Character sketch: In the community's intangible cultural heritage class, Li Ying is teaching the students how to design patterns. Her long hair was tied back casually, and she wore an indigo pattern scarf over her black sweater. This scarf was drawn and engraved by herself, and then dyed with the roots of Banlan.
On the afternoon of January 6th, in the Baishou Folk Art School in the Pearl Community, Qilishan Street, Shizhong District, a public welfare class on traditional plant dyeing was underway. Li Yang, the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, is telling the students how to make exquisite patterns with needles and threads.
"Our sewing method is basically divided into two kinds, one is this arched sewing method, and the other is this kind of sewing, and the stitches are as uniform as possible when sewing, so that the pattern can be consistent...... Li Yang held a light blue fabric in his hand as a demonstration, patiently and carefully explaining the stitching method. Last week, she and her students had learned Xi basic indigo dyeing techniques.
The students sitting around the desks are all residents of the Pearl Community. After a few classes, they got to know Li Yang, the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, and also learned about the ancient skill of plant dyeing.
Between the grass and the trees
Discover the beauty of the colors of plants
Flowers, plants, fish, insects, birds and beasts, all kinds of imaginative patterns are vividly presented on a piece of blue and white cotton cloth. Through the sunlight, the fabric takes on a soft blue hue. If you look closely at the teachers and students at the desks, they are also dressed in more or less vegetable-colored colors, whether they are wearing long dark brown dresses, or indigo scarves, or cloth headbands worn on their heads.
Plant-based dyeing, a traditional Chinese dyeing process known as "once upon a time", has been used in ancient China for thousands of years. Its "slowness" is reflected in the difference in dyeing efficiency from today's industrial. It is said that in ancient times, it could take months to dye a piece of cloth. The raw materials for dyeing plants are taken from the mountains and rivers, and the colors change according to the region, climate and season, so it can always surprise humans in the process of dyeing. Despite its "slowness", people love its pristine material, skin-friendly touch and vibrant color.
Li Yang said that he has had an indissoluble bond with plant dyeing since he was a child. "When I was a child, my mother worked as a dyeer in a silk factory, and my grandmother's family used to run a dyeing workshop. Since he was a child, Li Yang has known that the skin on the outside of the onion can be dyed yellow-green, and the sun-dried green walnut skin can be dyed dark brown......
After growing up, Li Yang, out of his love for plant dyeing, began to Xi systematically learn this skill.
Read ancient poems
Restore traditional Chinese colors
The blue color dyed with the root of the banyan is the color that appears most in Li Yang's studio. On the day of the interview, there happened to be a pre-adjusted dye vat in the classroom, and Li Yang introduced the process of producing this blue color to the reporter of Jinan Daily.
"The fresh leaves of the banlan root that we collected should be soaked with water first, and the water on it will be poured out after half a month, and the rest is indigo mud, which needs to be ......fermented with rice wine and honey at this time," Li Yang, who was busy dyeing, dyed his entire hands, including his nails, dark blue. Who would have thought that behind this stable and durable blue, there are so many complex processes. Li Yang said that although the whole process is long and complicated, every time you see the deep shades of blue on the fabric, it feels particularly worthwhile.
On the desk of the studio, there is a thick book of "Chinese Classical Traditional Colors", which is a book that Li Yang often reads. Most of the good-looking colors in the book can no longer find the original dye ratio method, and modern craftsmen can only rely on their own imagination to explore, repeatedly debug and restore. To this end, over the years, she has traveled all over the country to study and exchange ideas with outstanding Xi in the industry.
In Lu You's "Plum Blossom Quatrain", there is such a sentence: He once set flowers with the poet, and Yao Huang passed through a hill and a ravine. When I read this, I especially wanted to know, what kind of yellow is Yao Huang?" After reading a large number of books and comparing related flower varieties, Li Yang finally used acacia rice to dye the "Yao Huang" in the poem.
Back to the people
Art should not be "shelved"
"In ancient times, these crafts were not shelved, but dyeing methods that ordinary people's families would have. Now, on the contrary, it has become a niche existence. Li Yang also has a dream, which is to bring ancient folk handicrafts back to ordinary people's homes.
"Folk handicrafts can only be more vigorous when they are rooted in the people. Li Yang said that whenever he sees the content related to "intangible cultural heritage into the community" proposed by the state and the local government, he will also be excited. She actively contacted the Pearl Community of Qilishan Street and wanted to open an intangible cultural heritage lecture hall in the community. To this end, Li Yang compiled the knowledge and techniques she had accumulated over the years into courseware and went to various communities to carry out cultural propaganda so that everyone could understand "plant dyeing"; she brought plants, cotton cloth and tools into the classroom to let everyone know about "plant dyeing"; and took the community residents to dye and design patterns by themselves, so that everyone fell in love with "plant dyeing".
"I was happiest when I saw a lot of adult students who had studied on their own and then brought their children with them. In them, I see the hope of inheriting intangible cultural heritage skills. Li Ying, Secretary of the Party Committee of Mingzhu Community, said frankly that in the past, most of the people who took the initiative to participate in community activities were the elderly, and now more and more young people are actively participating in the opening of intangible cultural heritage classes. Isn't this a "two-way rush" between the community and intangible cultural heritage?