Rongchang summer cloth weaving technique

Chongqing
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The production of summer cloth can be traced back to the late Eastern Jin Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, summer cloth was listed as a tribute, with summer cloth produced in Wanzai, Jiangxi and Rongchang, Sichuan as the main representatives. Wanzai summer cloth is a typical traditional handmade cloth in Jiangxi. It originated in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and has a history of more than 1,500 years. Because the newly woven linen yarn is round, it is also called "round yarn summer cloth". Compared with the flat yarn summer cloth from other places, it has better texture, finer linen and more durable. This kind of summer cloth has fine quality, flat edges, uniform weaving, beautiful color, strong air permeability, cool and sweat-clearing, no wrinkles, no deformation, easy to wash, and whiter with more washing. It is a purely handmade and purely environmentally friendly product, which does not pollute the human body and the environment. From ramie to summer cloth, the entire production process is mainly divided into three parts and dozens of processes: ramie planting, raw material production, and summer cloth production. Wanzai summer cloth can be divided into four types according to specifications, five types according to quality, and five grades according to grades. Wanzai summer cloth can be used in the production of clothing, curtains, handicrafts, etc., and can also be used to write poems and paint. Rongchang County is located in the west of Chongqing City. The weaving of summer cloth is mainly distributed in Panlong Town of the county. Rongchang summer cloth has a long history. It was called "Shu cloth" in the Han Dynasty; it was "spotted cloth" and "tube cloth" in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and was mainly used as tribute. It was produced as a commodity during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, and later sold outside the province, and even exported to Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, becoming a famous traditional handicraft in Rongchang. The summer cloth of Panlong Town, Rongchang, is made of ramie as raw material, and the finished products are divided into three categories: fine cloth, coarse cloth, and ribbed cloth. Its production process includes beating hemp, rolling hemp balls, rolling hemp taro, pulling threads, threading buttons, brushing starch, weaving, rinsing, shaping, printing and washing. The woven summer cloth is fine and smooth, clean and lubricated, tough and durable. Due to the characteristics of hemp, this kind of cloth is easy to wash and dry after wearing, simple and elegant, beautiful and generous, cool and sweat-absorbent, comfortable and pleasant, and is a top-quality material for people's summer clothing. At present, the number of chemical fiber cloths produced by machines is increasing, and the raw material ramie of traditional summer cloth is decreasing. The profit of summer cloth production is getting lower and lower. Many people are unwilling to engage in this complicated manual craft. At the same time, the printing and dyeing skills of summer cloth are also lacking. Under this circumstance, my country's summer cloth weaving skills are on the verge of extinction and need to be rescued and protected.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

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