Art of tie-dying

CCTV.COM (06.13 2003 15:55)

    The village of Zhoucheng has a long tradition of tie-dying and it continues today.

    The first step in the process is stitching the clothes according to a certain pattern and then tying them up. Different patterns need different stitching. And different stitching later requires different skills to untie them.

    Girls begin learning this when they're about five or six. Each leaves a special mark on her piece of cloth so she can always tell it's her work. The girls often work in groups and their pieces are dyed together to make a beautiful picture together.

    After the clothes are tied, they're dipped into a huge vat of dye. The dye's exact formula is one of the secrets of the workshop. One thing certain is that it's definitely natural.

    The color comes from a kind of plant called the blue grass. Each August the local people would pick the leaves and mix them with lime powder. The dye they would be used for the rest of the year. Clothes died in this way are believed to be good for your health. If you itch a lot, buy a piece of this.

    All the different patterns have their own names. They refer to things that seem alternatively poetic or bizarre, like plum flower or horse teeth.

Editor:Han Ling