Keeping Alive the Ancient Chinese Craft of Indigo Dyeing

长沙市媒体艺术发展中心 | 11 03, 2021

On Oct. 30, a woman dressed in blue is demonstrating indigo dyeing to tourists at a courtyard in Jinggang Ancient Town, a famous historical and cultural town in Hunan Province. She is Feng Can, an intangible cultural heritage inheritor of batik and tie-dye.
  
  Indigo dyeing, including block printing, tie-dyeing, and clamp-resist, is an ancient Chinese printing and dyeing craft that has been in existence for over 1000 years. Feng learned this craft from her family who were tailors for three generations.
  
  At first, she took it as a hobby, but after coming to this ancient town, she decided to make this craft known to more people. Two years ago, Feng was working in Beijing as a white-collar worker in the real estate industry. She married a man who is engaged in cultural and creative industries. In 2020, Feng and her husband went to Jinggang Ancient Town for sightseeing. “We fell in love with this ancient town at first sight,” she said. So she decided to stay and make her hobby a career.
  
  In her workshop, there are handmade indigo dyeing works of 50 categories, including notebooks, bookmarks, coasters, canvas shoes, etc. which are well received by young people. As her workshop goes more popular, indigo dyeing is known to more.
  
  Feng plans to open ten chain stores nationwide in 3 years, provide training programs for local rural women, and help indigo dyeing go global, thus allowing more international friends to appreciate this fantastic traditional Chinese craft.

  
  Translated by 彭慧璇,汤伊然,王琼

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