When the gardenias, madder, sumac, and indigo scattered in the poems...... All fall on the cloth to show the unique color of the plant, when the "plant dyeing" enters.

The use of plant-based raw materials to dye fabrics is an ancient technique that dates back thousands of years to the Neolithic period. To the general public, dyeing is both strange and familiar, we know that it is a kind of tradition, but we can't explain what it is. The only thing that is certain is that this skill has long since become a part of everyday life.

"Chronicles" is another brand run by Tsing Kwai Street Studio, which Guoku-kun once interviewed, focusing on plant and wood dyeing products. When Juzi and Ling Yan were colleagues in the magazine, they produced a special issue on plant dyeing, which was an opportunity to explore this traditional skill.

"I've traveled a lot of places, found some masters, and I'm doing some shallow experiments. But because I was still working in a magazine at the time, I guess I was in the initial stage of studying and researching.

It wasn't until we had a studio space on Tsing Kwai Street that the dye vat was more formal." "It's been five years on and off."

The three friends behind the "Chronicles", Orange, Ling Yan and Xiaoxiao, are dressed in grass-dyed aprons

They traced the classic dyeing method of "Fujian Qing", but did not want to limit themselves to the so-called "Chinese style", but hoped to create objects that conform to modern aesthetics and can be integrated into daily life through the inheritance of traditional skills, so as to show the beauty of the times due to plant dyeing.

Because dyeing is a skill that is closely related to the seasons, geography, environment, phenology, and plants, we call it "Chronicles" to express this relationship.

However, because the name is so quaint, and we actually reject things like "Chinese style", we recently wanted to change the name...... Let's talk about it.

Think of a very "Chinese-style" dyeing products, which are gadgets that can be seen everywhere in the shopping streets of tourist attractions in Yunnan or Jiangsu and Zhejiang, what do you think of this kind of souvenir dyeing products?

During the Ming and Qing dynasties, there was a saying that "Fujian is blue, blue armor is the world", when the blue dyed blue was called "Fujian green", the blue calico of Anxi was once famous, there was a blue stream, that is, the stream that was once dyed blue by the dyeing liquid of the blue dye.

So the indigo dyeing we do actually has some regional characteristics, for example, we use indigo made of local indigo produced in Fujian.

Your shop says, "Dyeing plants and trees is an easy thing to get started...... But there is still a long way to go before an object with stable, clear and uniform color is dyed." Therefore, in the process of learning plant dyeing, what aspects need special attention?

That's too big a question for me to answer. I can only explain what I said, it's very easy to get started with dyeing plants and trees, you just have to go to the vegetable market to get some onion skins and cook them at home, and you can dye a piece of cloth after filtering.

But if you go deeper into the study, you have to ask yourself to dye the same color every time, you must have a clear understanding of the variety of onions, the ratio to water, temperature, pH, dyeing temperature, duration, and the type of fabric. That's where it's hard.

Newcomers may also be a little worried about the follow-up care of their plants, such as whether they will fade easily, whether they can be exposed to the sun, or whether they need special care methods.

Do not expose to the sun, do not wash with alkaline detergent, this is how to preserve it. But it's okay if the color is returned, just like we said in "The Little Man Who Borrowed Color", the borrowed color always has to be returned.

"The Little Man Who Borrowed Colors" is the work of your participation in the "Beanbook" activity of Banana Fish Bookstore, and tell us about it.

In plant dyeing, it is said that the color dyed by plants is borrowed from nature, which is the interpretation of plant dyeing that we like very much.

So we use a "little man who borrows color" to present the most classic indigo dyeing process of plant dyeing, from planting to indigo, restoration, and dyeing, the blue color increases page by page in the picture, and finally the color fades and disappears with the wind.

In addition to the scarves, T-shirts and other items that are sold in the store, I would like to know if there are any things that you have dyed that are particularly fun or unusual at first glance.

In addition to cloth, you can also try a variety of materials: wood, leather, cement, paper, etc., you must have tried some of them.

"Chronicles" often holds some offline activities and different experiential courses, which activities will people be more interested in? In the process of communicating with each other, will there be unexpected gains?

Sometimes the guests who participate in the event will dye some beautiful patterns that we didn't expect, and we will record them. This is a harvest. But basically the event won't be very rewarding, it's more of a way for us to make money.

We rely on the products and activities we can to support the studio's revenue, so that we have the ability to do more in-depth learning, and make plant and wood dyeing products that are both technically and aesthetically advanced. So let's say we're earning tuition now.

You also often do some cooperation with good neighbors in Xiamen, such as the plant dyeing material package in cooperation with Heysalt, the trytry series is an attempt to combine plant dyeing and thorn show, will there be any new cooperation plans in the future?

There is no co-op program. However, recently our home line will launch an "interstellar series", using batik hand-painted to express the pattern of the stars and moon, which can be regarded as the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In collaboration with HEYSALT, the Herb Dyeing Material Pack allows you to experience the entire process of refining fabrics, extracting dye liquids, tie-dyeing patterns and dyeing fabrics

Grass dyeing originated in prehistoric times, is an ancient age, our ancestors in the process of collecting found that many flower and fruit plant roots, stems, skins, leaves can be extracted in some ways to extract the juice, so plant dyes began to appear.

After repeated attempts and explorations, the ancestors mastered the method of using plant juice to dye, and legend has it that during the time of Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor, people began to use grass and wood dyeing to make clothes. In the Xia Dynasty, according to later historical records, the ancestors at that time began to artificially grow bluegrass and use bluegrass to dye it.

During the Zhou Dynasty, the ancient Chinese plant dyeing technology has become mature, with the expansion of the number of plant dyes and the scale of the species, and even under the Zhou ritual system, a full-time official in charge of textile dyeing was set up, named "dyeing people", and their job scope was "dyeing grass".

And the folk, a large number of poems such as "Qingqing Zijin" in the Book of Poetry also reflect the popularity of plant dyes at that time.

Until the Qin and Han dynasties, the plant dyes extracted from plants and trees had gradually replaced the mineral dyes used as the main dyes in ancient times, and the plant dyeing technology of dyeing textiles with plant dyes became the mainstream dyeing technology in ancient China.

The "Shuowen Jie Zi" records the names of a total of 39 colors in the Eastern Han Dynasty. From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the continuous development and perfection of plant dyeing techniques created colorful silk fabrics, which were exported to Central Asia, West Asia, and even the Mediterranean coast and Europe through the prosperous Silk Road.

After the Song Dynasty, the Maritime Silk Road expanded its sales scope, making ancient Chinese plant and wood dyeing products to the world, and in the process, plant and wood dyeing technology also spread to Japan and other countries.

In ancient Chinese history, until the Qing Dynasty, the color of the traditional embroidery thread was classified into 9 categories: green, yellow, red, black, white, green, ochre, purple, and green onion, and it was divided into 745 colors according to the shade, which shows the large scale of use of plant dyeing and the maturity of technology.

There are various ways of dyeing plants and trees, including leaf dyeing, mordant dyeing, decoction dyeing, fermentation dyeing, knocking and rubbing dyeing, set dyeing, and tie-dyeing.

Specifically, leaf dyeing is a dyeing method that extracts the pigment-filled juice from the plant dye (roots, stems, skins, leaves, fruits, etc.) directly at room temperature after crushing and juicing at room temperature to extract the juice full of pigments for dyeing. This is the easiest way to dye it, but it requires a certain amount of dye.

Mordant is a dyeing method that uses mordant as a carrier to make the pigment adhere to the fabric. Mainly for dyes that cannot directly extract pigments and have no affinity for cellulose, mordants can be added in the process of extracting pigments, so that the pigments can be smoothly attached to plants.

Most plant pigments can not be maintained for a long time, easy to decompose, mordant can prolong the life of pigments, and mordant is an important tool for plant dyeing color, hue adjustment, for example, vinegar can enhance the red and purple effect; Salt can make the staining more durable; The amount of alum can adjust the chroma of the color.

The pigments of some dyes cannot adhere to the fabric at room temperature, so it is necessary to decoction to reach the desired temperature for vegetable dye dyeing. The usual method is to put the fabric to be dyed and the dye juice to be crushed and squeezed into a pot at the same time, so that the pigment can be better adhered to.

The main representative of fermentation dyeing is indigo dyeing. The process of soaking bluegrass is excellent, adding mordant and stirring sharply to make the indigoside dissolved in water fully contact with oxygen, and oxidize it into indigo, and this process of oxidation is also called fermentation.

Fermented indigo can be used directly for dyeing, and the color dyed by fermentation is stored for a long time. This method can also be used for dyes such as madder.

As the name suggests, knock rubbing dyeing is a method of dyeing the color and shape of the plant directly onto the fabric by tapping the plant. With this method, all you need is a hammer or a stone, a few leaves, and a piece of fabric.

There is no need for mordant additives and complicated decoction procedures. Knocking is not limited to dyes, all plants can be printed on fabrics by knocking.

Different colors can be obtained by superimposing dyes containing different pigments, and the method of dyeing multiple times with a variety of dyes with different properties to produce a spatial mixing effect becomes overdyeing. Overdyeing is an important method to make the colors of plants diverse and changeable, such as indigo and locust flowers can be dyed to obtain oil green.

It is divided into two steps: tie and dye. Tie first and then dye, through yarn, thread, rope, etc. to the fabric forcefully tie, sew, bind, embellished, clamp, knotted and then dyed, after the dyeing is completed, the thread and rope will be removed, and the part that is tied will be left blank.

This method of dyeing means that the dyeing of the fabric cannot be replicated, and the binding parts of each dyeing cannot be exactly the same, so each tie-dye will produce a completely different artistic effect.

Grass dyeing has a history of thousands of years in China, and was introduced to Japan during the Sui and Tang dynasties.

Today, we will introduce Yukio Yoshioka, a Japanese national treasure of plant dyeing masters, whose color skills have been passed on for generations, and through his long-term efforts, many lost traditional dyeing techniques have been restored and developed.

In recent years, there has been some development in the practice and research in the field of traditional plant dyeing in China, and it is hoped that the introduction of Japanese plant dyeing masters can play a certain role in inspiring designers.

"Green clothes, green clothes and yellow clothes.

The worries of the heart are already maintained.

Green clothes, green clothes and yellow clothes.

The worry of the heart is the death of the heart. ”

A poem, the words are short and long, singing the man's thoughts and sorrows: cooking, dyeing and weaving, cutting, sewing... The figure of the wife who used to make clothes is still in front of me, but now the things are still there, the people are dead, seeing things and thinking about people, and tears are thousands.

Weaving cloth with kudzu linen and dyeing with plants and trees, in the land of China, the people's way of life of making clothes with "grass and wood dyeing" lasted for thousands of years. In the Tang Dynasty, plant dyeing was introduced to Japan, and it reached its peak in the Edo period, after passing through the Nara and Heian periods.

In the Meiji period, with the influence of Western culture, chemical printing and dyeing began to occupy the mainstream, and the technique of dyeing plants and trees gradually disappeared in Japan.

When Yukio Yoshioka thinks of this, he always feels unspeakably uncomfortable in his heart. As the fifth-generation owner of Yoshioka Dyeji Cloth Dyeing Workshop, he feels it is his responsibility to bring these ancient techniques and colors back into the world.

As a young man, Yukio Yoshioka, like most people, wanted to be a 9-to-5 white-collar worker. It's a pity that just after the first year, his younger brother, who was supposed to inherit the family business, suddenly ran away from home, and the family business fell to him all of a sudden.

Yoshioka's father spent his life studying ancient colors. The imperial purple dyeing art, which symbolizes nobility, was the first to be restored by my father. Yoshioka originally thought that he would soon become familiar with his father's craftsmanship and under his father's guidance.

However, the road to recovery is not simple. And the sudden death of his father was a bolt from the blue for him.

"At that time, I really felt that I couldn't go on." The battle is not terrible, it is terrible to be isolated. From going into battle as a father and son soldier to charging single-handedly, Yoshioka has wanted to give up countless times.

Fortunately, I have this printer and dyer by my side, Fukuda Bunto. Since the age of 16, Fukuda has been learning dyeing with Yoshioka's father and is now a skilled master in the workshop. After his father's death, Fukuda not only gave Yoshioka technical support, but also guarded him like a family member and friend.

Later, it was Fukuda who helped Yoshioka turn the idea of "restoring ancient colors with ancient techniques" into reality.

The natural method is pure and natural without pollution, which is the preciousness of plant dyeing, and it is also the most difficult reason for restoring plant dyeing.

To this end, Yoshioka searched almost all the records of ancient Japan about dyeing plants and trees, and then based on the records, he searched for plants and restored colors.

Once, Yoshioka discovered that there were some references to purple in the Heian period law "Enki Shiki", but the plant called purple root is rarely cultivated in Japan. Yoshioka had to visit farmers to find someone willing to replant the purple roots. Families walked by, and finally a farmer agreed to him.

The following year, the purple root was harvested, and Yoshioka began to experiment. Mash the purple root, put it in clean water, and rub it with a white cloth for 2 and a half hours... Although there are ancient books to study, today's climate is long different from that of ancient times, and the slightest change in time and temperature will affect the final color, so Yoshioka can only test it many times according to actual conditions.

In his work with plants, Yoshioka understands that these colors that nature has given him the most vitality.

The delicate and lovely young ladies in "The Tale of Genji", the suave son-in-law, can only match them if they are dressed in grass and wood dyed clothes. Thus, the restoration of the many colors mentioned in "The Tale of Genji" began.

Among them, alizarin red, which originates from safflower, is rarely cultivated in Japan today, and it takes at least 20 kilograms of petals to refine a barrel of red pigment.

The local supply in Japan was far from sufficient, so in order to produce the best colors, Yoshioka visited China and finally found a stable supplier in Sichuan. In this way, the colors that exist in the ancient texts are restored little by little by Yoshioka.

He printed and dyed it on his clothes, wore it on his body, printed and dyed it on washi paper, prayer flags, and garments, and served the faith. Sitting there quietly, watching these natural colors flutter in the wind, the impetuous heart slowly becomes peaceful.

As if you are in a field, the green of spring, the blue of summer, the yellow of autumn, and the white of winter, the air is full of pure smell of plants. It's a pity that the wisdom of our ancestors is always forgotten by us today. Not only in Japan, but also in China, where it originated, the dyeing of plants and trees has almost disappeared.

"The skill of dyeing plants and trees shouldn't just be gone." At the same time as running his own dyeing company, Yoshioka also founded his own publishing house, "Purple Red", which specialized in publishing a variety of books related to traditional Japanese culture, most of which were color textile books.

Gradually, there are 446 lost ancient colors, which have been restored by Yoshioka and written down in the book one by one. Restoring colors, restoring national treasures, and holding exhibitions, Yoshioka still goes out into nature to observe the plants around him, even though he has a busy life.

A blooming gourd flower, gently swaying with the breeze, it comes from nature and will eventually return to nature. Grass dyeing is also the use of the same kind of wisdom, which is a virtuous circle between man and nature.

With the power of plants and trees, adapt to the changes of the four seasons, do things according to the season, and live in harmony with nature with waiting and concentration. 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.