The Eastern First Dyeing Art – Anshun Batik
Since ancient times, Anshun has been one of the important political, economic, and cultural centers in Guizhou. Known as “the heart of Guizhou, the throat of Yunnan, and the strategic link to Sichuan and Guangdong,” and “the most commercially prosperous city in the province,” it was once the capital of the ancient Yelang and rBrA states in the southwestern region. With profound cultural heritage, Anshun is among the earliest developed areas in Guizhou’s history and is recognized as a historical and cultural city in the province. It boasts unique cultural strengths such as the Chuan Dong culture, Yelang culture, rBrA culture, Tunbao culture, Three Kingdoms culture, rock climbing culture, and the Third Front culture. The ancient human cultural site of Chuan Dong Cave in Puding is hailed as the “Lamp of Asian Civilization”; the Guanling “Red Cliff Heavenly Book,” one of China’s eight great ancient mystery scripts, is known as the “Enigma of the Ages”; the Ming Dynasty military heritage of the Tunbao villages and the Guanling paleontological fossil group are considered “unique in the world”; Anshun batik is praised as the “Eastern First Dyeing Art”; and Anshun ground opera is referred to as the “Living Fossil of Chinese Drama.”