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See exquisite wheat-straw fans made at museum
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Every year after the bumper harvest of wheat, tons of dry stalks are left in fields after the grain and chaff have been removed. Usually, peasants use the wheat straw as fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, or thatching. But people in Pujiang County have transformed the straw into exquisite fans.
Pujiang County is located in the middle of Zhejiang Province. In the past, a Pujiang girl would weave a wheat-straw fan as sign of affection for the boy she was in love with. When a Pujiang woman marries a man, the bride’s family would give dozens of wheat-straw fans to the bridegroom as a dowry.
Though Pujiang is far from Hangzhou, Hangzhou locals can get a close look at the traditional craft in the Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion of the Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum, where two women artisans braid wheat-straw fans on the site.
Wu Juxian, 44, said she and her colleague are the only people in Hangzhou who have mastered the skill of knitting fans with wheat stalks.
The Pujiang wheat-straw fans are made of ordinary wheat stalks. In order to make the fans good-looking, every straw is carefully selected. The speckled and ruptured ones are discarded and the flawless ones are kept.
The stalks are trimmed and stained using different colors in Pujiang County, then transported to Hangzhou. Wu first flattens the tube-shaped stalks, then weaves the fans by hand. The last step is to attach a bamboo handle to the fan.
Weaving methods for making wheat-straw fans are diverse. Wu spent a year mastering all of the braiding skills.
One and a half years ago, Wu was dispatched to Pujiang County by the Hangzhou Arts and Crafts Museum to be apprenticed to the wheat-straw fan maker Jiang Yunhua.
The 72-year-old Jiang, who is dedicated to propagating the handicraft and handing it down to descendants, is the heir of the intangible culture heritage of Pujiang wheat-straw fan.
In consideration of Jiang’s devotion to protecting this folk art, the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Society conferred on her the title of “Folk Craft Artist” in 1996.
Jiang integrates the traditional handicraft with her own creations, using stalks to weave fans with Peking Opera figures, animals and Chinese character patterns.
The Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion displays Jiang’s wheat-straw patchwork paintings. The wheat-straw tube is split, smoked, steamed, dyed, cut and spliced in a myriad of procedures to fashion delicate works.
The wheat-straw patchwork paintings are vivid, with a glossy finish. It is a Chinese folk art that dates back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) and that was developed during the Sui Dynasty (AD 581-618).
In ancient China, wheat was a staple food. It was considered sacred. Wheat-straw patchworks made by old folk artisans were rare at the time, so they were sent only to the royal court as tribute.
Jiang is an expert at making both wheat-straw fans and patchwork paintings. Though she lives in Pujiang, she comes to Hangzhou every now and then, giving her two apprentices some guidance in weaving fans.
“In the old days, most Pujiang people knew how to weave wheat-straw fans. Today, fewer and fewer people have mastered the braiding skill. The craft declines over time,” Wu says. Usually, it takes Wu one day to complete a fan.
The fans and straw patchworks in the demonstration pavilion are on sale, ranging from 80 yuan (US$13.10) to 500 yuan.
Sticklers for tradition can learn the detailed steps for making wheat-straw fans in the Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion.
Workmanship Demonstration Pavilion
Address: 450 Xiaohe RdHours: 9am-5pm (closed on Mondays)
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