Zhu Han Handmade Carpet Making Technique

Shandong
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Carpets are a product with a long history and are used worldwide. They were first woven with animal hair and can be used for laying on the ground, keeping out cold and dampness, and sitting or lying down. The history of carpets can be traced back to the Babylonian Kingdom, the Sumerian Kingdom, and the Assyrian Kingdom in the Middle East 3,000 years ago. In my country, as early as the Western Han Dynasty more than 1,800 years ago, warm mats (carpets) were clearly divided into "carpets" and "felts" according to their different craftsmanship. There are also discussions in ancient books on this. "Shuowen" says: "The wool is trampled into pieces, so it is called felt." "Wuyuan" says: "Carpets are wool mats with five-color flowers woven on them." That is, felt is made of wool from sheep, cows, etc., which is wet, heated, squeezed into sheets for laying. Carpets are textiles made of wool, linen, silk, cotton and other raw materials, which are spun, dyed, and woven. Zhuhan Village, Honghe Town, Changle County, with its unique historical origins, has nurtured a profound culture. As a traditional handicraft, Zhuhan handmade carpet has a long history of development. It originated in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. It was first woven with animal hair as raw material. With the development of social production, imported New Zealand wool or domestic Xining white wool spinning yarn was gradually used as the main production material. Combining the characteristics of brocade and embroidery art, it created a unique carpet pattern with auspicious meanings, which has been passed down to the present day. With its unique craftsmanship and style, it occupies an important position in the world's handmade carpets. In 1991, it won the gold medal at the 62nd International Exposition in France and the gold medal at the Malaysian International Exposition in 1992. In 2013, Zhuhan handmade carpet was listed as an intangible cultural heritage project in Weifang City. Zhuhan traditional handmade carpet has a unique production process and has the advantages of sound absorption, heat insulation, moisture absorption, and air purification. There are two manual production methods, one is manual knotting and the other is manual gluing. The former is to use a knife and a pick to hang the wool color thread between the warp and weft lines on the base. The latter is to use a needle to pin the colored wool yarn to the base cloth. The production process is collectively called tufting or tufting. The higher the tufting density, the higher the grade. The higher the yarn count, the higher the density of the pattern and the richer the color. The general grade requires 20, 90, 100, 120, 160, 180, and 200. The highest can be woven with 12 yarns to make 240. With each increase in the number of threads, its value also increases by a grade. This is the production of semi-finished products and is also the basic process that determines the quality of the product. In the back process, there are also processes such as brushing glue, flat work, washing, carving, cleaning and trimming. With each extension of the process, the product is improved by a grade. Weaving a handmade carpet is like making a fine handicraft. It is a complex process of deep artistic processing of protein fibers or plant fibers, and light relief processing. The process is as follows: 1. Spinning: Weaving or twisting the washed wool into single yarns of various counts by hand, the process includes shearing, sorting, washing, dehydration, drying, wool combination, combing, troughing, spinning, reeling, and bundling. 2. Dyeing: including testing and sample determination, washing, dyeing, dehydration, drying, bundling, winding, and gluing. 3. Pattern design: including pattern planning, composition, drawing, finalization, adding and reducing patterns, chiseling, and brushing. 4. Weaving: including loading or hanging cloth, writing color, determining the tapping, and finally weaving according to the specified color line. At this time, the product enters the most critical production link. Because dozens or hundreds of colors need to be woven on a stall to form a pattern in order to achieve the most perfect artistic effect, this process is also called cutting or tufting process. 5. Gluing: Use natural latex to prepare finished glue in proportion, fix the work, apply the first coat of glue, dry, apply the second coat of glue (re-lining and shaping), and dry. 6. Flattening: use grinding equipment to flatten, scrape, cut, and edge. 7. Carving process: check the reverse and forward directions, open grooves, cut left and right, and pick thorns. 8. Washing process: put on the machine, mix ingredients, wash, put on the bar to dry, work out, scrape and sort. 9. Ditch cleaning process: it is the deepening process of carving. The key is: cut on the top and cut the flowers on the bottom, cut the flowers without damaging the ground, and cut the ground without damaging the flowers. At this point, a perfect carpet craft has been completed by more than 90%. 10. While inheriting and carrying forward the traditional crafts, Zhuhan handmade carpet craftsmanship has learned from the strengths of various ethnic cultures, carried forward traditions, and continuously innovated, forming a unique carpet culture. Its main design ideas are rigorous and rhythmic, lively and varied, and full of life interest. The patterns are mainly Beijing-style patterns, that is, the patterns woven on the carpets are mainly based on the totems of Chinese historical relics, such as piano, chess, books, paintings, wheels, Luo, umbrellas, covers, and peony flowers that symbolize wealth; bats that symbolize happiness and longevity, etc. Each pattern symbolizes China's ancient traditional culture and the yearning and pursuit of a better life. In terms of color, most of them are juxtaposed with similar colors or contrasting colors. Originally, natural dyes made from plants and minerals were used for dyeing, but now chemical active dyes are used instead, which are more colorful and have a strong color. Zhuhan carpets are made of wool fibers carefully woven on warp and weft boards supported by cotton nylon and base cloth. After deep processing in subsequent steps, as well as combing with exquisite craftsmanship such as flat carpeting, carving, ditch cleaning, trimming, rinsing, and engraving, the fiber art of the soft relief is exquisite and antique in appearance. From a distance, it looks like a cluster of flowers, elegant and luxurious, and from a close distance, it looks elegant and colorful. It has high artistic appreciation and practical value and can be called a unique skill.

Intangible culture related to the heritage

China tourist attractions related to the heritage