Needlework craft given protection following ups and downs
June 30, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE art of Xinzhuang crochet can be traced back to the early 1900s when a French missionary brought samples of European-style embroidery to the Xujiahui Cathedral as a gift.
The church figured it could earn some money from selling embroidered tokens and entrusted the work to a weaving workshop in Xinzhuang.
Xinzhuang weavers combined the European style with Shanghai knitting skills in an art form that came to be known as Xinzhuang crochet.
In the beginning, embroidered products were mainly used as lace for the robes of priests and nuns and for curtains, tablecloths and pillowcases.
In the 1920s, the local textile industrial was strongly impacted by imported yarn and cloth, and women in the industry turned to weaving lace to make a living. Meanwhile, weavers also started teaching crochet to earn extra money.
Before long numerous workshops mushroomed in Xinzhuang as well as surrounding areas in what today is the Minhang District. Most of the products were exported to Europe and the United States.
During the World War II, the industry stood still because of shipping blockades. After the establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949, a new weaving workshop was opened in Xinzhuang, employing more than 100 women.
As trade and exports developed, the small factory could no longer cope with the rising volumes of orders, and family workshops popped up to fill the gap. About 130,000 people worked in the crochet industry at its peak.
Xinzhuang crochet has flowered into more than 50 different knitting skills and about 1,000 basic patterns. Some high-end products are sold as expensive gifts in international markets.
With the development of machine production in the 1980s, hand crochet turned from a household income necessity into an artistic craft. An increasing number of people left the industry and weren't replaced by a new generation. The cultural heritage of Xinzhuang crochet was facing possible extinction.
Fortunately, the heritage is now under government protection and promotion, ensuring its continuity if not its revival as a precious part of Chinese cultural heritage.
The church figured it could earn some money from selling embroidered tokens and entrusted the work to a weaving workshop in Xinzhuang.
Xinzhuang weavers combined the European style with Shanghai knitting skills in an art form that came to be known as Xinzhuang crochet.
In the beginning, embroidered products were mainly used as lace for the robes of priests and nuns and for curtains, tablecloths and pillowcases.
In the 1920s, the local textile industrial was strongly impacted by imported yarn and cloth, and women in the industry turned to weaving lace to make a living. Meanwhile, weavers also started teaching crochet to earn extra money.
Before long numerous workshops mushroomed in Xinzhuang as well as surrounding areas in what today is the Minhang District. Most of the products were exported to Europe and the United States.
During the World War II, the industry stood still because of shipping blockades. After the establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949, a new weaving workshop was opened in Xinzhuang, employing more than 100 women.
As trade and exports developed, the small factory could no longer cope with the rising volumes of orders, and family workshops popped up to fill the gap. About 130,000 people worked in the crochet industry at its peak.
Xinzhuang crochet has flowered into more than 50 different knitting skills and about 1,000 basic patterns. Some high-end products are sold as expensive gifts in international markets.
With the development of machine production in the 1980s, hand crochet turned from a household income necessity into an artistic craft. An increasing number of people left the industry and weren't replaced by a new generation. The cultural heritage of Xinzhuang crochet was facing possible extinction.
Fortunately, the heritage is now under government protection and promotion, ensuring its continuity if not its revival as a precious part of Chinese cultural heritage.
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