Intangible cultural heritages in Weishan

During the Qingming Festival holiday, from April 4 to 7, tourists flock to Weishan ancient town in Weishan Yi and Hui autonomous county of Dali Bai autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province. Here, many intangible cultural heritage crafts worth experiencing.

Tie-dyeing

Tie-dyeing requires several steps like drawing patterns on hemp or cotton fabric first and then stitching along the patterns. Finally, the fabric should be dyed in a vat. With each dyeing, the color on the fabric deepens layer by layer.

After repeated dyeing, the fabric is taken out, rinsed, air-dried, and the threads binding the fabric are removed. The finished fabric will an alternating color of white and blue.

Weishan woodblock printing

Weishan woodblock printing is an art with a history of thousands of years. It incorporates traditional Chinese painting, carving, and printing techniques. It is usually of auspicious meanings. In the north street of the ancient town, there are many woodblock prints in the experience shop. The patterns include lucky gods, tile cats, the gods wandering like ghosts but helpful in exorcising evil spirits, gods of wealth, dragon kings, and various others.

Tile cats

High on every roof, with round eyes and big mouths, neither like cats nor tigers form the description of tile cats. Tile cats are a highly characteristic ridge decoration craft in Yunnan province, made of clay and placed on the roof, symbolizing warding off evil spirits and bringing in fortune.

In Weishan, there are various cultural and creative products related to tile cats, such as postcards, fridge magnets, stickers, keychains, etc. They present different images of the cats through watercolor painting, sketches, tie-dyeing and so on. The products are also of blessings for safety, happiness, and good encounters throughout the seasons, which are very endearing.

Now, Weishan county has a total of 89 representative projects of intangible cultural heritage. In recent years, the development of the relate industries has been thriving.

Source: Yunnan News; trans-editing by Wang Yunya