Lu Yi Straw Hats

Lu Yi Straw Hats

　　　Lu Yi straw hats are a traditional specialty of Lu Yi County in Henan Province. Legend has it that they were first woven by Dong Yueying, the daughter of a palace guard named Dong during the Southern Tang Dynasty. Over time, the craft was continuously improved by local artisans, allowing this handmade product to be passed down through generations. According to the painting “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” straw hats were already quite common during the Northern Song Dynasty. The “Lu Yi County Annals” from the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty also contain detailed records about them. Straw hat braids, also known as “wheat straw braids,” are handcrafted by farmers; the hats themselves are woven from these braids. Lu Yi straw hats come in two colors: yellow and white. The locals summarize their advantages and functions as follows: the straw is soft, and the hats are beautifully shaped; they are called “living straw” because they do not break or bend easily; they are durable and portable; they provide shade and shelter from rain, and can even double as fans; when sitting on the ground, they can serve as cushions. For these reasons, they have been widely favored by both domestic and international merchants and users. Before the mid-Qing Dynasty, braiding and weaving straw hats were activities done either for personal use or as gifts for relatives and friends. It was customary for a newlywed woman to bring several straw hats from her parents’ home to her husband’s family during her first summer after marriage—these were called “return-gift hats.” This tradition has been preserved to this day. As social demand increased, straw hat production gradually shifted toward commercialization, giving rise to specialized merchants such as braid shops and straw hat stores. Farmers relied on braiding and hat-making to get through many years of famine, and it remains an important secondary livelihood. A folk rhyme goes: “Wheat straw is a treasure, farmers can’t do without it; braid a strand, weave a hat, and you’ll have money for oil and salt; in famine years, it helps buy grain, in good years, it buys clothes.”

　　　　Before liberation, merchants from Shandong, Hunan, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Hankou operated 18 braid shops in Lu Yi year-round, including “Tong Ju Xiang” and “Heng Tai Xiang,” purchasing straw braids worth over 200,000 taels of silver annually. There were also 15 straw hat stores, such as “Qian Yuan Zheng” and “Heng Shun,” buying around 100,000 taels’ worth of straw hats per year.

　　　　After liberation, the government supported the establishment of shops and factories to develop this traditional specialty. By the 1980s, most production processes had been mechanized. Over 10,000 bales of straw braids and 5 million machine-made straw hats were produced annually, along with more than 20 types of new handicraft products. Hand-weaving straw hats is a delicate craft, requiring “one stitch to catch three braids, with no visible thread on the inside or outside.” Finished hats are fumigated with sulfur—a process called “gilding and silvering” by local farmers—resulting in yellow hats that look like gold and white ones like silver. These are the so-called “Lu Yi Yellow” and “Lu Yi White” handmade straw hats. Their styles include saddle-bridge, conical, top hat, academic cap, corner tower, and children’s floral designs. Machine-made hats come in even more varieties, with over 100 styles such as worker-peasant hats, embroidered and printed youth caps, and embroidered and printed children’s hats, catering to the customs and preferences of people across China. Lu Yi straw braids and hats enjoy a high reputation in the international market. Foreign customers, especially princesses and young ladies in some Western European countries, regard Lu Yi straw hats as beautiful and elegant accessories. Straw braids and hats are one of Henan’s major export commodities, with 1.5 million hats exported annually to nearly 20 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa.