Photo: China Blue Printed Cloth Museum Source/Interviewee Courtesy of (the same below)
Under the sycamore trees shaded by the greenery of Changle Road, there is a small detached bungalow hidden deep in the alley. Here is located the first Chinese blue printing cloth hall, officially opened in the late 1980s, the protection of traditional Chinese blue printing cloth in the lost time, has been interviewed by CCTV several times, recommended by travel guides from various countries, has become an important window for foreigners to visit Shanghai, understand Chinese culture, inherit intangible cultural heritage skills.
The bungalow is mainly exhibited on two floors, the first floor sells all kinds of textiles made of blue printed cloth, and the second floor is the China Blue Printed Cloth Museum. Here are mainly displayed four categories of blue printed fabric products made by intangible cultural heritage, covering clothing, handicrafts, fabrics, wall hangings and other common textiles in life, floral cloth patterns originate from life, carrying a deep cultural and artistic accumulation, full of strong folk customs.
This year's Spring Festival, if you are interested, why don't you walk into this small building, go to this place with a "splendid heritage", and take a look?
A non-heritage love affair that condenses Sino-Japanese friendship
Blue printing cloth, dating back to more than 1900 years of history, originated from the Western Han Dynasty, the Ming and Qing Dynasties were the most prosperous, is the most popular textile products, blue printing cloth printing and dyeing technology is a national intangible cultural heritage. The birth of China Blue Printing Cloth Hall stems from a story of Sino-Japanese friendship, in the early 1950s, when China and Japan had not yet established diplomatic relations, the Shanghai branch of China Textile Import and Export Corporation (today's Orient International Group Textile Company) was invited to Japan to participate in the Textile Expo, bringing some blue printed cloth to show the beauty of traditional Chinese textiles. Japanese Kubo linen is a customer of the textile company, in the expo site was deeply attracted by the flower cloth, she took the initiative to communicate with the textile company, such a beautiful flower cloth in Japan has been lost, China is so well preserved, really want to go to China to see.
Picture: Blue printed cloth products
After the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, Kubo Maya tried to accompany the first Group of Japanese women's delegations to visit China, and her heart to search for blue printed cloth was so urgent that after arriving in Shanghai, she asked the delegation for leave for all subsequent trips and rushed to Jiangnan to investigate the scene. The results of the folk visits made her very anxious, modern production has caused a huge impact on traditional craftsmanship, with the death of old artists, the closure of family-style handicraft workshops, China's blue printed cloth is being lost, if not protected, it will eventually disappear like Japan. And China, as the root of blue printed cloth, once lost, this magnificent folk art will disappear. Kubo hemp yarn exchanged views with textile companies and expressed the idea of working together to protect blue printed fabrics.
As one of the largest state-owned textile import and export companies in the country at that time, the textile company quickly replied that it was willing to protect this traditional handicraft together. In the early 1980s, the two sides launched several rounds of discussions on the cooperation model, and decided to jointly organize the blue printed cloth craftsmen scattered among the people, restore the production of blue printed cloth, and increase the publicity and promotion of foreign countries. Collect the high-quality blue printed cloth lost in the folk as a collection to inherit this ancient art. And the site of Shanghai Changle Road, a trendy cultural gathering place, is the display place of blue printed cloth, named "China Blue Printing Cloth Hall", and the Chinese manager is sent by the textile company to be responsible for daily operations, giving the blue printed cloth a "home".
Fire and impact, blossoming inside the wall and incense outside the wall
As soon as the China Blue Printed Cloth Museum opened, it was enthusiastically sought after by foreign guests. Kubo Heisa exported some of the products of the Chinese Blue Printed Cloth Museum to Japan, and also opened a Chinese blue printed cloth store in Tokyo, Japan, with its rustic colors, ancient patterns, elegant charm and fresh and elegant charm in Japan, and the store once became a punching point for People in Japanese cultural circles.
Under the promotion of Kubo linen, many Japanese people who are interested in blue printed cloth culture travel to Shanghai, and will find the Chinese Blue Printed Cloth Museum according to Tusoji, where they can listen to the story of blue printed cloth and buy the most authentic blue printed cloth. Because the Chinese blue printed cloth style is simple and beautiful, the quality is reliable, very Chinese national traditional characteristics, foreigners especially like, flock to it, many countries will print the address of the Chinese blue printed cloth museum on the tourist brochure, will be here as a tourist attraction, all kinds of skin color, various languages, all kinds of countries foreigners come here batch by batch to visit and buy, and have a close contact with China's intangible cultural heritage art.
Under the pursuit of friends from all over the world, the goods of the China Blue Printed Cloth Museum were once in short supply, and as soon as they were on the shelves, they were snatched up by guests who came to search for treasure. China Blue Printing Cloth Museum to save the social responsibility of inheriting intangible cultural heritage skills has also been recognized and disseminated by social media, CCTV, video frequency to China Blue Printing Cloth Museum interviews, for a time became the "hot" in Shanghai Beach.
Walk through ravines and into the countryside in search of craftsmen
The exhibition space on the second floor of the China Blue Printing Cloth Museum treasures more than 4,000 precious blue printed cloth exhibits, all of which were rescued by the employees of the textile company and Kubo Linen to the countryside one by one, the so-called hard-won. There is a blue printed cloth with a faded yellowing surface that shows the vicissitudes, but it is solemnly suspended in a conspicuous position in the museum. Look closely at the pattern in the cloth, the more you look at it, the more profound it is. There are 2 squares on the cloth, each square is decorated with six children, the children's facial expressions are playful and flexible, different, the background of each square has its own advantages, this piece of cloth is called "Hundred Zi Tu", using the now nearly lost clamping technique, made in 1663, nearly 400 years old, can be called the treasure of the town hall. This piece of cloth is not easy to come by. Since the 1980s, the staff of Kubo Linen and Textile Company has been visiting Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Anhui and other places from time to time. They walked through ravines, into the countryside, to remote places, and when they heard that there were craftsmen with blue printed cloth, they went there to take a look at the preserved handicrafts, and included the contact information in the list of blue printed cloth they made. They visited an old man in his 80s, from a family of valerians, who was proficient in valerian techniques, and excitedly left the family's contact information. During the conversation, they found that in the corner of the workshop, some old-looking blue printed cloth was discarded. The keen team members rummaged through the scene, only to feel that this old-looking blue printed cloth exuded a sense of intimacy, and the 6 children printed on the cloth had rounded lines and vivid images, and the more they looked at it, the more they liked it. If the team got the treasure, they immediately decided to buy the blue cloth, and later learned through testing that it was a piece of flower cloth made by the valerian process in the second year of the Kangxi Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty.
In order to pass on the valerian technique, the Chinese Blue Printing Cloth Museum also asked the 80-year-old craftsman to reproduce the "Hundred Zi Tu". It took the old man 9 months to restore the original carved 32 wooden planks according to the traditional specifications, each 2 wooden boards are in a pair of their own, and each grain can be symmetrical when combined, and the tight seams are exquisite, and this set of wooden boards is still preserved in the Chinese Blue Printed Cloth Museum.
At the China Blue Printed Cloth Museum, the collection of blue printed cloths for rescue and protection basically covers the various uses covered by textiles in life. At its peak, there were more than 100 registered Chinese traditional blue printed cloth craftsmen and dozens of blue printed cloth production workshops. To this day, textile companies still go to villages every year to find folk blue printed cloth workshops and update the collection for the blue printed cloth museum.
Xinmin Evening News reporter Zhang Yuyun