Golden Ferry Town Flower Mats

Golden Ferry Town Flower Mats

　　Golden Ferry Town is located in the central-northern part of Gaoyao City, separated from Zhaoqing’s urban area by a river, with the Zhaoqing Bridge and the Guangzhou-Zhaoqing Expressway passing through the town. The Golden Ferry flower mat serves both as an everyday bedding item and a fine example of traditional craftsmanship. Originating from Golden Ferry Town in Gaoyao, these mats are handwoven. Made from bulrush (also known as du), they are also called du mats or bulrush mats. Later, the weaving technique was improved by dyeing the du various colors, resulting in what is known as the "flower mat." As early as the Song Dynasty, Golden Ferry flower mats were one of Gaoyao’s major exported economic specialties. For centuries, they have been sold both domestically and abroad. In the mid-1960s, when the then President of China visited Southeast Asian countries, he gifted exquisitely crafted Golden Ferry flower mats to foreign friends as special souvenirs.

　　The weaving process of the flower mat is intricate. It involves harvesting bulrush that has been cultivated for over three years, then subjecting it to sun-yellowing, sorting, pounding, bleaching, and dyeing. The bulrush is then woven according to design patterns, and finally polished smooth using hard talc to complete the mat. A finely made large bed mat (with over 15 strands of bulrush per inch) requires five days of work even by a skilled weaver; more complex patterns demand even more time. Over time, as social demand grew, higher craftsmanship standards emerged, leading to a greater variety of flower mat types and designs. During the 1950s–1960s period, new developments and breakthroughs were achieved. Weavers managed to depict patterns such as Beijing’s Tiananmen Gate, the beautiful “Seven Star Crags” archway of Zhaoqing, messages like “Celebrating Hong Kong’s Return” and “Revitalizing Gaoyao” on the mats. On the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic, the Gaoyao County Government sent flower mats to an exhibition in Beijing, where the Golden Ferry flower mats caused a national sensation. In 1997, to mark Hong Kong’s return, the Shuibian Xiangxing Flower Mat Factory in Golden Ferry Town boldly innovated and reformed its dyeing and weaving techniques, improving the mats’ performance so they could be used not only on hard mattresses but also on today’s common spring mattresses and other soft beds. This solved the previous issue of flower mats easily breaking at the center when laid on spring beds. The mats gained both practicality and ornamental value. The fame of Golden Ferry flower mats spread far and wide. At that time, they were snapped up by Hong Kong merchants at a price of one thousand yuan per mat, marking a glorious chapter in the history of flower mats.

　　Golden Ferry flower mats are a traditional specialty of Gaoyao, known for their appealing appearance, fine craftsmanship, novel styles, bright colors, clear patterns, diverse motifs, soft texture, smooth feel, lightweight and foldable design. They are both beautiful and durable, hygienic and comfortable, keeping warm in winter and cool in summer. They also offer health benefits to the human body.

　　The main raw materials for weaving cool mats include three types: rush, bulrush, and iris. Rush is mainly produced in Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Hunan, while iris grass mainly comes from Taiwan and Fujian. Bulrush, however, is best sourced from Gaoyao in Guangdong. The bulrush used for mats in Gaoyao all comes from this region. The bulrush grown by the people of Gaoyao is slender, smooth, and resilient. The “Lingnan Miscellaneous Records” states: “Bulrush from Duanzhou is finer and smoother than elsewhere, surpassing others—it is what is called 'rivaling dragon’s beard,' and all of it is this material.”

　　Bulrush is also called du (pronounced “tu”). Fields suitable for cultivating du are those that can be irrigated and drained—mountain valley fields are ideal, with a cultivation period of two and a half years. The best harvest season is after the Mid-Autumn Festival. The du plant has a waxy coating, making it tough and strong, with each strand capable of withstanding a tension of 1.5 to 2 kilograms. It features the traits of “white fruit head, green needle tail, spike that can kill a frog.” That is, the du head resembles a white fruit, the leaf sheath a green needle, and the tail end is sharp enough to stab a frog to death. Bulrush is divided into two main categories: hua and lang grass. The former is slender and used for weaving flower mats, while the latter is short and thick, often used for plain bulrush mats. Bulrush is measured in “bundles,” with one bundle being enough to weave 12 cool mats, 6 flower mats, or 3 hybrid flower mats. Based on this standard, the size of each bundle is defined, commonly referred to as “du dou,” a unique measurement method in Gaoyao.

　　Initially, the people of Golden Ferry in Gaoyao handwove simple items like bulrush bags and du pouches. Later, they discovered that du grass had the characteristic of keeping cool in summer and warm in winter. Thus, the original green mats in the natural color of du were created—these are the predecessors of Gaoyao flower mats. At that time, weaving green mats was mainly done by women in Golden Ferry Village, and later spread to surrounding towns, gradually forming a household handicraft industry.

　　The origin of the “white mat.” It is said that long ago, there was a merchant shop in Golden Ferry, Gaoyao, specializing in transporting green mats and bulrush bags. They often used wooden boats to ship the mats to places like Nanhai and Shunde for sale. Once, when the boat reached near Taopu Taoxi in Shipu, a storm arose and capsized the cargo boat, sending all the mats and bulrush bags into the Xijiang River. The boat owner salvaged some of the green mats and bulrush bags from the water and laid them out on the beach to dry. After one or two days, strangely enough, the green mats turned white or golden yellow, looking much more beautiful than before. The merchant returned to the village and studied this accidental discovery, gradually devising a sun-drying and processing method. The du processed this way, when woven into mats, turned golden yellow, had a soft and smooth texture, and was significantly better in quality than the original green mats. This marked the first reform in the history of Golden Ferry flower mats.

　　The emergence of flower mats. In the late 19th century, a man from Golden Ferry, Gaoyao, who worked on foreign ships, once brought back some “foreign red” and “foreign green” granular dye materials from overseas. He taught the villagers how to use these dyes to color the bulrush used in mat weaving into red and green, alternating the colored and white strands to create various colorful patterns—these were called “flower mats.” As soon as these mats hit the market, they became popular, and people rushed to buy them. This marked the second reform in the history of Golden Ferry flower mats.

　　The combination of flower mats and text. In the early years after liberation, there was a nunnery named “Yongshou An” in Shatou, Golden Ferry. Inside lived a clever middle-aged nun, commonly called “Nun Nian,” who had some literacy and was especially skilled at weaving flower mats. She came up with a unique idea and wove a mat featuring the four artistic characters “Peace Forever.” This caused a sensation at the time, and many people imitated her. Starting with Nun Nian, the combination of patterns and text emerged, becoming the third reform in the history of flower mats.