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Clutching at straw for centuries
By Huang Hantingand Dong Jing |
October 26, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE fashion industry has returned to nature with the fabrics used in clothing.
Pure natural and handmade goods have become more popular, and straw is one of them. With an extraordinary weaving propensity and the plant's fresh fragrance, straw goods have been introduced to many Shanghai houses.
Xuhang Town in Jiading is a small center with 1,000 years of traditional weaving techniques. Event today in a walk through Xuhang, you can see old women weaving in front of their houses.
As early as the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), Xuhang straw-weaving products were presented to the emperor as tributes by the local officials. They also became popular later in Jiangnan, regions in the south of the lower reaches of Yangtze River. Archives show that yellow grass weaving originated from Yongsheng Village, Xuhang Town.
During the Tongzhi years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a yellow grass weaving area with Xuhang as its center was formed and later it became a major family handicraft industry among local farmers.
Chengqiao area of Xuhang was the earliest base for planting and weaving yellow grass, which is golden in color and soft in texture.
The early yellow grass weaving products were only slippers. Exquisite items were made for scholars and bureaucrats, while ordinary slippers were initially sold in the temple to monks but eventually became available in inns.
Finally they were sold overseas by Guangdong Province merchants. Over the years, the style of yellow grass weaving has gradually improved and expanded, the color becoming more abundant and the handwork becoming more delicate.
In 1956, weaving articles from Xuhang were displayed at the Leipzig International Exhibition in Germany as excellent Chinese traditional folk handicraft articles and won the Medal of the Arts.
The process of Xuhang weaving is complicated. It takes several hours or even days to complete just one woven item.
These articles are light, beautiful, smooth, colorful and with distinctive features.
Many straw-woven articles can be seen in the Xuhang Weaving Creative Park at the juncture of Chengliu and Shengzhu roads, including bags, fruit baskets, mats and slippers.
Their added value is in being handicraft articles made from natural, environmentally friendly products. In the Creative Park, the price of a straw bag is 60-100 yuan (US$8.79-14.6) and straw slippers are usually 75 yuan a pair. There are other smaller straw items, all cheap in price and excellent in quality.
Pure natural and handmade goods have become more popular, and straw is one of them. With an extraordinary weaving propensity and the plant's fresh fragrance, straw goods have been introduced to many Shanghai houses.
Xuhang Town in Jiading is a small center with 1,000 years of traditional weaving techniques. Event today in a walk through Xuhang, you can see old women weaving in front of their houses.
As early as the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), Xuhang straw-weaving products were presented to the emperor as tributes by the local officials. They also became popular later in Jiangnan, regions in the south of the lower reaches of Yangtze River. Archives show that yellow grass weaving originated from Yongsheng Village, Xuhang Town.
During the Tongzhi years of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), a yellow grass weaving area with Xuhang as its center was formed and later it became a major family handicraft industry among local farmers.
Chengqiao area of Xuhang was the earliest base for planting and weaving yellow grass, which is golden in color and soft in texture.
The early yellow grass weaving products were only slippers. Exquisite items were made for scholars and bureaucrats, while ordinary slippers were initially sold in the temple to monks but eventually became available in inns.
Finally they were sold overseas by Guangdong Province merchants. Over the years, the style of yellow grass weaving has gradually improved and expanded, the color becoming more abundant and the handwork becoming more delicate.
In 1956, weaving articles from Xuhang were displayed at the Leipzig International Exhibition in Germany as excellent Chinese traditional folk handicraft articles and won the Medal of the Arts.
The process of Xuhang weaving is complicated. It takes several hours or even days to complete just one woven item.
These articles are light, beautiful, smooth, colorful and with distinctive features.
Many straw-woven articles can be seen in the Xuhang Weaving Creative Park at the juncture of Chengliu and Shengzhu roads, including bags, fruit baskets, mats and slippers.
Their added value is in being handicraft articles made from natural, environmentally friendly products. In the Creative Park, the price of a straw bag is 60-100 yuan (US$8.79-14.6) and straw slippers are usually 75 yuan a pair. There are other smaller straw items, all cheap in price and excellent in quality.
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