Phoenix Blue Calico

Phoenix Blue Calico

Phoenix Blue Calico is a national intangible cultural heritage.

　　Phoenix Blue Calico is widely prevalent in Fenghuang County, centered around Tuojiang Town. In the early Qing Dynasty, Tuojiang Town was known as Zhengan Town, located in the central part of Fenghuang County, bordering Guizhou to the west and Jishou and Luxi to the east. The area boasts beautiful surroundings and picturesque scenery. The Tuojiang River originates from the Lare Mountain Plateau, flows through towering mountains and cliffs, and rushes through steep gorges before entering the ancient town of Tuojiang. Such a beautiful environment has created favorable conditions for the birth and development of Blue Calico, a flower of folk craftsmanship. Tuojiang Town, with its clear mountains and rivers, serves as the political, economic, and cultural center of Fenghuang County. For a long time, it has been an important trade and distribution hub on the Hunan-Guizhou border. Its superior environment and unique advantages have allowed the folk handicraft of dyeing to thrive and endure.

　　The Blue Calico dyeing technique is mainly distributed in areas such as Tuojiang Town, Alaying Town, Jixin Town, Mujianping Town, Liaojiqiao Town, Shanjiang Town, and Lare Mountain Town, with Tuojiang Town as the representative.

　　The folk handicraft of Blue Calico dyeing has a long and profound history. It is made using natural plant indigo, dye vats, and white cloth, thus inseparable from indigo. As early as the pre-Qin period, our ancestors had already learned to collect and cultivate indigo plants as dyes. The *Fenghuang Tingzhi·Wuchan* (Chronicles of Fenghuang County - Local Products) from the Daoguang era records: “Old indigo, gathered all day, comes in three types: *liao* dyes green; sky blue like mustard dyes azure; pagoda tree blue like pagoda trees dyes indigo. All three can be made into indigo, with colors surpassing that of Mother...”. This indicates that by the late Qing Dynasty, there were already three types of indigo in use. Miao scholar Shi Qigui wrote in *A Field Report on the Miao People of Western Hunan*: “The Miao people traditionally used locally produced natural indigo... There are many types of natural indigo, broadly categorized into domestic and wild indigo.” In the past, it was common to see auspicious phrases such as “Harmonious Vat Water,” “Treasure from the Vat,” and “Golden Vat” posted on the walls of traditional dye workshops. The folk dyeing industry in Fenghuang began around the early Song Dynasty, flourished during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and gradually declined by the end of the Republic of China and the early years of the People’s Republic of China. The Liu family’s dyeing business has been passed down through five generations. Starting from Liu Dapao’s (aka Liu Gengxin) great-grandfather, who began the dyeing trade around the mid-Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, his grandfather Liu Yuxing’s dye workshop was very prosperous, and his father Liu Guangcheng also enjoyed a heyday. By the time it reached Liu Dapao, most dye shops in the Tuojiang Town area had gone out of business, and the dyeing technique had disappeared—except for Liu Dapao, who fully inherited the family trade. To this day, he continues to practice this traditional handicraft and has passed it on to his sons Liu Jianming and Liu Jianxin, ensuring the continuation of this traditional skill. In recent years, with the rise of tourism, dozens of Blue Calico dyeing workshops have emerged in Tuojiang Town, leading to the revival of this traditional handicraft.

　　The craft of Blue Calico is called dyeing, and those who practice this handicraft are collectively referred to as “dyers.” Shi Qigui described dyers in *A Field Report on the Miao People of Western Hunan* as follows: Dyers make a living by dyeing cloth. They traditionally use natural indigo, though some have switched to chemical indigo (foreign indigo). Generally, the cloth is dyed in the vat three or four times. Each time the cloth is taken out of the vat, it must be washed and dried, hence dye workshops are often surrounded by drying racks. Once the cloth is dyed, it is rolled around a round wooden pole and pressed with a foot-operated stone roller. The pressed cloth emerges with clear front and back sides, smooth and pleasing to the eye. Traditional cloth dyeing methods exist throughout China, especially in remote ethnic minority regions where clothing and daily-use fabrics are dyed. The Blue Calico dyeing technique is introduced as follows:

　　1. Pattern Plate Making: When making pattern plates, artisans select high-quality parchment paper, glue it into five layers to form a thick paper plate, dry it, then apply a layer of varnish, and let it dry to create a sturdy pattern plate. The size of the plate depends on the width of the fabric and the length of use. Patterns are drawn on the paper plate, which are then carved into printing blocks by the artisan.

　　2. Pattern Carving: During carving, various patterns are first designed and drawn onto the pattern plate. Traditional patterns often carry auspicious meanings such as good fortune, happiness, prosperity, and fertility, such as magpies on plum blossoms, phoenixes through peonies, double phoenixes facing the sun, carp leaping over the dragon gate, Guanyin delivering a child, mandarin ducks playing in water, and dragons competing for treasure. Artisans use a variety of tools to carve these patterns. For example, carving a phoenix pattern may involve over 30 different tools, including round concave iron chisels, semi-circular concave chisels, long chisels, square chisels, diamond chisels, and triangular chisels. The quality of a Blue Calico print largely depends on the design, drawing, and carving of the patterns.

　　3. Printing the Blue Calico Pattern: During production, white handmade cloth is laid flat on a workbench, and the pattern plate is pressed onto the cloth. The artisan then applies a paste made of lime and soybean powder with a brush, spreading it evenly across the plate. The paste must be applied uniformly and with consistent pressure until the entire pattern is covered. The plate is then gently lifted, leaving a complete, orderly pattern on the cloth.

　　4. Drying: The printed cloth is hung on wooden racks to dry. It must not be exposed to direct sunlight, as this can cause the paste to melt and run. Therefore, drying should take place in a well-ventilated, light-filled area.

　　5. Indigo Dyeing: This involves adding the dye, also called preparing the dye. Dye preparation is a highly technical process. The vibrancy and quality of the Blue Calico depend on the artisan’s crucial skill in adding the raw materials (i.e., indigo dyeing). Too much dye results in dark, murky colors, while too little yields dull, lackluster cloth.

　　6. Stirring the Vat: After adding the indigo to a large vat, the artisan must stir it repeatedly with a wooden stick to ensure the dye is evenly distributed and the concentration is balanced.

　　7. Dyeing: Also called immersion or soaking. The printed cloth is soaked in the indigo vat for about ten minutes, then removed and placed on a rack above the vat to oxidize briefly. Once slightly dried, the cloth is returned to the vat for another ten-minute soak. This process is repeated more than ten times to achieve the desired shade of blue. This is the origin of the saying “Blue comes from indigo but is bluer than indigo.”

　　8. Washing: The dyed cloth is taken to a riverbank and rinsed until all residual indigo and lime powder are washed away.

　　9. Drying: In the dye workshop’s open area, rows of tall wooden racks are erected. The cloth is hung on these racks using long bamboo poles. The lengths vary, with shorter pieces reaching 1–3 zhang (approx. 3.3–10 meters) and longer ones spanning dozens of zhang. The drying scene is quite spectacular.

　　10. Rolling: After drying, the cloth is wrinkled. To remove these, the artisan rolls each piece of clean cloth neatly onto a wooden pole (rolling pole) and arranges them in bundles in the workshop.

　　11. Pressing: In the workshop, a saddle-shaped blue stone is specially crafted for pressing the cloth (called pressing). Bundles of cloth are placed beside the stone. The cloth is rolled onto a rolling pole and positioned under the concave press. The artisan stands on the raised ends of the stone, gripping the frame with both hands and rocking the stone back and forth with their feet. Another person pulls the pressed cloth out from under the stone in an orderly manner. The resulting cloth is smooth, glossy, softly colored, with bright patterns—making it high-quality printed fabric.

　　Method for Making Double-Sided Printed Cloth:

　　Traditional printed cloth is usually single-sided. Through long-term practice and innovation, dyer Liu Dapao created a technique for double-sided printed cloth. During production, the artisan clamps the fabric between two pattern plates, flattens it, and applies the paste evenly and consistently. After scraping the paste, the clamped plates are removed, and the cloth is dried before undergoing dyeing, washing, drying on racks, and pressing to completion.

　　New Process Variety Made with Soybean Flour Paste:

　　Using soybean flour mixed into a paste, patterns are hand-drawn onto white cloth—a new Blue Calico dyeing technique uniquely created by renowned Chinese painter Huang Yongyu. A native of Fenghuang County, Huang developed a love for folk crafts from childhood, particularly Blue Calico dyeing. In recent years, after returning to his hometown and interacting frequently with master dyer Liu Dapao, he was inspired to experiment boldly. He painted designs on white cloth using soybean milk made from soybean flour. The process involves designing patterns, then painting them onto the cloth with a brush dipped in soybean milk. After drying, the cloth undergoes dyeing, followed by the same steps as single-sided printed cloth.

　　The traditional handicraft of Phoenix Blue Calico has a long history. While tie-dyeing, wax-resist dyeing, and clamp-resist dyeing emerged in the Tang Dynasty, Blue Calico shares lineage with clamp-resist dyeing. For centuries, Blue Calico has been an essential part of everyday life, dyed with natural indigo to produce rich, deep blues that grow more vibrant with washing. Its intricate, delicate patterns—often composed of small dots rather than long lines or large white spaces—are distinct from other regional styles.

　　Through innovation, Phoenix Blue Calico has developed double-sided varieties, achieving breakthroughs in both form and technique. It holds significant artistic, technical, and practical value.

　　In 2008, Blue Calico dyeing was listed as part of the second batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Fenghuang County Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center is one of its designated guardians.

　　Liu Dapao (Blue Calico Dyeing Technique)

Hunan Province’s Third Batch of “National Intangible Cultural Heritage Bearers”

Liu Dapao, whose real name is Liu Gengxin, male, born in 1936 in Tuojiang Town, Fenghuang County, is the inheritor of the Liu family’s Blue Calico tradition, trained by his father Liu Yuancheng.

Born into a family of dyers, Liu Dapao’s lineage has practiced the craft since the mid-Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty. His grandfather Liu Yuxing’s dye business thrived, as did his father Liu Guangcheng’s. By Liu Dapao’s time, most dye shops in Tuojiang Town had closed, and the technique had faded—except... [Read more]