Umbrella making skills (West Lake silk umbrella)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: umbrella making skills (West Lake silk umbrella)

Applicant: Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

Project No.: 923

Project No.: Ⅷ - 140

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional art

Region: Zhejiang Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

Protection unit: Hangzhou Songji silk umbrella Co., Ltd

Brief introduction of umbrella making technology (West Lake silk umbrella)

Applicant: Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province

Umbrella is a tool used for shading or rain blocking in daily life. It can be opened or closed, and is easy to carry. China's umbrella making technique has a long history. According to legend, Wang, wife of Lu Ban, a famous craftsman of the state of Lu in the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, split bamboo into thin strips, covered with animal skin, stretched as a cover and folded as a stick. This is the original umbrella. In ancient times, the umbrella had other names such as "cover", "Huagai" and "umbrella cover". In the Western Jin Dynasty, when emperors and noble officials went on tours, they often had attendants with umbrellas, which became guards of honor. The ancient umbrellas were all made of silk. In the northern and Southern Dynasties, the emperors and officials of the Northern Wei Dynasty used the umbrellas made of silk. People of different levels used different sizes and colors of the umbrellas. After the success of Cai Lun's papermaking in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the surface of the umbrella gradually changed from silk to paper, and oil paper umbrella appeared in the Song Dynasty. China's oil paper umbrellas are produced in Sichuan, Hunan, Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Guizhou and other places. They are necessities of life for working people. At present, due to the popularity of nylon silk folding umbrella, the traditional oil paper umbrella and silk umbrella have quietly retired from people's side, and the related production techniques have gradually disappeared.

Hangzhou Xihu silk umbrella was founded in 1932. Its craft was developed by Hangzhou dujinsheng silk weaving factory and has been handed down for more than 70 years. The West Lake silk umbrella is made of bamboos and silk, which are unique in Hangzhou. The whole production process includes 18 important processes. The main body of the West Lake silk umbrella is composed of the umbrella ribs and the umbrella surface. The umbrella ribs are made by the ancient nesting technique without any adhesive. The surface of the umbrella is made of silk and decorated with techniques such as flower brushing, color drawing and embroidery. The painting takes the West Lake scenery of Hangzhou as the theme and adopts a variety of colors; the color painting uses traditional Chinese painting techniques to draw beautiful women, flowers and birds on the umbrella surface; the embroidery has a variety of themes, fine workmanship, fresh and elegant, and has a good artistic effect. According to their uses, Xihu silk umbrellas can be divided into daily umbrellas, decorative umbrellas, dance Umbrellas, acrobatic umbrellas, and paixu umbrellas. The West Lake silk umbrella is light in shape, ingenious in design, exquisite in production, elegant and beautiful. It is not only very practical, but also has artistic appreciation value.