years ago, * * has participated in more than 30 exhibitions at home and abroad and received more than 500,000 Chinese and foreign guests. The Blue Calico Museum devotes all its efforts to carry forward and inherit the traditional folk blue calico, and has collected more than ten thousand pieces of objects and pictures 1 10,000 since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and preserved a large number of outstanding folk products. It has published The Collection Volume of China Blue Calico and China, which were inscribed by the famous artist Mr. Zhang Ding, the famous writer Mr. Feng Jicai, the professor of Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts Mr. Li Mianlu, Mr. Yuan Yunfu, the international artist Han Meilin and many other famous scholars. The book was published by Shanghai People's Publishing House, which filled the blank of our country's blue calico pattern monograph. [4]