Buyi batik is world-famous. The batik technology of Buyi nationality has a history of thousands of years, which is a concentrated expression of women's exquisite skills. The manufacturing method is as follows: firstly, the steel wax knife is immersed in the wax solution, and symmetrical geometric patterns such as vortex pattern, wave pattern and diamond pattern are drawn on the white cloth, and then the indigo solution is combined with herbs for printing and dyeing, and the wax is removed.
Entering the Anshun area of the western line, we found that the Buyi villages in this area are all stone buildings: the walls are made of Shi Zhuan, the doorframes and windows are erected with square stones, the "tile surface" of the roof is paved with thin slate, and even the water tanks are made of interlocking slate. The stone mill, mortar, stove, bench and bowl used by Buyi people in their daily life are all related to stones.
Shitouzhai belongs to Anzhuang Township, Zhenning Buyi and Miao Autonomous County. The winding Baishui River surrounds the village. Because the houses in the village are all made of stone and slate, there is no brick or tile, so it is named "Stone Village". The movies "Mountain Fire" and "Good Woman" were shot here. Here, surrounded by village buildings, beautiful mountains and rivers and pure folk customs. Farmers' stone houses are scattered on both sides of fields and forests, with typical rich Buyi customs. At the same time, the people have followed the exquisite batik skills since ancient times, and the batik products are simple and elegant, so they are known far and near, so they are also called "the hometown of batik".
Use the spinning wheel: step on the pedal with your left foot, thread the shuttle through the warp, then pull it hard, and so on and so forth. It takes about a whole day to weave a piece of cloth 30 cm wide into a piece of cloth 50 cm long. It can be said that all the threads are hard. Buyi primitive manual loom
Batik materials: Batik fabrics generally use folk self-woven white homespun, but also organically woven white cloth, cotton silk and poplin.
Drawing tools: not brushes, but homemade steel knives. Because the brush dipped in wax is easy to cool and solidify, while the steel painting knife is easy to keep warm. This steel knife consists of two or more thin copper sheets with the same shape, one end of which is tied to a wooden handle. The blade is slightly open and the middle is slightly empty, so it is easy to dip in beeswax. According to the needs of drawing various lines, there are different specifications of copper knives, generally semi-circular, triangular, axe-shaped and so on.
Beeswax is the secretion of wax glands in the abdomen of bees. It is insoluble in water, but it can melt when heated. It is to use this characteristic as a preservative for batik. Put the beeswax in a ceramic bowl or a metal can, melt it with charcoal ash or chaff fire in the brazier, and then paint with a copper knife dipped in wax.
Batik process: put white cloth on a board or table to light wax flowers, and Buyi women can color with their skillful operation. Then wax where there is no need to dye, once on both sides. This is the key, the wax should be evenly coated. If the coating is too thick, there will be a gap between the wax and the cloth, and the dye will be immersed in the gap. If the coating is too thin, the waxing effect will not be achieved. The whole process of doing this job requires patience, and it is normal to spend two or three hours.
In Buyi villages, clothes made of batik cloth can be seen everywhere: tops, long skirts, headscarves, waistlines, children's suspenders, home sheets, quilts, tablecloths, curtains ... all show the exquisite patterns of Buyi batik.
Start painting with melted wax as pigment.