Batik in Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village — Culture on the Body, Memory in the Hands

The third "Youfang Journey" event, "Youfang Xijiang: Encounter Pure Love," where a hundred couples visited the Miao Village, has successfully concluded. The intangible cultural experience segment left a deep impression on many young men and women. Following in the couples’ footsteps, reporters visited one of Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village’s intangible cultural heritage sites — a batik workshop — and personally experienced the magic of batik.

　　Walking along the streets of the Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village scenic area, it’s common to see Miao women dressed in traditional ethnic attire or clothes made from batik fabric. The lilting sounds of the Miao language often drift by, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the rich ethnic atmosphere at any moment. Miao batik is highly versatile — aside from being used for traditional garments like tops, long skirts, aprons, and baby-carrying slings, it’s also widely applied to larger items such as bed sheets, door curtains, and bag panels. To this day, batik remains an important element of Miao life.

 

Batik in Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village — Culture Worn on the Body, Memory Flowing Through the Hands

　　A slender figure, clean face, bright eyes, and a clear smile — that was the first impression of Liu Xing, an art school student learning batik under Auntie Yuan. Drawn by his interest in batik, he came to Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village. Upon entering the dye workshop, he affectionately called out the names of each dye vat. “The local people who do batik here take care of their dye vats like they’re their own children. They can be temperamental, gentle, and even spiritual. How you treat them is how they’ll treat you. It’s a magical thing in the workshop, because you never know what kind of piece you’ll pull out of the vat after the final step.”

　　As he spoke, Liu Xing first soaked the cloth with wax-patterned designs in warm water. That’s when we noticed his pale blue hands. “Actually, batik is the most natural, simple, and clean form of art, because all the dyes are purely plant-based. My hands have changed color from dyeing for so long, but this staining doesn’t harm the body — I’ve always been healthy, though my hands do suffer. I hope my hands can become as indigo-stained as those of master batik artists. It would be a very fulfilling achievement.”

　　For Liu Xing, batik has given his young life the most vibrant colors. The blue bubbling indigo dye vats have witnessed countless pieces he’s dyed. In his words, “It’s a lonely but beautiful process, because most of the time I’m alone in the workshop. Just the first step — soaking in warm water — takes forty minutes to help the fabric absorb color better.” Then he rolls the soaked piece into a loose cylinder, places it into a vat of fermented indigo, and lets it soak for about thirty minutes before taking it out and letting it sit for a few hours, then returning it to the vat. This process is repeated three to four times to ensure the indigo fully penetrates the fabric. The time spent dyeing has settled his mind, but not his deep love for batik.

　　“Batik has taught me that ‘waiting’ is a wonderful thing. Every time you pull a soaked piece out of the vat, the surprise and sense of accomplishment are incredible.” After dyeing, the piece is rinsed in water to remove excess color, then boiled in a pot of water to melt and separate the yellow beeswax from the fabric, letting it float to the surface for reuse. The batik fabric is then rinsed repeatedly to remove any remaining beeswax, leaving a striking contrast between the deep blue and pure white of the design.

　　The inheritor of Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village’s intangible cultural heritage of batik, an elderly man, said with slight regret, “There are too few people making batik nowadays, but I’ve never stopped trying to pass on this craft. I teach a few apprentices every year, hoping they will continue this tradition. But because the batik-making process is complex, requires a long learning period, uses hand-spun cotton cloth, and is especially labor-intensive and time-consuming with a long production cycle, most young people are unwilling to learn. There’s a shortage of successors, and the craft is at risk of being lost. What I can do is try my best to preserve batik. This ‘Youfang’ event in Xijiang Qianhu Miao Village has helped more tourists learn about and appreciate batik, and the government and scenic area have provided a lot of support. I believe that with our joint efforts, this craft won’t disappear.”

　　Professor Wang from the Art Academy told reporters, “Under new historical conditions, folk batik faces various challenges brought by social development and cultural change, and its preservation and development encounter many issues, while also hiding new opportunities.” But as a living, evolving cultural heritage, exploring the deeper cultural meanings within it and promoting its folk traditions and aesthetic values is beneficial under different social contexts.

　　Guizhou batik, also known as “Guizhou wax flowers,” can be traced back over 2,000 years to the Western Han Dynasty. With its elegant tones, graceful patterns, and rich cultural significance, it stands out uniquely in Guizhou folk art. Skillful Miao women use wax knives made of copper sheets dipped in melted wax to draw unique patterns on their handwoven white cloth, then dip them in indigo dye vats. After boiling off the wax and rinsing, a piece of batik cloth with a blue background and white floral patterns is complete. Miao batik has a long history, and most finished products feature dark blue backgrounds with white flowers — the patterns are smooth and clear, simple yet elegant, showcasing the Miao people’s rich ethnic culture and traditional folk artistry.