Wax printing
Wax printing is one of the oldest, traditional printing and dyeing crafts - one of the three major printing techniques in China. Wax printing artists take great efforts to weed through the old traditional techniques to bring forth the new; and bring wax printing art to a higher level.
Known as the first printing in the East, wax printing is the most ancient handicraft in China. More than 2,000 years ago, during the Qin and Han Dynasties, China began to print pictures on cloth with wax; and then dye it blue or a dark color. When the wax was removed, the pictures could be seen very vividly. In the Tang Dynasty, wax printed products were exported to other Asian countries and Europe.
In southwestern China, the technique has been passed down from generation to generation. In Guizhou, in particular, it has become an indispensable art form among ethnic minorities. In Huangping, Chong'anjiang and Dansai County in Guizhou province, many women of the Miao ethnic group use wax printed products as decoration. Scarves, aprons, clothes, skirts and pillow covers, as well as bags, are all made from wax printed cloth. Miao women in the Anshun and Puding areas of Guizhou also put the colorful wax print designs onto the edges of their sleeves. In addition to blue and white, prints also come in beautiful yellow, red and green colors.
The wax printed clothes have various designs and colors. Some use the ancient copper drum''s design or folklore themes. Some use the forms of flowers, birds, worms and fishes. Women of the Buyi ethnic group like to use geometric designs.
Recommended: Anshun in Guizhou province -- hometown of China's wax printing. There are many wax printing workshops and factories there.
You can get off the airplane at Huangguoshu airport in Anshun, then visit the wax printing villages and buy a lot of products there.
By People's Daily Online[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
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