Yutian Reed Mats

Yutian Reed Mats

　　Yutian reeds are categorized into lake reeds, pit reeds, and river reeds, primarily used for making reed mats, weaving reed screens, and braiding straw mats.　　

　　The history of reed mat processing in Yutian dates back a long time. Brick tiles with mat-weaving patterns unearthed in areas such as Xiguan and Fule Village from the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty prove that the craft of mat weaving has existed for at least two thousand years. In the early 1920s, reed mats developed from being for personal use to being sold externally. By the 1930s, there were approximately 2,000 households engaged in mat weaving across the county, with an annual production of about 600,000 mats and annual external sales of 500,000 mats, which were sold to Beijing, Tianjin, Tangshan, and the three northeastern provinces.　　

　　After the 1950s, the mat weaving industry gradually expanded. After the 1980s, the annual production of reed mats reached around 1.3 million, with annual sales of approximately 1.2 million. Mat-weaving households were mainly distributed across more than ten townships including Mengdazhuang, Yangjiabanqiao, Dadingzhuang, and Quhetou. The output value of reed products generally fluctuated around 12.75 million yuan.