Dali meets tie-dye: all good things have manual temperature.

Text | Hawthorn Photography | Hawthorn

Xiaguanfeng, Shangguanhua, Cangshan Snow, Erhai Moon.

Many people in go to dali are doing this "love affair". For me, what attracts me most in Dali is the traditional folk craft of Bai and Yi-tie-dyeing.

Tie-dyeing, called mixed cloth in ancient times, is also called twisting dyeing. This is a very old folk manual printing and dyeing process. Any craft, whether folk, ancient or handmade, is enough to fascinate me.

So in Dali, Cangshan didn't climb, Erhai forgot to look, and went straight to Weishan.

Weishan Yi and Hui Autonomous County is known as "the hometown of tie-dyeing in China".

This ancient city seems to have been soaked in the dye vat for a long time, emitting a quaint and elegant ancient atmosphere. Let me travel here, unconsciously slow down and slowly feel the time of the ancient city. I like the temperament of this city.

Lu Yu ancient city people, excuse me, where is the tie-dyeing workshop here?

The old man smiled and pointed to the front: "Go straight, turn a corner, cross the bridge ... and there you are." It seems very close, but people are strangers, and naturally they get lost when they walk.

When people meet passers-by, they will ask, how to get to the tie-dyeing workshop? Every tour guide knows where the small workshop is.

I think they all know how many workshops there are.

Finally found

Wow, this is vegetation!

Wow, the cloth is dyed like this!

Wow, these hand-embroidered works are so exquisite!

Although I have long been familiar with the production of this craft, I still can't help but admire the big dye vat for dyeing cloth, the plants soaked in water, and the stitches embroidered one by one-it seems that there are a hundred deer bumping in my heart, and I can't help but be excited.

Look at the vegetation submerged in water. Look at the linen tied into a flower head. Look at the white cloth coloring in the dye vat, bit by bit. Looking at the blank linen, it has gradually become a unique and unrepeatable work of art.

Pick it up, spread it out, dry it, and the sun will shine. Every step is so touching. I look at every work and my heart is full of joy.

I prefer to call this kind of handicraft "grass dyeing". Vegetation has the unique freshness and spirituality of nature. How beautiful it is to soak this feature in clean linen.

Dyed into coasters, tablecloths and sheets. Dye it into scarves, clothes and shoes. Dyed into various articles in life. Life also has the vitality and breath of plants.

With plants, life will not get worse. You will find that a little beauty will follow.

I left Weishan and went to Zhoucheng.

Zhoucheng is known as "the hometown of Bai tie-dyeing art". I left with admiration.

I really like this village. As soon as I set foot on the Qingshiban Road, the Bai architecture came to my face, simple and elegant.

In the streets, sisters dressed in Bai costumes and hats come and go. In their daily life, they are dressed in this way and have a strong national style.

In the market, people who buy food, meat and fish are also dressed very ceremoniously. The elder sister who sells Xizhou Baba sits in front of the stall, holding embroidered cloth in her hand and sewing intently. Under her stitches, the flowers bloom slowly, as if the whole spring had come.

Watching, inexplicably moved. It turns out that art is rooted in their lives. I suddenly envy them. In ordinary life, needle and thread are companions, and time is slowly embroidered on knitting, which becomes eternity.

The most enviable thing is that every household here has a big yard. Rows of bamboo poles are erected in the yard, and dyed cloth is put on them to enjoy sunbathing.

Between the white walls and gray tiles, colorful dyed cloth fluttered with the wind, and time slowed down, as if returning to ancient times.

In the yard, sitting and watching grandma do manual work. Grandma is over eighty, but the needles and stitches are unambiguous.

The patterns she draws are very clever; The flower heads she sewed are exquisite; The cloth she dyed is green with green, dignified and plain. Decades of handwork have precipitated the craftsmanship of the elderly.

She sat in the sun, arguing, silent and picturesque. I have devoted my whole life to a piece of cotton cloth.

She said that we Bai girls have to learn needlework since childhood, and now, teenage dolls can tie-dye.

In her smile, there is a joy that can't be concealed. Yes, this kind of craftsmanship handed down from generation to generation cannot make the inheritors unhappy.

It is the most satisfying thing for the elderly to pass on what they have learned all their lives to the next generation.

In this world, how many crafts have been lost because no one has passed them on. There is no doubt that tie-dyeing is lucky. Every stitch, thread, cloth and cylinder has successors.

When my grandmother experienced ups and downs, I thought of her.

My great-grandmother, I've never met her. She died before I was born. But I know she has a pair of skillful hands and a beautiful heart.

When I was a child, I rummaged through everything and found an upper. I've never seen such a beautiful upper! Glittering beads are embroidered on white cloth, flowers bloom, animals come alive, and a vibrant world exists between small pieces of cloth, lifelike.

Grandma told me that this was embroidered by Taipo. From then on, I put it in my schoolbag and carried it to school every day, inseparable.

I like handmade things since I was a child.

In the fourth grade, I pulled a rag and began to draw on it. Then, I embroidered it stitch by stitch. At that time, the most anticipated thing was that school was over. As soon as the bell rang, I picked up my schoolbag and ran home, then sat by the window and embroidered it carefully. Nobody knows anything except the sunset.

It's a Mickey mouse, cute and playful. I gave it to my deskmate. More than ten years have passed, and Mickey Mouse has probably been forgotten in his childhood.

Looking for a workshop and finding something I like is the whole meaning of my trip to Dali.

And I, lucky enough, met one by one.

I am Hawthorn, and I am traveling-reading, writing, photographing, listening to music and living. I am lucky to meet you, and I am lucky to meet you once in the article. If you like my calligraphy, remember to give me a compliment.