"One Color Life": A 97-year-old Japanese grandmother wrote her life with dyeing and weaving, and was named a national treasure.

Shimura Fumi: Dedicating a lifetime to dyeing Isshiki

In January 2021, "Isshiki: A Life" became a hit as soon as it was published.

Douban score is as high as 9.2 ,

Those who have read it are amazed by the "unconventional beauty" of this book,

What is even more touching is the legendary and inspiring life of the author Fukumi Shimura:

Thirty-two years old, divorced and raising two children,

Started dyeing and weaving to make a living,

40-year-old, held his first work exhibition,

At the age of sixty-six, he was recognized as Japan's "National Treasure".

At the age of ninety, he won the Kyoto Prize, known as the "Japanese Nobel Prize".

Comments by Kawabata Yasunari Her works:

"The elegant and subtle color palette,

runs through a humble and honest heart towards nature."

Dyed with plants Cracks woven from silk threads of various colors

"One Color Life" is a book written by Shimura Fumi when she was 58 years old.

The book reviews the first half of her life,

and her thoughts on plants, nature and life.

Nearly forty years later, this book was finally translated and introduced to China.

We also took this opportunity to conduct an exclusive interview with the 97-year-old grandma Shimura Fumi.

along with her daughter and grandson,

visited the workshop and art school she founded in Kyoto,

"We have been using the same method for nine hundred years Dyeing,

Dyeing thread, spinning thread, weaving cloth, making clothes,

Decorating yourself with such clothes,

Compared with bought clothes, The emotions I have are very different."

Self-narration | Shimura Fumi Shimura Shoji

Written by Yu Xuan and Shi Ming

"One Color Life" It is a collection of autobiographical essays by Japanese dyer and weaver Fukumi Shimura. After it was published in 1982, it won the Daibutsu Jiro Award (one of Japan's highest literary awards) the next year. From then to now, this little book of more than 100,000 words has been best-selling in Japan for more than 30 years.

The book records how she used the roots, stems, flowers, fruits, and branches of different plants to make dyeing solutions, how to do indigo dyeing, how to weave cloth, and what she gained from dyeing and weaving. Various thoughts related to color, plants, nature and life.

For example: "Color is not just a simple color, it is the soul of vegetation." "Su Fang is the color of a woman's heart, which is likened to red tears. In this red world, there lives the saint. , there are also prostitutes, who also have the affection of women. "The writing is beautiful and poetic.

From top to bottom they are: "Sakura Attack" 1976, "Gardenia Flatiron Eyes" 1970, "Goulan" 1987, "Matsuwind" 2003, all created by Shimura Fumi, respectively. Collected by individuals and the Shiga Prefectural Museum of Modern Art

Shimura Fumi has interacted with and known a group of Japanese folk arts masters, including Soetsu Yanagi, Kenkichi Tomimoto, Kanjiro Kawai, and Nojiro Inagaki. Give her guidance. She was also deeply inspired by Goethe's "On Color", Steiner's "The Essence of Color" and the works of Mondrian. Although he did not devote himself to dyeing and weaving until he was middle-aged, Shimura Fumi actively devoted himself to creation with his strong color talent and hands-on experimental spirit.

The small rips (pieces of cloth) she made from the most common Japanese folk "weaving" have subtle colors that are difficult to imitate: blue and yellow interlaced, like the echo of the sky and the earth, and black and white mixed weaving. , like a village covered with snow, with horizontal grids, rice-shaped patterns, parallel lines... not just patterns, but more like wonderful paintings.

Note: "(chóu) weaving" is a Japanese vocabulary that uses silk threads twisted by hand to weave in a horizontal and vertical manner.

Fukumi Shimura presented the Kyoto Prize in 2014 At the ceremony

Shimura Fumi’s achievements have long been recognized in the Japanese crafts and literary circles. As early as 1990, she was awarded the title of “National Treasure of the World”. In 2014, she received the “Japan No. The Kyoto Prize, known as the Bell Prize, the award citation is: "In the current era of the prosperity of chemical dyes, I insist on using plant-dyed silk threads as my visual language, and then weave ever-changing works, integrating humans and nature in textiles. Together. "In 2015, she was awarded the "Medal of Culture", Japan's highest national honor.

She also opened an art school "Arts Shimura", dedicated to promoting dyeing and weaving techniques. Here, students can Dyeing, weaving, cutting and making clothes by yourself, many people lamented: The experience of wearing such hand-made clothes is completely different from that of bought clothes.

In January of this year, " After five years of hard work, the Chinese version of "Isshiki's Life" was finally translated and published. Taking this opportunity, we connected with the 97-year-old Grandma Shimura. Due to the epidemic, Grandma Shimura is currently living in a nursing home in the suburbs of Kyoto. Seeing her thin and old, her hair as white as snow, but the perseverance in her expression is somewhat similar to that of her youth.

She told us that "one color" is by no means limited to her life. "Every color is a cherished treasure in my life".

The following is Shimura Fumi’s autobiography:

She became a monk halfway and became a dyer and weaver

Shimura Fumi in her youth

When I was 32 years old, I Divorced, with two children, I don’t know what to do. At that time, I happened to be communicating with Yanagi Munetsu, the founder of folk art, and he said to me: "Your mother can weave, so you should also weave." So I decided to return to Omi and make a living by dyeing and weaving.

This decision was firmly opposed by my mother. At that time, chemical dyes were flourishing, and dyeing of vegetation and handmade fabrics represented poverty, backwardness, and the danger of extinction. She handed me a ticket back to Tokyo and told me never to come back. I left in despair, but as if being pulled by an invisible thread, I returned to my mother again.

Splits woven with plant-dyed silk threads

After officially joining in, I was addicted to it. What unfolded before my eyes was a wonderful world that I could never do in my lifetime. I was like Alice in Wonderland who fell into the rabbit hole, peeking into a magical country:

The plum branches in early spring can be dyed coral color, just like a touch of blush on a girl's cheeks .

Different degrees of blue such as indigo dyeing, water light onion, and cyanosis are like the ocean and the sky.

In early winter, boil thoroughly cooked gardenia fruits to obtain a warm and dazzling golden color.

There are also red dyes dyed with Su Fang, cherry colors as beautiful as clouds, and so on.

At the time, I was so poor that I couldn’t even afford a tablecloth, so I could only put my child in the home of my adoptive parents in Tokyo and learn basic skills in Omi’s dyeing and weaving workshops. I want to have an income, at least be able to afford silk thread, and I also want to bring my child to my side as soon as possible.

My mother suggested that I visit a carpenter, Kuroda Tatsuki. She said that Mr. Kuroda was a person who would never compromise on his work no matter what kind of poverty he endured. "Work can be hell sometimes, and life can be hard, so I can't advise you to take this path. But if you decide you have no choice, then go for it. Knit the clothes you want to wear first, and then forget about it in the future. , just focus on the work in front of you," Mr. Kuroda told me.

After hearing such words, I made up my mind to go on this path no matter what. It seems very natural for women to stay by their husbands and children, cooking, doing laundry, and doing housework. Now I will look at the woman herself who goes with the flow and lives a stable and comfortable life in a different light. I had to swim upstream and paddle my way alone.

Mother said:

You will never make a better work than this

Part of "Square Pattern Ribbon", 1957

Works by Fukumi Shimura

My first work was "Square Pattern Ribbon" made with the encouragement of Mr. Kuroishi, which was selected for the 4th Japanese Traditional Crafts Exhibition.

That night, I quietly took out the silk thread from my mother's basket and knitted a belt. I knitted almost selflessly, and by the time the belt was finished, it was already early morning the next day. My mother, who was bedridden at the time, saw the belt and said happily: "It's worth it even if you lose the election if you make it this far. You tried your best."

"Autumn Clouds", Shimura Fumi's masterpiece

Won the Incentive Award at the 5th Japanese Traditional Crafts Exhibition

My first award-winning work was the kimono "Autumn Clouds". This kimono is made by joining together leftover threads from ordinary peasant women’s homes.

In the past, Japanese peasant women would connect the remaining threads together, which was called "performance thread". Although this kimono is low-key and simple, I think it has a very modern flavor, with green, blue, and cyan colors mixed with white silk threads in the middle.

When I first finished it, I showed it to my mother and she said, "You will never make anything better than this." It was indeed the case. Looking back now, nothing can surpass it except "Qiuxia".

After that, I created series of works such as "Bellworm", "Chinese Valentine's Day", "Fog" and "Waiting for the Moon". Sitting in front of the loom, picking the shuttle and inserting the weft, you will accidentally feel like playing the harp. The warp sets a certain tone, and the yarn is the part that can be improvised. If you can find the right color, the thread will snap into the texture as if it is being sucked in. This is the charm of weaving. .

"Bell Insect" 1959, "Tanabata" 1960, "Reed Garment" 1961

Works by Fukumi Shimura, Shiga Prefectural Museum of Art Collection

1982 One day in 2018, I received a strange phone call. The other end of the phone "reported" that an old alder tree in front of my house had been cut down, and the sawdust was scattered on the ground, dyeing the ground red, like The blood dripping from the tree asked me if it could be used to dye cloth.

After hanging up the phone, I immediately prepared my car and went out. After arriving at the scene, I saw that the land around the huge tree stump had been dyed tea red, which was dyed by the sap stored in the ancient alder trees that were hundreds of years old. I immediately concluded that this was wood that could be used to make dyes, so without any delay, I hurriedly peeled off the bark, put it in a bag, and went down the mountain.

Set up a large pot and boil the bark. The liquid in the pot turns into a transparent golden brown color during the heating process. Then put the silk thread into the filtered dye solution and dip it repeatedly. Finally, use wood ash water to fix the color, and the silk thread turns into a red copper color. That is the color of the alder's soul.

I felt like the alder tree was coming to life.

The snow scene of Lake Biwa in Shimura Fumi's hometown (left)

The split in "Hubei Snow Scene" (right)

I later recorded it in "Isshiki's Life" In this story, I want to say that what I get from these plants is no longer just color. The life of the plants behind them is revealed to me through color. That's what the plants are saying with their bodies. So when choosing colors, we must respect and cherish plants.

Doing plant dyeing is like raising a child gradually

Looking back now, my feeling and experience of plant dyeing are stronger than that of weaving. From the perspective of craftsmanship, obtaining high-quality materials is the first priority and the foundation.

When I first started dyeing and weaving, I hung my chemically dyed silk threads with my mother’s plant-dyed silk threads. In comparison, the silk threads my mother dyed more than ten years ago were soft and bright. , full of vitality, while its own threads are dull and dull. Later, the dyeing craftsman Serizawa Suke reminded me: "If you throw plant-dyed fabrics into the field, the two will merge into one." From then on, I decided to only do plant-dyed fabrics.

When it comes to plants, we think green is the easiest to dye, but the incredible thing is that there is no separate green dye. It needs to be mixed with yellow and blue to get it. Yellow is dyed with barberry, green grass, gardenia, fumu, etc., and then mixed with blue to get green.

I also tried pouring bright red rose petals into a large pot to make a dye solution. As soon as it is heated, the petals immediately flow out thick rouge-colored juice, and then turn to light red. I thought it could be dyed, but the dyed color didn't have any redness to it. The truth of color is like a fable, telling the original meaning of "color is emptiness".

I was lucky enough to get the Ashi-colored silk thread dyed by Shigesuke Fukami in the 34th year of Meiji (1901). I was attracted by the color at first sight. Suddenly it was no longer a bundle of thread, but a scroll of scripture.

This bunch of threads is red with a slight yellow tone, similar to a burning flame. This kind of deep alder dyeing requires one hundred strands of alder root to dye one thread, which takes a year and a half. It then has to be alternately dipped in dye and wood ash water 170 times before it can be dyed. If it is dyed on the 169th time If you fail, all your previous efforts will be wasted. Therefore, dyeing is like spiritual practice, as teacher Soetsu Yanagi said: "Dyeing is dyeing the heart."

"Water Glass" is collected by the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

In memory, My mother always likes to wear Aizen clothes. "There is no better outfit for Japanese women than Aizen!" This is what my mother often said.

Bluegrass is fundamentally different from other plant dyes. Almost all plants are dyed with boiled dye liquor. Only for indigo dyeing, we need to obtain indigo from professional indigo masters and then ferment it with wheat bran water.

Indigo dyeing is the longest and most complex plant dyeing used by humans. In Japan, indigo dyeing is divided into three steps: building the indigo, keeping the urn, and dyeing.

After moving to Saga, my dream of building a blue sky was put into practice. I keep in mind the teaching that "making indigo dyeing is like raising a child" and strive to uphold and cultivate indigo's life. Each dye vat contains Lan's life, and it changes subtly every day.

Indigo dye vat and blue silk thread

In the morning, when I opened the lid of the dye vat, there was an indigo flower (or indigo flower) made of dark purple bubbles blooming in the middle of the dye bath. face). You can tell blue's mood by looking at its color.

When the blazing blue energy dissipates, the blue adolescence can make the pure white silk threads shine with emerald color in an instant, and then quickly change into ethereal color; , the blue component gradually disappears, and when the silk thread is dyed into a light green color like washed water, it is the aged blue spirit.

It took me a long time to learn that this color is called "Wengsi". The so-called urn dyeing refers to the dyeing urn with a light light color, which is the last color of Lan's old age.

The natural blue in indigo dyeing and the wood ash water will be mixed with some impurities, so indigo dyeing will not be as rich as artificial blue. Looking at the various shades of blue that Aizen can dye, it seems as if the magic door of nature has suddenly opened, and various sounds are ringing in the ears.

I remember that when the ceramic artist Tomimoto Noriyoshi was painting on ceramics, he also liked to use inferior natural dyes. The more impure the dye, the more different the blue color will be when it is burned. There is a heavy flavor.

Interestingly, when working in Aizen's workshop, the craftsmen will wear white clothes, which is said to remind themselves to be calm and calm.

Dyeing and weaving is my destiny

18-year-old Shimura Fumi

I was separated from my mother when I was two years old and worked as a dyer in my uncle's house for more than ten years. Adopted daughter. Therefore, I call my biological parents uncle and aunt. For a long time, this incident and its impact cast a complicated shadow on my feelings towards my mother, but now that I think about it, everything was fate.

In the summer of my second year in a girls’ high school, I returned to Omi from Tokyo alone for the first time. My “uncle” was a doctor, and there were visitors at home from time to time. I had almost no chance to meet my “aunt”. After a while, she suddenly walked up to me, put down a few books of Van Gogh's paintings, and hurriedly returned to the inner room. At that time, I vaguely realized that there was a kind of flesh-and-blood connection.

Two years later, my second brother became seriously ill, and I returned to my hometown again to meet my parents, brother and sister. We sat around the kotatsu table and chatted freely all evening. My mother said that when she sent me away, she was determined to treat me as if I was no longer alive. She didn't expect that the daughter she sent away would come back to meet her.

In the dark utility room at home, a loom caught my attention. I chased my mother and asked a lot of questions. Later, she assembled the loom for me and stretched it with indigo-dyed silk thread. This may be a wonderful fate. At the same time that I recognized my mother, I met the loom.

"Su Fang Duan Sfumato" is collected by the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

My mother Ono Yutaka and Yanagi Soetsu knew each other, and I respect him very much. In Japan, Yanagi Soetsu's Buddhist aesthetic thoughts have a profound influence, and some of Yanagi Soetsu's Buddhist aesthetic thoughts have been incorporated into my work. For example: "Dyeing is dyeing the heart, and weaving requires understanding the true state of things." These are the most fundamental things Mr. Liu taught me.

The day before I left Tokyo to devote myself to dyeing and weaving, I visited Ms. Tomimoto Kazue, the wife of Mr. Tomimoto Kenyoshi. She was my mother’s friend and a famous artist. For more than thirty years, she has been caught between career and family, and has had a lot of troubles.

She said to me: "Whether a woman lives in the family or lives in the career, it is impossible to have both paths. You have to look for one and devote yourself wholeheartedly. In Japan today, it is very important to have There is still strong resistance among career women. But in the past few decades, I have seen many women who have abandoned their families for a time, and finally got back together because of their successful careers. It’s a sin, and it’s a misfortune for my husband, my children, and myself. Just keep doing it without hesitation.”

At that time, I was suffering from insomnia and depression, and I was wandering in the darkness. , I still can’t bear to abandon my family. But Ms. Ilji's words neatly eliminated all my worries. In front of the weeds, I seemed to see a road.

Whenever I get stuck in my creation, I go to Mr. Nojiro Inagaki (a dyer and weaver). My husband rarely comments on my works, but he encourages me: "Cezanne studied hard all the way, and finally arrived at nature. Nature has magical power, grasp its original appearance, and accurately express the truth in it. This is work The true foundation of this.”

I once made an Eha-style woven kimono with the theme of “Autumn Glow”. A teacher said to me that any organization that does not take utility as its first priority will not be recognized. At that time, woven kimonos were commonly used as casual wear, and there were very few knitted kimonos that could be made into a complete painting like mine. I had questions about my creations. Later, Mr. Inagaki Nojiro's words woke up the dreamer: "Wouldn't it be nice to make clothes not for women in reality, but for women in fantasy?"

From then on, I also decided to make kimonos for the women of my dreams to wear.

Shimura Fumi, who is in the first grade of elementary school

I lived in China for a while when I was a child, and also went to Shanghai, where I have all kinds of memories. Chinese culture is the origin of Japanese culture, and Buddhism was also transmitted from China, so I have great respect for China. I think the most powerful Chinese art is calligraphy. People like Yan Zhenqing and Wang Xizhi are very remarkable in my opinion.

Whether it is Western art or Chinese art, I will be attracted, and what surprises me the most is the beauty of plants. It is a gift from nature and cannot be obtained by our efforts.

Once upon a time, I thought it would take ten years to be one color; now, I think it will take a lifetime to be one color.

The following is the self-narration of Shimura Shoji (grandson):

It has come to an era to rethink the relationship between man and nature

Although my grandmother and mother both I was engaged in dyeing and weaving, but I was not interested in it at first. I also majored in philosophy in college.

Shimura Fumi in front of the loom in the workshop

Photography: Alessandra Maria Bonanotte

In 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, and the entire Japan was plunged into disaster. social crisis. In particular, the leakage accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant had a great impact. People who are engaged in grass dyeing work in Northeast China say that if there is a nuclear leak, they will no longer be able to do this work. I feel that it is time to rethink the relationship between humans and nature. Since then, I have been involved in dyeing.

The traditional craft of dyeing and weaving has been handed down since the Heian period. The same is true for the production method. The same method has been used for dyeing for about eight or nine hundred years ago. In this sense, Japan's dyeing and weaving technology has not been interrupted.

In our family, there are two steps: dyeing and weaving. The first is dyeing with plants. Now that it's spring, we'll be dyeing plum branches, cherry blossom branches and the like. After dyeing, the dyed silk threads will be saved so that they will not be used all at once. Grandma sometimes is reluctant to use those beautiful silk threads. The next step is to process the textiles, which usually takes two to three months. Start early in the morning and end at five or six in the evening, just spend the whole day like this.

Warp threads on the loom

Grandma’s favorite indigo dyeing is a memory I have since my childhood. Indigo is different from other plant dyes in that it is cultivated.

Sakura dyeing and plum dyeing are made by boiling branches into dyeing liquid and then dyeing them. Indigo dyeing needs to be fermented, foamed, and left for two or three weeks before dyeing. We start preparing at the new moon and start coloring at the full moon, which is consistent with the movement of the universe.

Both mother and grandmother attach great importance to Aizen. We are moved every time we dye it. But the biggest influence my grandma had on me was my way of thinking. She started dyeing under the influence of Liu Zongyue. I think the most important point in Liu Zongyue's folk art thoughts is to explore the way of thinking about beauty from daily life. Therefore, it is also important for us to learn a beautiful lifestyle and think about the relationship between man and nature in handmade production.

After dyeing, it is time to weave. Weaving is not difficult, it just takes time. An ordinary pattern will take several months to weave. How long it takes depends on its design. By the way, on the loom, there are 1,200 warp threads and the weft threads need to be woven about 40,000 times. In this way, the shuttle is threaded back and forth and then "beated" to make it.

If you regard weaving as work, you will find it very hard, but if you regard weaving as your own interest, you will feel happy in the process of weaving. Isn’t crafts about enjoying the process of making?

My grandmother later opened the art school "Arts Shimura". Here, students can dye and weave by themselves, and everything is done by hand from the beginning to the end. Wrapping the clothes made in this way around your body is a completely different feeling than buying a piece of clothing.

"Cyanotic Grid" is collected by the Shiga Prefectural Museum of Modern Art

We are facing an era that pursues efficiency, and handicrafts will take a lot of time. How to Stay confident? What can be left behind? I think this is a subject that did not exist in the era when my grandmother lived. For me, the most important thing at the moment is to apply traditional craftsmanship to education and let more people know about it.

Part of the information comes from Shimura Fumi's works:

"One Color for Life", Shanghai People's Publishing House, January 2021 Edition

"Sounding Color", Shanghai People's Publishing House will publish soon

"My Little Split Post" will be published by Shanghai People's Publishing House soon