Nanhai Rattan Weaving

Nanhai Rattan Weaving

　　Nanhai rattan weaving boasts a history of over 1,000 years and was once a tribute to the imperial court. It is mainly found in Huangqi Baxiang, Dali Town—known as the "Rattan Village"—and extends to areas such as Lishui and Pingzhou.

　　Legend has it that during the late Ming Dynasty, residents of Shabei Village began crafting rattan mats, shoe insoles, and umbrella hoops, with workshops such as Shengji and Bingji. Later, white rattan was transported from Hainan Island, prompting locals to engage in white rattan handicrafts. The earliest product was Chen Litang, sold under the shop name “Xin He Tang.” After the Opium War in 1840, maritime restrictions were lifted, foreign ships gradually arrived in Guangzhou, and import-export trade increased, bringing foreign rattan into China. Residents of Shabei Village used this imported rattan to produce various rattan goods for both domestic and international markets, thus pioneering a new era of manufacturing goods from imported materials for export.

　　Most foreign rattan came from Southeast Asia, primarily Indonesia. Initially, the imported rattan arrived in baskets woven from rattan strips or was transshipped via Hong Kong. At first, people didn’t know how to use it and only burned it as firewood. Later, Zhou Yueting (nickname: Shiyan Cigu), a Shabei native who ran a shop called “Tian He Fu” at Shamianlan in Guangzhou, realized the great potential of this material. Since local white rattan could also be used, he discussed with his clansman Chen Yongsan the idea of using it to craft items needed in agriculture, such as ox yokes (homophonically referred to as “niu bolang”), bamboo basket handles, and packing straps known as “li pi teng.” Eventually, they also made silkworm mats from rattan. Over the years, this evolved into producing a wide variety of daily-use items.

　　At that time, the tools for making rattan products were very basic—just a rattan-splitting knife—and the production method was highly primitive. In the 35th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1909), the fathers of Lu Nian and Ya Wei, among others, invented the “saw gate” (a tool for processing rattan), which was used to thin out split rattan strips. This was the first step. The second step involved using a bamboo device called “ze” (pronounced “zeh”), fitted with a needle knife and pressed down with a bamboo strip to peel the rattan skin into two layers—a process called “pulling.” The third step, called “tapping,” involved trimming both edges of the rattan skin to ensure uniform width. The fourth step, “tail gate,” was thinning the rattan skin further to create semi-finished rattan strips. Compared to hand-split rattan, these processed strips were much thinner, had standardized width, and were significantly more pliable.

　　With such semi-finished products, artisans could produce a wider range of rattan goods, such as box rattan, sand rattan, sand king, rattan mats, and pillow mats. At the time, rattan strips were divided into two main categories: coarse and fine. Only the rattan skin was utilized, while the rattan core remained unused, except when hand-split into fine strands to make broom bristles.

　　Soon after, residents of Baisha Village, such as “Iron Plate Zao” and “Iron Plate Wan,” used thin steel plates with holes drilled in descending sizes (commonly called iron plate holes) to pull rattan cores through one by one, forming round rattan cores. Weavers in Huangqi Baxiang who used these iron plate hole tools to make round rattan cores not only improved efficiency but also facilitated large-scale production and sales of semi-finished round cores locally.

　　In 1915, Chen Yixiang and Chen Xiufeng from Shabei Village devised an ingenious method: placing a wooden board flat and pressing a knife against it, then using a wooden roller to press the rattan strip and push it through the knife edge to pull out the rattan skin. After several improvements, the resulting rattan skin was much thinner and wider than hand-split versions, allowing multiple strips to be produced from a single rattan pole and greatly improving material utilization. This reduced costs and expanded production. At that time, there were as many as 100 small and large rattan workshops in Shabei Village, including Yongji Yingji, Yilong, Huili, Rongji, Shaoji, Zhongji, Yunxiang, and others.

　　In 1920, workers in the Shabei rattan industry invented the production of rattan matting, commonly known as “elephant eye matting” (used for furniture), which was mainly exported to the Americas and Europe. Thanks to improvements in rattan-pulling tools, a variety of products could be made, leading to the emergence of rattan matting. The first to produce it was Zhao Guangji from Fenggang Village, followed by Zhao Kongji and others. Domestic products at the time included rattan mats, while exports mainly consisted of rattan matting and round cores.

　　During the Anti-Japanese War, overseas transport was cut off, raw materials could not be imported, and both domestic and international sales channels were blocked. Most factories and shops closed down. After the victory of the war in 1945, the rattan industry gradually recovered. However, the good times didn’t last long. During the rule of the Kuomintang, government inefficiency, financial instability, currency devaluation, and heavy taxation nearly drove the rattan industry to collapse. Production was barely sustained, and people’s lives fell back into hardship.

　　After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, there were about 200 rattan workshops in the Xunfengzhou area, most established by fellow villagers from Hong Kong and Macau returning to their hometowns. According to the 1952 “Survey of Private (Including Public) Industrial and Commercial Households in the Third District of Nanhai County,” Bichong Township had 83 rattan shops (workshops), including “Hezhan” and “Run Chenglong,” while Huangzhuzhi Township had 40 rattan processing workshops (factories), such as “Pan Chan” and “Liang Liunü.” In September 1953, the state carried out socialist transformation of capitalist industry and commerce, implementing a “redemption” policy. In September 1955, a work team from the United Front Work Department of Nanhai County Party Committee was dispatched to carry out a “private capital merger” of 170 rattan businesses in Xunfengzhou. By January 1956, the “private capital merger” was largely completed. Zou Zhibin, the second-generation owner of Zou Shenji Rattan Factory in Bichong, was the first to sign up to join the publicly-private joint venture Nanhai Rattan Factory. Other owners soon followed. In February of the same year, the publicly-private joint venture Nanhai Rattan Factory (abbreviated as Nan Tan) was officially established.

　　In early 1956, rattan artisans in the Yanbu area organized eight rattan cooperatives—including Shafeng, Baisha, and Bichong—as well as the Haibei Rattan Products Group, forming collective economic entities. Members invested shares, focusing on producing white rattan skin, round cores, square sheets, and li pi. The products were mainly sold to Guangzhou, Foshan, and other nearby areas. In June 1958, these cooperatives merged into the Nanhai Cooperative Rattan Factory. In October 1964, the enterprise was jointly operated by provincial and county handicraft unions and renamed Guangdong Province Nanhai Cooperative Rattan Factory. In October 1966, it was renamed again as Guangdong Province Nanhai Dongfeng Rattan Factory (abbreviated as Dong Tan).

　　By this time, the rattan product processing industry in Huangzhuzhi was essentially dominated by these two major rattan factories, which became the pillar of the local economy and contributed to foreign exchange earnings for over 30 years. The rattan products from Huangqi mainly fell into four categories: woven rattan items, rattan mats, rattan matting, and rattan furniture. Semi-finished products included rattan skin and rattan round cores. Traditional products such as book baskets, rattan boxes, tea baskets, and hand baskets have been innovated into flower baskets, hanging baskets, serving trays, wine bottle holders, travel baskets, laundry hampers, photo frames, wall hangings, and toys. The number of product SKUs has accumulated to over 4,000. Rattan mats mainly included bed mats, pillow mats, mattress pads, car seat cushions, and specially exported carpet mats. Rattan matting, also known as elephant eye matting, came in over 20 varieties such as large-eye, medium-eye, fine-eye, dense matting, bone matting, and sieve matting. These long, cloth-like pieces could be cut as needed for interior decoration or furniture making. Rattan skin and rattan cores were sold to local weavers as raw materials.

　　The most famous product of Nanhai rattan items is the rattan mat, which is more flexible and beautiful than straw or bamboo mats. Rattan mats are woven from rattan skin through multiple manual processes such as cutting, trimming, pressing, and weaving. They come in different types for beds, pillows, and even car seat cushions or sofa mats, with bed mats being the most common. The width of the rattan skin used for bed mats is categorized into specifications such as “top coarse,” “second coarse,” “fine second,” “third coarse,” and “fine third coarse,” and is further divided by color into upper, medium, and gray grades. Additionally, based on width, they are available in sizes ranging from 18-row chi to 4-row chi (using traditional old measurements) to suit large, medium, and small beds. Rattan mats are cool, comfortable, and durable—qualities unmatched by other types of mats.

　　In recent years, with the attention of governments at all levels and cultural authorities, and the strong support of rattan weaving artisans, relevant departments have conducted surveys and organized the intangible cultural heritage of Nanhai rattan weaving. This project has now been included in the fourth batch of Guangdong Province’s Intangible Cultural Heritage listings. To better promote and inherit Nanhai rattan weaving, the Nanhai Rattan Weaving Skills (Dali) Training Center (Guangdong Nanhai Rattan Weaving Art Exhibition Hall) was established, covering an area of 922 square meters. The center features photo displays, exhibits of old rattan-making tools, live demonstrations by artisans, as well as showcases of modern rattan products and furniture.