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The Art of Resist Dyeing Chinese textile

游客2024-03-05  19
问题                                     The Art of Resist Dyeing
    Chinese textiles are globally popular nowadays. But do you know anything about the traditional Chinese dyeing techniques which have been used for centuries to create intriguing patterns and designs on fabrics?
    Dating back as far as 2,000 years ago, the traditional Chinese dyeing techniques have been fashionable off and on in different times. They centered on three basic types of resist dyeing, including tie-dyeing(jiaoxie or zharan), batik(laxie or laran), and clamp-resist dyeing(jiaxie or jiaran). In the language of dyeing, a resist is just what the word implies, a substance or process that stops dye from dyeing the fabric in certain places.
Tie-dyeing
    The concept behind tie-dyeing is to restrict the dye from reaching certain areas of the cloth, this is achieved through the use of knots, threads, rocks, sticks and rubber bands. The color of the parts the dye reaches changes but the restricted parts stay untouched, giving a pleasant color contrast.
    This method appeared in the 3rd to 4th century in China and is still used today. Bright colors, an unlimited variety of patterns and color combinations, and the simplicity of the techniques contribute to its enduring appeal.
    Tie-dyeing is a time-honored handicraft of the Bai ethnic group, who mainly inhabit southwest China’s Yunnan Province. To make the dye, woad(菘蓝) leaves are collected and fermented in a pit until they are indigo(靛蓝) in color. White cloth is tied and sewn into various patterns by hand and then dyed. After the cloth is dried and rinsed, designs of bees, butterflies, plum blossoms, fish, or insects appear with an artistic effect that cannot be achieved by painting.
    Different kinds of dyes are available in stores and tie-dying is a simple process which is a lot of fun to do. All you need is a piece of fabric, dye, and fasteners to keep the dye from penetrating and to create patterns. Why not have a go following these easy steps?
    Wash the material to remove any chemicals that may be in the fabric;
    Dry the material completely before dyeing;
    Tie it with patterns you like using fasteners;
    Add the dye. Be sure to use enough dye to fully saturate the material;
    Allow the fabric to dry completely before removing the fasteners;
    Remove the fasteners and admire your artwork;
    Wash the material thoroughly in cold water.
Batik
    If you go to southwest China’s Guizhou Province, known as the home of batik, batik clothes are likely to be the first things to catch your eye.
    The history of batik can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty(206 BC-AD 24). It used to be popular in both central and southwest China. Somehow, the technique was lost in central China, but it has been handed down from generation to generation among the ethnic people in Guizhou.
    Batik, also known as wax-resist dieing, is a form of dyeing or printing folk art made by applying beeswax(蜜蜡) to create different shapes. Some of the designs on these batiks are bold, while others are fine and delicate. Wherever it appears on garments, scarves, bags, tablecloths, bedspreads, curtains, and other decorative items, the style is always simple and elegant.
    A folktale about batik’s origin goes like this: Long, long ago, there was a girl living in a stone village called Anshun, now a city in Guizhou Province. She was fond of dyeing white cloth blue and purple. One day, while she was working, a bee happened to land on her cloth. After it flew away, she found a white dot left on the cloth, which looked very pretty. This discovery is said to have led to the use of wax in dyeing.
    Batik cloth made in Guizhou goes through four processes: waxing, painting, de-waxing and rinsing.
    First a piece of white cloth is placed on a plain board or tabletop. Wax is put into a pottery bowl or metal pot and heated with charcoal until it melts. The wax won’t dissolve in water unless the temperature is very high.
    The painting tool is a specially designed knife. It’s slightly hollow in the middle with an offset angle edge to hold the melted wax. Different patterns require different shaped knifes, for example semicircular, triangular and axe shaped.
    Painting the cloth is the most delightful part. A basic outline is drawn before the various patterns are painted on. They range from flowers, birds, fishes, paper cutout patterns, to folklore tales and assorted geometric shapes. Each ethnic group has its own style.
    Then the wax-covered cloth is dipped in the indigo vat for about 45 minutes. In the past, this dying process took five to six days. The wax on the cloth often cracks after it hardens. The cloth is then dyed and the dyes seep into the cracks making fine lines, called "ice veins(冰纹)". These "ice veins" distinguish genuine batik cloth from imitations.
    The cloth is then removed from the dye and put into boiling water to remove the wax. In the final stage, the cloth is rinsed with clean water and beautiful blue and white patterns appear on the cloth. Sometimes, people want light and deep blue colors in the same piece of cloth.
    How is this done? Well, it’s quite easy, just re-wax the part you need to deepen, and dip the whole cloth into the dye once again.
    Waxberry juice is usually used to produce a red color, and yellow gardenia to make yellow. Genuine batik can’t be made entirely by machines and most of the work is done by hand. These days, batik is no longer just for everyday clothes and is gradually developing into an art form as modern artists add more cultural factors and techniques to their creations.
Clamp-resist dyeing
    Like the ties used in tie -dyeing and wax in batik, woodblocks engraved with various patterns are the most important tools in clamp-resist dyeing. Two symmetrical carved concave blocks are used to clamp the folded cloth and dip it into a dye vat with the help of a large lever. The result is cloth with the same pattern dyed onto two sides. After dyeing, the cloth is removed from the woodblock clamps and rinsed.
    This practice saw its apogee in the Tang dynasty(618-907) when it was used to produce a variety of multi-colored silk products. The sculptures(雕刻) of Bodhisattvas in the Dunhuang Grottoes, in northwest China’s Gansu Province, are often depicted in jiaxie(clamp-resist dyed) silk dresses. The technique went into decline after the Song Dynasty(960-1279) when multi-colored designs were gradually replaced by simple indigoes and white.
    Clamp-resist dyeing is not completely extinct, although today it’s believed to be on the verge of disappearing. In the 1950s and 60s, jiaxie quilts, whose covers were decorated with clamp-resist dyed patterns, were still an essential part of nuptial celebrations in Wenzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province. When a young local girl got engaged, her family would be busy preparing the jiaxie quilts for her.
    The patterns on the local traditional quilt covers in Wenzhou usually featured four horizontal and four vertical lines, making a grid pattern of 16 blocks. These blocks usually had designs depicting "100 sons," "double happiness" and "dragon and phoenix", which had nuptial connotations.
    However, nowadays only a few people carry on the traditional clamp-resist dyeing technique. Xue Xunlang, from Cangnan County of Wenzhou, accidentally became a reviver of clamp-resist dyeing and was the last person to run a workshop in the local area to produce jiaxie cloth.
    In 1988, Xue got to know an elderly Japanese lady who ran the Lan Lan Chinese Flowery Cloth Store in Shanghai. At her request, Xue brought her some bolts of old cloth from the Chinese countryside including a piece of jiaxie cloth. The Japanese woman told Xue that historians believed this handicraft technique had been lost in China. Xue explained that such cloth was very common in Wenzhou. He said although it had not been manufactured for about 20 years, it wouldn’t be difficult to resume production. Xue met the Dai family in Cangnan, who used to own the most famous dyehouse in the area. The Dais recommended Chen Kangsuan, one of their ex-workers, to Xue. Chen was already 66 years old when he met Xue in 1989 and hadn’t made any jiaxie cloth for over 30 years but he gladly agreed to try.
    The resumption of jiaxie-cloth production attracted attention from experts and media. However, despite their help, Xue’s workshop finally closed down after about ten years of production due to financial difficulties.
选项 A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案 C
解析 文章介绍了resist dyeing有三种，但并不是说dyeing有三种，所以至于dyeing本身有多少种类不详。
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