Rattan weaving: an intangible art on your fingertips, weaving a thousand-year cultural context

Historical Origins: A Treasure of Craftsmanship

Rattan weaving has a long and storied history, dating back to ancient times. When humans were still struggling to coexist with nature, they discovered the toughness and flexibility of rattan and began to use it to weave simple tools and containers for gathering and storing food. Over time, rattan weaving techniques evolved, evolving from their initial focus on practicality to incorporating aesthetic elements, becoming a craft that combines both practical and artistic value.

Rattan weaving has deep cultural roots in many regions of my country. For example, rattan weaving in Hanzhong, Shaanxi, has a long history. Records indicate that during the Chu-Han Contention, the Han army used rattan weaving during their "openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing Chencang" campaign. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Hanzhong's warehouse industry flourished, and bamboo, wood, palm, and rattan products became important goods for transportation at land and water ports, demonstrating the scale of rattan weaving at that time. Huaiyuan rattan weaving in Chongzhou, Sichuan, began in the late Qing Dynasty and rapidly developed during the Republic of China. It boasts a history of over a century, expanding from daily necessities to interior and exterior decoration, demonstrating its strong vitality.

Craftsmanship Features: Ingenious Fingertip Art

Rattan weaving is an extremely complex craft. Behind each exquisite rattan piece lies the artisans' immense dedication and exquisite skills. For example, Hanzhong rattan weaving involves over 20 steps, including material preparation, frame making, rattan weaving, and polishing.

In the material preparation phase, after the seventh lunar month each year, artisans harvest two-year-old bamboo and green rattan from the mountains. These are then placed in a well-ventilated area to dry naturally. They are then steamed for 6 to 8 hours, which not only kills insect eggs but also strengthens the fibers. After peeling, rinsing, air-drying, and knot removal, the rattan and bamboo strips are finally usable.

For the frame, finest bamboo is selected according to the shape and size of the object. These are then formed into various geometric shapes through fire and water blasting. The frames are then secured with bamboo nails and tied with ropes to create the object's skeleton. This step requires the artisans to have a thorough understanding of the wood's characteristics and to precisely control the heat and pressure to create a sturdy frame that meets the design requirements.

Rattan weaving is the core of rattan weaving. Artisans use rattan strips as the warp and weft, weaving a filling-like pattern across the frame. After securing the warp, they meticulously weave the weft in various patterns and colors, wrapping and overlocking the frame. Seven common weaving techniques are used, including warp-weft interlacing, sparse-dense weaving, broken warp weaving, color-dipped weaving, three-dimensional weaving, and pepper-eye hollow weaving. Over 30 patterns are available, including papaya hearts, diamond lattices, chrysanthemums, and two dragons playing with a pearl. The artisans' fingers nimbly navigate the rattan strips, each knot and pattern imbued with their reverence for traditional craftsmanship and their pursuit of beauty.

Finally, after a series of processes, including shearing, puttying, sandpaper polishing, and varnishing, a stunningly exquisite, ancient, beautiful, breathable, lightweight, and durable rattan weaving piece is finally presented to the public.

Contemporary Heritage: An Innovation-Driven Development Path

In modern society, traditional rattan weaving techniques face numerous challenges, such as the impact of mechanized production and a lack of interest among young people in traditional crafts. However, rattan weaving inheritors across the country have not remained passive but actively explored innovation, giving this ancient art a new lease of life in the new era.

In Hanzhong, Shaanxi, the story of the Chen Liangshun family, a family of rattan weavers, offers a vivid example of this tradition. Faced with the closure of traditional rattan weaving businesses in the 1990s and the reluctance of young people to learn the craft, Chen Liangshun adhered to his father's legacy of "being down-to-earth and developing the rattan weaving industry," determined to pass on the tradition. Starting from a family workshop, he led his family into the mountains to cut rattan, returned home to weave rattan chairs, and then peddled them from street to street. With increasing support from national policies, his business gradually flourished. In 2007, he established a professional cooperative and a rattan weaving company. Using a "farmer + cooperative + company" model, he attracted surrounding villagers to join the rattan weaving industry. Today, the cooperative has 485 members and produces 180,000 pieces (sets) of various handmade products annually, with an output value of over 25 million yuan.

Chen Liangshun's son, Chen Lingkai, keenly recognized the new business opportunities presented by the e-commerce economy. He opened an online store in his sophomore year of university. After graduation, he returned to his hometown to establish an e-commerce company and team, adopting a "cooperative + farmer + e-commerce" model. They explored product centralization, product branding, and the trendiness of handicrafts, promoting the integration of large e-commerce platforms with local businesses. They also collaborated with universities to establish industry-university-research bases and expert workstations, empowering design and development with technology. Today, their products are sold not only in major cities across China but also in over ten countries in Europe, America, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, with online sales exceeding 33 million yuan. In Chongzhou, Sichuan, the inheritors of Huaiyuan rattan weaving are constantly innovating. Preserving traditional weaving techniques while incorporating modern design concepts, they have developed a series of rattan products that retain both traditional charm and modern aesthetics. Furthermore, through training courses and activities promoting intangible cultural heritage in schools, they are attracting more and more young people to learn and pursue rattan weaving, injecting fresh energy into the tradition.

Cultural Value: A Link Between Past and Future

Rattan weaving is more than just a craft; it is an integral part of Chinese traditional culture and holds immense cultural value. It reflects the natural environment, lifestyle, and folk customs of different regions, serving as a vivid expression of local culture. Each rattan piece embodies the artisans' passion and wisdom, reflecting their love of life and appreciation for beauty.

The inheritance and development of rattan weaving is of great significance to the preservation and promotion of China's finest traditional culture and the promotion of cultural diversity. It preserves a precious cultural heritage, allowing future generations to appreciate the remarkable creativity and unique aesthetic taste of our ancestors. At the same time, the development of the rattan weaving industry can drive local economic growth, promote employment, and contribute to rural revitalization, becoming a vital link between the past and the future, and between tradition and modernity.

In today's globalized world, we must attach even greater importance to the preservation and inheritance of intangible cultural heritage, including rattan weaving. Let us work together to cultivate awareness of rattan weaving techniques and support the development of the rattan weaving industry, allowing this intangible cultural heritage, held at our fingertips, to flourish even more brilliantly in the new era, weaving a brighter cultural future for the Chinese nation.