Zhejiang Province,a place of intertwining rivers and numerous lakes,is a poetic and charming place in East China.Wuzhen Town in Tongxiang City,Zhejiang Province,is a well-preserved ancient town.Old buildings date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties.In this ancient town that is more than 1,000 years old,some folk arts have been preserved to the present day,notably the indigo print cloth,which is unique itself.
It is truly a joy to travel in Wuzhen!This riverside town has a relaxed atmosphere.Sitting in a small boat,gliding effortlessly past one little bridge after another,you can see old streets in their ancient style of crisscrosses,and wooden plank houses stand on the edges of the brooks facing the streets.Indigo print cloths are hung high on wooden stands and flutter with the wind on the dry ground,adding elegance to the environment.Some people say that in order to learn about the charm and secrets of this ancient town,you must begin with the homespun cloth.The indigo print cloth is a material special to east China.The people of Wuzhen love to make indigo print cloth,which contrasts sharply with bright red and dazzling yellow.The two colors of blue and white have always connoted peace and tranquility.Indigo print cloth is popularly known as“limestone embossed cloth”or“embossed blue cloth”;the patterns are clear and fresh with gorgeous but cool,simple and beautiful colors.Its form can be traced back to the Qin and Han dynasties.It prospered in the Tang and Song dynasties,but cotton indigo print cloth became popular only in the 13th century when Huang Daopo(c.1245–?),a woman innovator,spread cotton spinning and weaving skills to east China.
Making dyestuff is the first step in making indigo print cloth.The leaves of isatis serve as the raw material for the blue of a genuine indigo print.The leaves are soaked in a stone pit and rotten leaves are removed after a few days.The good leaves are then put into lime or clam meal to form sediment.After sedimentation,the material takes on the texture of earth and is known as“earthen indigo.”Then it is ground into pulp and becomes the dyestuff needed for indigo print cloth.Colored in this dyestuff,the cloth gets a natural,pure blue base and simple white patterns.It looks delicate,elegant,and smart.
The two forms of indigo print cloth are blue-base-white-pattern and white-base-blue-pattern.In making either form the permeable printing block is indispensable;it is made of mulberry bark,coated with persimmon lacquer and then carved.
The cloth printed with the traditional permeable printing block with white pulp that prevents dyestuff from coloring the patterns is known as “medicine-motley cloth,”and has a history of 1,300 years.The pulp to be coated on the grey cloth is made of water,lime powder,and soybean powder in the ratio of 1:1:1.The through-carved printing block is placed on white cloth and a scraping board is used to scrape the dye-proof pulp into the gaps of the designs.The print then leaks onto the white cloth and then the cloth is dried.After that,the cloth is soaked in indigo blue several times and the dye-proof pulp powder is scraped off.The blue-white patterns will then appear.Usually the product is soaked for about 15 minutes and air-dried about seven to eight times,15 minutes each time,until the right shade of blue is obtained.The pulp is scraped out in the end to reveal the original white base and thus the white patterns are formed on the blue cloth.
The patterns printed on the cotton cloth of Wuzhen are mostly flowers and plants,which are commonly found around peasant houses and ridges of farmland.
The last process is airing.It is necessary to air the starched cloth inside first and then outside under the sun.It is a joy to appreciate indigo print cloth in Wuzhen.Under the sunshine long pieces of indigo print cloth hung from high places dance with the wind.
The women in indigo print clothes doing their washing on the riverside form a beautiful scene,which merges into an organic landscape with the charming rivers and lakes as backdrop.