Tie-dye fabric

Tie-dye fabric

　　Tie-dye fabric is a unique folk craft product of the Bai people in Dali, anciently known as “jiǎo xié,” and in Dali it is called “gēda huā bù” or “gēda huā.” Tie-dye, anciently called “zá huā bù” and also known as “jiǎo xié rǎn,” is an ancient manual textile dyeing technique originating over a thousand years ago in the Central Plains region. Today, it is mainly preserved and produced in places such as Zhoucheng Town of Dali City, Weishan County, Dacang, and Miaojie. Located by Butterfly Spring, Zhoucheng Town is a large settlement of the Bai ethnic group, with more than 1,500 households and a population of over 8,000. The Bai women in the village are especially skilled in tie-dyeing and embroidery, with almost “every household owning a dye vat and every family producing tie-dye,” earning it the reputation as the “hometown of tie-dye.”

　　Tie-dyeing uses traditional folk patterns, and through further refinement and artistic processing of the traditional tie-dye technique, it has become a craft that blends artistry, abstraction, and practicality. The process involves hand-stitching with needle-binding techniques and repeated cold dyeing using plant-based dyes. The resulting products are not only vibrant in color and fade-resistant, but also have anti-inflammatory and health-care benefits for the skin, overcoming the harmful side effects of modern chemical dyes. Dali Bai tie-dye uses fabrics such as pure cotton, silk-cotton blends, linen, velvet, and corduroy. In addition to preserving traditional indigo-dyed blue-background white-flower designs, new varieties of colorful tie-dye have also been developed. Products include yardage fabric, tablecloths, door curtains, clothing, ethnic bags, hats, handkerchiefs, scarves, pillowcases, bed sheets, and more, with over a hundred different varieties.