Home
» City specials
» Hangzhou
Reviving the lost art of making silk parasols
By Wu Huixin |
January 22, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LADIES once commonly carried silk parasols to protect their complexions from the sun, and some were quite elaborate and fashionable. Hangzhou hand-made silk parasols with bamboo ribs were famous for their artistry.
Over time, women came to fear the sun less and dared venture out without a parasol. They found that broad-brimmed hats and synthetic, waterproof and collapsible umbrellas were easier to handle and more durable. Mass-produced umbrellas were also cheaper.
Silk parasols became vintage accessories, fashion relics.
Today Hangzhou is resurrecting its classic crafts, such as the West Lake bamboo-ribbed silk parasol, which has become a signature Hangzhou souvenir.
"The craft of making silk parasols will be lost if it is not taught and passed down to the next generation," says 56-year-old Zhang Jinhua, an expert who makes traditional silk parasols and teaches others in the Hangzhou Crafts Living Culture Exhibition Hall.
To preserve parasol-making, the city government gave a studio to Zhang and her apprentices. They work six days a week making old-style parasols, some with modern designs and some water-proofed.
The Hangzhou silk parasol was created in the 1930s by a local, Zhu Zhengfei.
Zhu established the first silk parasol workshop in 1935. These umbrellas became so popular that the city government established the National Hangzhou West Lake Umbrella Factory. At one time it employed 10 designers and more than 400 staff, who produced 600,000 silk parasols a year. Around two-thirds were exported.
When US President Richard Nixon visited Hangzhou on his historic China trip in 1972, he received a silk parasol as a gift emblematic of China.
Zhang started to learn the craft from Zhu when she was 23 years old.
"I continue with this craft for years because I love it, although it's time consuming and requires patience and passion," she says.
The original silk parasols were only for shade and decoration and they were not water-proof. "Umbrellas in supermarkets and other stores are fashionable, compact and easy to carry, so silk parasols lost popularity in the market," Zhang says.
Another issue was and remains the high price of hand-made pure silk parasols, which are very labor-intensive. Today costs range from 400 yuan (US$64) to 1,000 yuan for one parasol.
All the bamboo ribs, made only of henon variety bamboo, come from Lin'an County in Hangzhou. The silk is high quality and it takes four or five crafts people two days to make one parasol in Zhang's studio. Each is made from a single large bamboo tube, sliced into 32 ribs. When the parasol is folded, the ribs fit together into a tube-shape.
The most expensive silk parasol made by Zhang was valued at 7,000 yuan. She made it with Wang Wenying, an expert in sewing machine embroidery. Wang sewed plum blossoms on surface.
In the early 1990s, the Hangzhou umbrella factory closed, replaced by many factories turning out synthetic umbrellas with metal ribs. At that time, many traditional crafts were threatened. In 1987 Zhang went to work at a lace factory in Xiaoshan District.
In 2009, when the National Umbrella Museum was established in Hangzhou, the organizers tried to locate the masters of parasol making.
They found Zhang and a 70-year-old woman, the only two people who remembered every step of the process. The older woman was unable to work, however, because of health problems.
Although Zhang hadn't made parasols for 22 years, she quickly remembered and became the core of the efforts to make old-style parasols and revive their popularity.
Today the Hangzhou Paradise Umbrella Group, one of China's biggest umbrella companies, turns out silk parasols. The company sent six workers to learn the craft from Zhang in 2011.
In master Zhang's studio, some people paint patterns on the silk, some stitch the silk rim, some polish the bamboo ribs, some glue the ribs to the silk, and so on. The painted designs are both classic and contemporary.
Over time, women came to fear the sun less and dared venture out without a parasol. They found that broad-brimmed hats and synthetic, waterproof and collapsible umbrellas were easier to handle and more durable. Mass-produced umbrellas were also cheaper.
Silk parasols became vintage accessories, fashion relics.
Today Hangzhou is resurrecting its classic crafts, such as the West Lake bamboo-ribbed silk parasol, which has become a signature Hangzhou souvenir.
"The craft of making silk parasols will be lost if it is not taught and passed down to the next generation," says 56-year-old Zhang Jinhua, an expert who makes traditional silk parasols and teaches others in the Hangzhou Crafts Living Culture Exhibition Hall.
To preserve parasol-making, the city government gave a studio to Zhang and her apprentices. They work six days a week making old-style parasols, some with modern designs and some water-proofed.
The Hangzhou silk parasol was created in the 1930s by a local, Zhu Zhengfei.
Zhu established the first silk parasol workshop in 1935. These umbrellas became so popular that the city government established the National Hangzhou West Lake Umbrella Factory. At one time it employed 10 designers and more than 400 staff, who produced 600,000 silk parasols a year. Around two-thirds were exported.
When US President Richard Nixon visited Hangzhou on his historic China trip in 1972, he received a silk parasol as a gift emblematic of China.
Zhang started to learn the craft from Zhu when she was 23 years old.
"I continue with this craft for years because I love it, although it's time consuming and requires patience and passion," she says.
The original silk parasols were only for shade and decoration and they were not water-proof. "Umbrellas in supermarkets and other stores are fashionable, compact and easy to carry, so silk parasols lost popularity in the market," Zhang says.
Another issue was and remains the high price of hand-made pure silk parasols, which are very labor-intensive. Today costs range from 400 yuan (US$64) to 1,000 yuan for one parasol.
All the bamboo ribs, made only of henon variety bamboo, come from Lin'an County in Hangzhou. The silk is high quality and it takes four or five crafts people two days to make one parasol in Zhang's studio. Each is made from a single large bamboo tube, sliced into 32 ribs. When the parasol is folded, the ribs fit together into a tube-shape.
The most expensive silk parasol made by Zhang was valued at 7,000 yuan. She made it with Wang Wenying, an expert in sewing machine embroidery. Wang sewed plum blossoms on surface.
In the early 1990s, the Hangzhou umbrella factory closed, replaced by many factories turning out synthetic umbrellas with metal ribs. At that time, many traditional crafts were threatened. In 1987 Zhang went to work at a lace factory in Xiaoshan District.
In 2009, when the National Umbrella Museum was established in Hangzhou, the organizers tried to locate the masters of parasol making.
They found Zhang and a 70-year-old woman, the only two people who remembered every step of the process. The older woman was unable to work, however, because of health problems.
Although Zhang hadn't made parasols for 22 years, she quickly remembered and became the core of the efforts to make old-style parasols and revive their popularity.
Today the Hangzhou Paradise Umbrella Group, one of China's biggest umbrella companies, turns out silk parasols. The company sent six workers to learn the craft from Zhang in 2011.
In master Zhang's studio, some people paint patterns on the silk, some stitch the silk rim, some polish the bamboo ribs, some glue the ribs to the silk, and so on. The painted designs are both classic and contemporary.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
