Hebei Tangshan Batik Craftsman: "Between Blue And White" Batik Technique Adds Color To The Year Of The Rabbit

On January 18, in the studio of Gan Caiyun, a batik craftsman in Fengnan District, Tangshan, Hebei Province, batik enthusiasts were working together to create batik puppets for the Year of the Rabbit. A variety of batik works filled the room, adding a strong festive atmosphere to the upcoming Spring Festival.

Wax printing is a traditional folk textile printing and dyeing handicraft in China. This process requires more than a dozen processes from drafting line drawing, waxing, dip dyeing, to oxidation, dewaxing, rinsing, and later production of finished products.

Gan Caiyun teaches batik lovers production skills. Photographed by Bi Shuai

"The batik process has high requirements for temperature. Too cold weather will affect the effect of fabric coloring, so the required fabric was dyed before it was cold, and now it is mainly cut, sewed, filled, and decorated." Gan Caiyun introduced while creating, integrating auspicious elements such as the character of fortune and the hat of the god of wealth into the vivid rabbit shape of the zodiac, Combine the traditional elements with the beauty of batik to convey the good vision of auspicious luck and blessing in the Year of the Rabbit.

"Integrating into daily life is the real inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, and the Spring Festival is not without intangible cultural heritage." In 2022, Gan Caiyun was rated as a master of arts and crafts in Tangshan and a representative inheritor of wax printing skills in Tangshan. She said, "simplicity and elegance are the distinctive features of batik technology, which can not be separated from its production process. It is painted on cloth with a wax knife dipped in wax liquid and dipped with indigo. During the dip dyeing process, the wax naturally cracks, forming a natural 'ice pattern', showing a variety of patterns of white flowers on a blue background or blue flowers on a white background."

Gan Caiyun also integrated batik technology into wall hanging, pillows, clothes, hanging decorations and other categories in daily life.

In order to make the batik technology better developed in the north, Gan Caiyun insisted on creating while promoting the batik culture and production technology through the live broadcast platform, and went into the community for many times to carry out intangible cultural heritage training and experience activities, so that citizens can feel this traditional technology closely.

Gan Caiyun is sorting out batik "rabbit" element works. Photographed by Bi Shuai

Nowadays, more and more young people who love traditional culture join the inheritance team, and their 24-year-old daughter Lisa is one of them. Lisa, who graduated from the design major, has always been fond of traditional crafts. After graduating from college, she followed her mother to learn batik. "The traditional craft that goes through history has more flavor and charm over time, which is why I like batik. Calm down every day to learn batik, just like talking with the ancients, is a process of healing the soul."

Recently, Lisa also tried to integrate animation elements into batik works to explore more possibilities. Lisa picked up a smart rabbit puppet: "This rabbit is my inspiration from cartoon animation. It combines some exaggerating elements that young people like with batik technology, wakes up the good memories of childhood, and at the same time, it can also be closer to young people's preferences."

"The times are changing, and the inheritance remains unchanged. It is also a new inheritance to inject traditional crafts into the younger elements. Intangible cultural heritage needs more young people to carry on," Gan Caiyun said.

(Source: China News Network)