Sinan Tangtou Bamboo Hat

Sinan Tangtou Bamboo Hat

　　Bamboo hats, also known as woven hats, come in two types: those woven from yellow bamboo strips and those from green bamboo strips. They serve three purposes: for rain protection (large and thick), sun protection (large and thin), and for playful wear (small, thick, and woven with floral or grass patterns). Wearing a bamboo hat makes working more convenient and nimble, unlike an umbrella that requires holding and gets in the way...

　　 In the past, those who wove bamboo hats were also called bamboo craftsmen, ranking above the "three crafts" (stonemasons and carpenters). Stonework and carpentry were rough, labor-intensive jobs, whereas bamboo weaving was delicate, a craft requiring skill, and highly respected.

　　 When beginning to weave a bamboo hat, in our area along the Wu River, it was called “starting the knife.” First, incense was burned and paper offered to honor the bamboo god. Then, bamboos were cut down, branches removed, and the bamboo split using a bamboo knife into thin strips resembling chopsticks. These were then carefully separated into yellow and green bamboo strips, which were further divided into tiny binding strips the size of rice grains. Sometimes, even these tiny strips were meticulously separated into bamboo threads before the actual weaving began. The bamboo knife used for splitting strips resembled a firewood knife but was not as wide or thick. The art of splitting bamboo lay in dealing with the bamboo nodes, which were brittle and prone to breaking. At this stage, the women splitting the strips would focus their eyes on the nodes, use their left thumb and index finger to grip and separate the strips, while their right hand held the knife — pulling back slightly, then forcefully flicking the blade toward the node.

　　 Beginners usually found it difficult to split a whole bamboo pole from top to bottom without breaks. The precision required in splitting the strips surpassed even that of sewing clothes; a small lapse could result in broken nodes, cuts from the strips, or wounds from the knife. That’s why the hands of bamboo hat weavers were often covered in scattered, fine cuts.

　　 In truth, bamboo hats are not just for rain or sun protection; they also carry an ornamental beauty, an artistic elegance, and embody a form of culture. During idle farming seasons, women would sit in their courtyards weaving bamboo hats. With a gentle breeze and the distant sound of river waves, stacks of finished hats piled up while unfinished ones dangled from their hands, and bamboo strips danced through the air. As they wove bamboo hats, these women were also weaving life, weaving the future, and crafting a vibrant spectacle for all who came to the Wu River and entered Tangtou...