Qianhu Miao Village is the largest Miao village in my country and even in the world. The so-called Qianhu Miao Village, as the name implies, is a village where more than 1,000 Miao people live together (actually more than 1,400 households live, not counting foreigners. Tourists and floating population) are connected by more than ten natural villages built on the mountain, with more than 10,000 aborigines. It is an open-air museum evolved from a long history, exhibiting an epic of the development of the Miao nationality, and has become the best place to understand and study the traditional culture of the Miao nationality.

According to the latest census, the Miao nationality has a population of 9,426,007 (approximately 13 million people in the world). It is the fifth largest ethnic minority in my country and one of the oldest ethnic groups in my country. Its history can be traced back to ancient times, represented by Chi You The Miaoman Group, and even the earlier Jiuli and Sanmiao. The Miao people have their own rich and colorful national culture and folk arts and crafts. Among them, the batik art works and batik tourist crafts are well-known and unique in the entire dyeing and weaving art circle.

Walking in the streets and alleys of Qianhu Miao Village in Xijiang, you can see many shops selling batik clothes and handicrafts at any time, which shows that batik is very popular in Miao people. In the ancient alley of Gage on the side of Youfang Street, we found a batik workshop for tourists to experience, and the two young ladies who were traveling with us decided to experience it. After consulting, I learned that there are several prices for batik body dyeing. Batik small square scarf experience is 68 yuan, batik bodywear is 98 yuan (child chapter bodywear is 88 yuan), and batik scarf is 98 yuan. After the batik is completed, the square scarf, bodywear, Scarves can be taken away or mailed back.

The two young ladies in the same company decided to experience a small square scarf each, and then the Miao sister in the store introduced the history of Miao batik to us. She said: Miao batik has a long history, which can be traced back to ancient times. People call batik wax wax. Simply speaking, it is to use wax to paint patterns on hemp, silk, cotton, wool and other fabrics, and then put them into dye vats for dip dyeing. The places with wax will not be dyed. Show beautiful patterns, this is batik. The country attaches great importance to the protection of intangible cultural heritage. On May 20, 2006, the batik technique was approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list.

Hmong batik is to use a special wax knife to spot wax, draw on white cloth with beeswax melt, take it out after dyeing, and the wax will appear when the wax is removed (the same is true for Batik in Indonesia, I don’t know if it was passed on from China). The production method is to spread the white cloth on the table first, then put the beeswax in a small pot, and when the temperature rises to 60-70C, the wax will melt into a liquid state, that is, draw on the cloth with copper wax moon dipped in wax juice. This is actually a kind of painting art, using a wax knife as a pen to draw on white cloth, where the waxed parts will not be dyed when dyed, and will eventually retain the original white color without being waxed by the wax knife The oil part will be dyed in the dyeing process.

According to the "Guizhou Tongzhi": "Use wax to paint flowers on the cloth and dye it. After removing the wax, the pattern will be like painting." Yao area, so it is also called "Qibanbu". Batik cloth dyed with indigo, with blue background and white flowers, has a strong ethnic and local flavor, and is a unique flower of national art in my country.

The two young ladies who were traveling together were skillful, and within half an hour each completed the waxing work of a small square scarf. One of them was a butterfly, because the Miao nationality is a nation that admires butterflies. They believe that their ancestors were born from butterflies. Mom, she turned into a butterfly in the end; another little friend ordered the Pisces pattern, which symbolizes surplus every year.

After they finished waxing, they soaked the square towel in water for a while, being careful not to rub it hard, so as not to damage the wax lines just applied. After soaking for a period of time, it is put into the prepared dye for bleaching.

Bleaching and dyeing takes a while. During this process, a sister of the Miao family picked up the batik works of other tourists to explain to us. She said that this is a body suit made by a tourist from Guangdong for batik for children. There are two dyeing techniques, the pattern of the lower part is the same as the batik process experienced by the companions, while the upper part belongs to tie-dyeing, that is, the upper part is tied up, and only the lower part is dyed, not the upper part.

After waiting for about half an hour, the sister of the Miao family said that the square scarf can be taken out of the dyeing vat now. If the color is not deep enough, you can sweep the square scarf for a while and dye it again. When you need to pay attention, the dye should not be contaminated with oil stains, so you must wear gloves to work, and when you take it out, if there is some sediment at the bottom of the tank on the square towel, you must clean it before taking it out of the tank.

The square scarf taken out of the dyeing vat needs to be skimmed on the bamboo pole. During this process, we can clearly see the color change of the color. When it first came out of the vat, the pattern was green, and after a while, the color turned blue. color. At this point, the batik experience is over. As for the subsequent dewaxing, rinsing, and drying, it will take time and can only be completed by the staff. The finished product can be produced in two days. If tourists are still in the scenic spot at that time, they can Pick it up by yourself, if you have already left, you can leave the mailing method, and they will mail the finished product home.

During the trip, if you have the opportunity to experience the national intangible cultural heritage with a long history, it is definitely a very meaningful thing, and experiencing batik can not only increase the fun of the journey, but also better understand the traditional culture of the Miao people , and at the same time, you can get a souvenir that you personally participated in, which can be said to serve multiple purposes. What do you think?

Yufan Tips:

Miao Batik Experience Address: Inside the Ancient Alley of Gage, Qianhu Miao Village

Experience price: square scarf 69 yuan, body wear 98 yuan, scarf 98 yuan;

Tickets for Qianhu Miao Village: The full price is 90 yuan, and now it only costs 45 yuan at half price. You can play for 2-3 days. It is definitely one of the most cost-effective scenic spots in China. Now you can play 2-3 days. The ticket price is basically in the More than 100, or even more than 200 yuan, some need dozens of yuan for transportation, cableway fees, etc. in addition to tickets.