Dyeing and finishing technology of Xiangyun yarn

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Xiangyun yarn dyeing and finishing technology

Applicant: Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province

Project No.: 890

Project No.: VIII - 107

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Guangdong Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province

Protection unit: Lunjiao Chengyi shaihang factory, Shunde District, Foshan City

Brief introduction of Xiangyun yarn dyeing and finishing technology:

Applicant: Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province

Shunde District of Foshan City is located in the hinterland of the Pearl River Delta, known as the "silk capital of the South", where the dyeing and finishing skills of Xiangyun yarn are completely preserved. Xiangyun yarn dyeing and finishing technology, namely sun drying, is a process of dyeing silk with plant dye Dioscorea cirrhosa. There are records about Dioscorea cirrhosa in Tang Dynasty, Shen Kuo in Northern Song Dynasty and Li Shizhen in Ming Dynasty. During the Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, Guangdong hyacinth yarn had been exported to foreign countries, and the hyacinth yarn produced in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China was welcomed by domestic and foreign markets. The silk reeling industry in Shunde District of Foshan City has a long history. In the 1920s, when the silk reeling industry was at its peak, Shunde had more than 500 factories, more than 10000 workers and a daily output of more than 4000 meters of Xiangyun yarn.

Xiangyun gauze, also known as "Xiangyun gauze", has many advantages, such as refreshing and moist, good fastness to sunlight and water washing, strong water resistance, easy to wash and dry, deep color and dirt resistance, non staining skin, light and thin, not easy to wrinkle, soft and full of bones, durable, and so on. It is very suitable for wearing in hot summer. Therefore, it is very popular among consumers and is well-known at home and abroad. It has been exported to Europe, America, India, Nanyang and other places, Known as "black shining pearl" clothing by overseas people, it has become a famous product of Chinese silk. In the 14 dyeing processes of Xiangyun yarn, only the juice of natural plant Dioscorea cirrhosa and the river mud containing high valent iron ions are used, without any chemical auxiliaries, and no harmful wastes that pollute the environment are produced.

Due to the pure handmade Xiangyun yarn, complicated process, low output, and restricted by the weather and environment, the output is not high, and the number of employees is decreasing. Now Shunde's Lunjiao Chengyi sun drying factory has become the only one left, and only two masters are familiar with sun drying. The dyeing and finishing technology of Xiangyun yarn is on the verge of being lost and in urgent need of rescue.