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Reflections on lost art of rare and beautiful culture
By Zhang Min and Wang Jie |
February 22, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
I CAME in touch with indigo prints at a fairly early age, but got to know them only in recent years. More than 10 years ago when I lived in the ancient Zhouqiao Old Street, my wife bought a kilt of indigo prints. It was a purchase made accidentally, when we strolled along the street.
Blooming fully against an indigo background, the white chrysanthemums were so eye-catching and delicately beautiful. In summer time, I loved to see her in this kilt. The kilt is now gone and only some of her photos taken then remain on my bookshelf. Against a background of the old street, the stone arch bridge, or the Huilong Pond, they look all the more appealing today.
As I know, indigo prints originated in south China and were extremely popular. For all its long history of glory, however, this ancient product seems to have gradually given place to the modern textile industry and can rarely be seen these days. The fact is, however, the longer something has stayed at the dark, the more brilliantly it will shine once brought back on stage.
This has been precisely the case with indigo prints, which seem to be coming back with full vitality. Only recently I learned that Jiading is the source of origin of indigo prints and that several areas in China including Nantong in Jiangsu Province and Wufengpu in Hunan Province have applied for including their indigo printing technology on the national list of intangible cultural heritages.
A visit to the Museum of Indigo Prints has really broadened my horizon. The museum boasts a big collection of indigo prints and many of the collections date back to years ago. Yet we can still see in them the beauty of printing, the delicacy of patterning, and the richness of forming. The classic patterns of butterflies clustering together, carp jumping over dragon gates (which symbolize scholarly achievement or career success), phoenixes flying among peonies, mandarin ducks playing with water (symbolizing the merry life and affections of married couples), and cranes nestling on pines trees (which symbolize longevity) are all so beautiful, so typical of folkways and customs, and so culturally rich that one cannot but be overwhelmingly pleased.
Deeply enchanted by these collections, I asked myself, why so many traditional things can maintain their lasting vitality? Is it because that they embody a profound culture, or have entered our life and influenced our ideas without our awareness?
Before leaving the museum, I came to the indigo prints shop specially set up for visitors and bought a woman's handbag hand-dyed in the traditional way. My fellow traveler followed my example. Viewed from the products of indigo prints developed by the museum, it is totally possible to integrate the traditional elements of the patterns on indigo prints with those of modern fine art.
Brought back home, the handbag from the museum immediately won my wife's heart with its primitive simplicity and unsophisticated elegance.
As a matter of fact, indigo prints have a history of more than 1,700 years, as has been evidenced by the objects found in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Although they have gradually faded from daily life in my hometown, the traditional technology has been revived and given a new vitality.
Blooming fully against an indigo background, the white chrysanthemums were so eye-catching and delicately beautiful. In summer time, I loved to see her in this kilt. The kilt is now gone and only some of her photos taken then remain on my bookshelf. Against a background of the old street, the stone arch bridge, or the Huilong Pond, they look all the more appealing today.
As I know, indigo prints originated in south China and were extremely popular. For all its long history of glory, however, this ancient product seems to have gradually given place to the modern textile industry and can rarely be seen these days. The fact is, however, the longer something has stayed at the dark, the more brilliantly it will shine once brought back on stage.
This has been precisely the case with indigo prints, which seem to be coming back with full vitality. Only recently I learned that Jiading is the source of origin of indigo prints and that several areas in China including Nantong in Jiangsu Province and Wufengpu in Hunan Province have applied for including their indigo printing technology on the national list of intangible cultural heritages.
A visit to the Museum of Indigo Prints has really broadened my horizon. The museum boasts a big collection of indigo prints and many of the collections date back to years ago. Yet we can still see in them the beauty of printing, the delicacy of patterning, and the richness of forming. The classic patterns of butterflies clustering together, carp jumping over dragon gates (which symbolize scholarly achievement or career success), phoenixes flying among peonies, mandarin ducks playing with water (symbolizing the merry life and affections of married couples), and cranes nestling on pines trees (which symbolize longevity) are all so beautiful, so typical of folkways and customs, and so culturally rich that one cannot but be overwhelmingly pleased.
Deeply enchanted by these collections, I asked myself, why so many traditional things can maintain their lasting vitality? Is it because that they embody a profound culture, or have entered our life and influenced our ideas without our awareness?
Before leaving the museum, I came to the indigo prints shop specially set up for visitors and bought a woman's handbag hand-dyed in the traditional way. My fellow traveler followed my example. Viewed from the products of indigo prints developed by the museum, it is totally possible to integrate the traditional elements of the patterns on indigo prints with those of modern fine art.
Brought back home, the handbag from the museum immediately won my wife's heart with its primitive simplicity and unsophisticated elegance.
As a matter of fact, indigo prints have a history of more than 1,700 years, as has been evidenced by the objects found in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Although they have gradually faded from daily life in my hometown, the traditional technology has been revived and given a new vitality.
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