On the third day of the Drum Tibetan Festival, the men, women and children of the whole clan must hang hemp silk and dried fish to dance the "rice soup dance", the Miao family believes that the fish has many children, and the hemp is reborn after cutting, in order to pray for the ancestors to bless the descendants of the family like fish cubs, rich and noble like the rising tide. There is also a ritual of catching a happy fish in the Miao wedding, in the hope that the descendants will reproduce as quickly and as many as fish.

Butterfly is a very common pattern in Guizhou Miao batik ethnic handicrafts, especially in the southeast of Guizhou, is the most concentrated butterfly pattern, the most abundant area, there are butterfly wings and human faces, there are butterfly body and bird foot modeling, as well as flower butterfly body, bird butterfly body and other patterns, thousands of postures, and so on.

In the batik pattern of Nayong and Liuzhi, the entire picture is almost composed of cloud-like butterflies and flowers. The butterfly shape of Rongjiang batik has a variety of forms, generally with the big butterfly as the mother image in addition to it and all things to protect it, or in the outline of the rich decoration, in the clumsy form, showing vigorous vitality.

Butterflies have a beautiful appearance and a strong reproductive ability, which can be said to be completely in line with the aesthetics of the Miao family, but the more important reason is that they worship butterflies as ancestors.

The ancient song of the Miao nationality says that after the butterfly mother was born from the maple tree, she was pregnant and gave birth to twelve eggs because of the bubble love on the spring water, and the big bird Ji Yu incubated it for her for 12 years before giving birth to Jiang Yang, the ancestor of human beings, and other celestial bodies, animals, plants, ghosts and gods, so that there are human beings and various creatures in the world. It can be seen that the butterfly pattern is an artistic embodiment of the original religious belief of the Miao people.

Geometric patterns can be seen in batik all over Guizhou, especially in Miao batik crafts such as Liuzhi, Qianxi, and Zhijin in western Guizhou.

Geometric patterns include cross-shaped patterns, swastika patterns, sun patterns, star patterns, tic-tac-toe patterns, water ripples, swirl patterns, copper drum patterns, octagonal flowers, horn patterns, back patterns and various square patterns and other geometric patterns of natural objects, most of which are handed down by their ancestors.

These patterns have ancient legends to show nostalgia for their ancestors. According to custom, this type of batik pattern cannot be changed at will. Although the geometric patterns are only made up of dots and lines, the Hmong women were able to point to these abstract patterns to explain what they depicted.

There are both clear meanings of individual patterns and symbolic interpretations of combined patterns. The ancestors gathered and cultivated in order to survive, and felt the power of the natural world to be extremely powerful, so nature worship was born. They carefully imitate and create abstract natural objects, expressing the emotions of love for life and the desire to pray for blessings and disasters.

At the same time, the observation and understanding of animals in hunting and domestication also led them to create bird's eye patterns, bird wing patterns, tiger claw patterns, cat foot patterns, horse patterns, intestine patterns, etc. Although they are partial simulations of natural objects, due to their high degree of abstraction and generalization, most of these patterns have imagery colors that go beyond simulation.

On the other hand, there are many geometric patterns with primitive witch nature, such as mountain and river patterns, field and hill patterns, lake patterns, city patterns, etc. These are all related to the development of their ancestors' life and war migration, the remembrance of their ancestors' homeland, and the record of migration routes and processes.

And those "Miao Wang seal" back card pattern, bird wing pattern, bird eye pattern, butterfly pattern, etc., the legend is the incarnation or symbol of the ancestor, is a kind of imprint of animal worship and ancestor worship.

The bronze drum is an important cultural heritage of the ethnic minorities in the south, which has been handed down from the pre-Qin period to the present day for 3,000 years, and its uses include sacrifices, entertainment, weddings and funerals, wars, time signals, etc., and are used as a symbol of sacredness, power and wealth in many ethnic groups.

The influence of the copper drum has penetrated into almost all corners of social life, and its ornamentation has been the main theme of decorative batik art since the Song Dynasty. Many patterns in Guizhou batik ethnic handicrafts can be found on the copper drum, such as the center pattern of the drum surface---- the sun mango pattern, concentric circles, zigzags, cloud patterns, thunder patterns, line patterns, needle patterns, bird patterns, fish patterns, melon rice, petals, leaves, swashang patterns, longevity patterns, spiral patterns, etc.

Some of these patterns remain the same in batik, but more often they are formed into a variety of shapes through different combinations and deformations according to the different aesthetic visions and expression techniques of the makers; Some have been updated and mutated in batik patterns with the development of the times.

After rinsing, then boiling with water to remove the wax, after rinsing, the cloth will show blue and white patterns.

The tool used to draw wax flowers is not a brush, but a homemade steel knife. It is easy to cool and solidify with a brush dipped in wax, and a steel knife is easy to keep warm. This type of steel knife is composed of two or more thin pieces of copper of the same shape, one end tied to a wooden handle.

The edge of the knife is slightly open and the middle is slightly empty, so that it is easy to dip in beeswax. According to the needs of painting various lines, there are different specifications of copper knives, generally semicircular, triangular, axe-shaped, etc.

The basic principle of batik is to apply wax (beeswax in ancient times, paraffin, beeswax, wood wax and other mixed waxes in modern times) where white flowers are needed, and then dye the parts that are not waxed to make them blue, and the places with wax appear white because they are not colored, which is called "white space" in the jargon.

But no matter what kind of wax it is, it will melt at high temperatures, so the dye used for batik can only dye the cloth at low temperatures, otherwise as soon as the wax melts, it will not be able to leave blank. However, in ancient times, there were no chemical dyes, only natural plant dyes, and only indigo could meet the needs of low-temperature dyeing.

Of course, there are many kinds of vegetable oils that can be used to make indigo, such as indigo of the knotweed family, woad indigo of the cruciferous family, wood indigo of the legume family and other plant stems and leaves can be fermented to make indigo dye.

Why can indigo be dyed at low temperatures? This is because indigo staining is a redox reaction, which is a process in which soluble cryptochromosomes penetrate into the fibers and synthesize indigo dye on the fibers, and this oxidation reaction can be carried out only in ordinary cold water.

Ancient dyes dyed with other colors, such as red safflower, madder, yellow gardenia, turmeric, and green frozen green and other plant dyes can only be dyed in hot water at higher temperatures, otherwise the color will easily fade.

At this high temperature, the beeswax has melted and cannot maintain the shape of the flower that prevents dyeing, so it is difficult to make batik cloth of other colors in ancient times.

In the modern printing and dyeing industry, a large number of X-type reactive dyes used are low-temperature type, which can be dyed below 20-35 degrees, and the color spectrum is complete, therefore, modern batik handicrafts can be colorful, and all kinds of colors can be processed. However, from the perspective of green environmental protection, indigo batik cloth is safer and healthier.

Maintenance method:

1. Since the raw material of batik is pure cotton cloth, attention should be paid to moisture-proof and anti-corrosion in terms of maintenance, so as to avoid mold and insects. If you buy it back for collection rather than decoration, take it out regularly to cool it.

2. Batik can be cleaned with water at any time, but do not use cleaning agent in the process of washing, so as not to fade; It is also not possible to use machine washing, because many dyeing paintings mainly highlight the main effect with the whisker edge, and the whisker edge will be damaged by machine washing. After washing, batik products can be ironed.

3. After the batik products are bought, they can be framed as needed. At the same time, since batik is made of 100% cotton, it is also an excellent choice for clothing, duvet covers, bed sheets, etc. When used correctly, it will definitely give your home or office a different flavor.

4. Batik should be placed in a clean, tidy and dust-free environment during the collection and maintenance process, and should be cleaned regularly by a special person.

Many of the shapes in Guizhou batik handicrafts have been unable to verify the meaning it represents. The batik patterns left by the ancestors have been passed down from generation to generation by the women of the Miao family, and have been completely internalized in their minds and integrated into their aesthetic concepts.

It's very difficult to read these shapes. In order to be inspired by the simplicity and whimsical patterns of China, we must re-master an unfamiliar language and way of thinking, and devote ourselves to another world far from our time.

Guizhou batik ethnic handicrafts reflect the aesthetic concept of ethnic minority women to be full and complete in terms of shape and composition. From the perspective of modeling, the objects expressed in the geometric patterns, animal patterns and plant patterns in the traditional batik handicrafts of the Miao nationality are in line with the principle of perfect form.

For example, in some Miao batik handicrafts in Rongjiang and Sandu, the head of the animal has two ears, eyes and feet whether it is viewed from the front or the side. Sometimes the internal structure of the animal's body is added to the outline, such as the intestines in the abdomen of the animal, and the bones in the body of the fish.

Miao women do not pursue the perspective effect when creating, but strive for the integrity of the body, even if the proportions are out of proportion, to make the shape appear perfect and complete. In terms of batik pattern modeling, they also require perfection, such as the "nest" geometric pattern on the shoulders of white-collar seedlings, which is full and smooth.

In the overall structure of the pattern, Guizhou ethnic women adopt symmetrical composition, central composition, segmented composition or scattered composition, etc., and skillfully combine various animal patterns, plant patterns and geometric patterns to form a variety of composite shapes and shape-in-shape shapes, and the whole picture is harmonious, unified, vivid and full of imagination.

The batik patterns in many areas of Guizhou have stylized subject matter processing and composition methods, whether it is the shape outline or the pattern combination, it is basically completed according to a unique program form of the nation or the branch.

From the perspective of batik content and theme, whether it is the mutation and symbiosis of Danzhai batik flowers, birds, fish and butterflies, or the mysterious shape of various birds and dragons in Rongjiang, they all have their specific legends and beliefs, and have a fixed pattern and image.

From the point of view of compositional form, it also reflects the characteristics of stylization, often according to different uses and corresponding composition forms, Rongjiang batik and Huangping batik even rely on the inherent paper pattern to compose the picture.

Therefore, there are obvious differences in the composition of different ethnic groups, branches and regions. For example, the batik quilt and bed sheets in Danzhai are basically a symmetrical combination of up and down or left and right, and at the same time have the characteristics of scattering.

The composition of Anshun batik ethnic handicrafts is basically a central style with multi-layer composition, which is more rigorous. Comparing the batik process of Guizhou in different eras, it can be found that after several generations or even dozens of generations, the basic laws of composition are almost unchanged in various places, because this stylized schema is the product of the collective aesthetic meaning of the laborers, so it has a very strong inheritance.

The batik process in Guizhou also fully reflects the successful application of suitable pattern modeling. The women of ethnic minorities in Guizhou are good at modeling according to the situation, first arranging the large layout structure, and then designing new graphics in the blank space that is constantly generated, and various graphics adapt to each other and intersperse with each other, and finally fill the picture with patterns.

When designing, they treat each picture as an independent space, and the graphics designed with the shape are full and creative. For example, when Danzhai Miao women light wax, they first draw any figure directly on the cloth, after a figure appears, draw a second figure in the blank space, and after completing the second figure, draw a third figure in the remaining blank space.

Each time, the remaining blank space is some new irregular shapes, which brings difficulty to the design of new shapes, but also provides room for imagination. Hmong women can always design new patterns according to the new shapes, and fill in the blank spaces with suitable graphics.

Another example is the Rongjiang batik long flag, the central pattern is a long dragon with winding and undulating, and the arc-shaped area formed on both sides of the dragon body is randomly filled with some small patterns, such as curly dragons, flying birds, frogs, swimming fish, etc., while the bird's fins and fish body are appropriately deformed or added flowers and leaves to adapt to the area to be filled.

As a result, they don't have to calculate exactly the area occupied by the pattern, but rather adapt to the situation. This unrestrained and free creative method makes the patterns of Guizhou batik handicrafts vivid and orderly.

Guizhou batik pattern in the organization of the visual order is very important, the different objects are processed in a variety of unified, neat and balanced, full of chaos, the portrayal of each pattern takes care of the overall effect.

The coordination of points, lines and surfaces, and the appropriate use of artistic techniques such as trade-offs, exaggeration, and refinement, make Guizhou batik handicrafts colorful, fresh and bright, and extremely infectious. For example, Nayong batik national handicrafts, its ornamentation is composed of multiple arcs and small pieces, with strong dynamics and clear contrasts, and it is a model of the beauty of line and surface combination.

Huangping Gejia batik is characterized by the combination of dots and lines, and the effect is neat and fine. According to their own aesthetic habits, the women of ethnic minorities in Guizhou have re-summarized and sorted out various objects and images through artistic techniques such as selection, refinement, and exaggeration, so as to create the most characteristic artistic shapes.

For example, the bird pattern in Danzhai batik emphasizes the fat body of the bird, and abandons the pattern of the bird's wings. Rongjiang batik handicrafts often have exaggerated bird's eye shapes. In Nayong batik, the extremely abstract shapes of fish and birds are a holistic summary of the original form.

Guizhou batik handicrafts also show the desire to humanize nature, and ethnic minority women also add, transform, break up, and reconstruct the image, and then shape the image more idealized according to their own knowledge and understanding.

They are not confined to the imitation of nature, nor do they force the patterns to conform to the objective form and proportion, but according to the various forms of animals and flowers, they have their own hobbies, free imagination, refining and summarizing objective things, or reconstructing the image, so as to create a variety of combined patterns.

Guizhou batik handicrafts often see some objects and images of the structure and recombination of strange flowers and beasts, or add other elements inside the image, so that its characteristics are more clear, the image is more beautiful, and the sense of form is interesting.

For example, in Danzhai and Sandu batik, Miao women treat birds and cockscombs into flowers, and chicken bodies into fish bodies, etc., although these shapes violate the laws of nature, but make the picture effect lively and interesting, innocent and natural.

Although Guizhou batik handicrafts are usually only blue and white, they show rich levels because of the appropriate use of various artistic means, reasonable layout, rigorous structure, and appropriate movement and static, getting rid of the limitations brought by monochrome. These patterns have been inherited and perfected by generations of ethnic minority women, which have improved the overall aesthetic level of the ethnic group, and are the crystallization of their free creation and wisdom.

Guizhou batik handicrafts are a kind of romantic art, the use of batik patterns implicitly express the creator's thoughts and feelings, they hope to use the animal and plant patterns in the modeling, possess their beauty and aura.

For example, the application of the bird pattern is not only out of appreciation for its dexterous and toned form, but also out of envy of its ability to fly freely. Through the expressive portrayal of various images of birds, the creator's feelings, emotions, wishes, and requirements are all expressed and conveyed in this square inch.

The Guizhou batik pattern also shows that the creator fantasizes about the advantages of various animals and plants, and the supernatural powers are vast and not constrained, hoping to make up for their unattainable places with their shapes and abilities.

For example, the human-headed butterfly, the human-headed dragon, the human-headed tiger, the human-headed fish, etc., most directly express this consciousness. The selection of animal and plant motifs in Guizhou batik handicrafts not only pays attention to external beauty, but also considers the beautiful meaning they contain, and relates them with human character.

For example, the dragon can protect the village and the people, the butterfly is the ancestor of the group, the Ji Yu bird is beautiful and kind, the fish and shrimp represent the abundance of food, the frog toad represents the grain harvest, the tiger is mighty and brave, the cow is hard-working, and the dog, monkey, cat, mouse and rabbit are smart and lively.

As for those patterns of animals and plants or combinations with people. For example, the combination of man and thing, the combination of animals and plants, and the switching between things shows the mutual exchange and help between man, animals and plants and nature.

Due to the different regions of the Miao region, the meaning of the pattern is also different: the Miao people in southeast Guizhou compare the butterfly pattern and the bird pattern to the primitive totem; The Miao people in Nayong, Shuicheng, Liuzhi and other places in Guizhou compare butterflies to a symbol of beauty; The bird patterns of the Miao people of Zhijin, Puding and Pingba are symbols of reproductive life. Take a look at the latest chapters of "Dream Claw Book House in the Great Era" and read it for free for the first time.