The Batik--A strange Art Flower Of China

　　Form The Editor: The Batik, an ancient particular handwork with long history is a part of antiquity civilization of China. It originating Qin and Han Dynasty, widely in Suitang Dynasty(A.D.581-907) has the exhaustless art headspring. And the art of the batik accumulate abundant artistic experience, becaming the special race style of art, being a characteristic nation art flower of China after running in the family in minority.

　　The batik is a craft with the flowers dyed in cloth. The forefathers of Miao,Yao,Buyi ethnic group etc. in the southwest region had already grasped the technique of the batik in Qin and Han Dynasty. According to many recordations , the batik has different name because of produced in different minority district, for example called "Yao Speckle Cloth" in Miao and Yao district. The design of the batik with realistic for foundation, which the art language is simple, innocent and crude, but trenchancy, specially its independent sculpt proceeded the courageous variety and exaggeration which come from the naive fancy.The abundant veins in design, which contains geometry, nature image come from generally living or graceful legend.

The Genetic Fame About The Batik

　　The origin of the batik bears on beautiful legend in the district of Miao group: there is an intelligent beauty that dissatisfies with the uniform color of cloth, and she wishes that the skirt could be dyed with multifarious flower design, but it is so trouble by handcraft. One day, the girl is in a daze for a lone time when looking many fresh flowers, and then falled asleep. She is brought to a flowers park, which there is

numerous strange flowers and grass, charactizing a fine spring day by a pretty flowers faery in dream. The girl watch into fan in the garden even doesn't know the bee climb full her dress. When she wakes up,just know it is a dream,but when she lowers her head,founding :the bees in around the flowers really just fly, and ieft honeydew and beeswax in her skirt.So she has to get hold of the skirt into the tub with the indigo to dye it for overlaying the vestige of wax.After dyed,took it in the boiling water to rinse the color.When she takes out the skirt from the boiling water,the miracle appeared:the navy blue skirt with wax by bees appears the

beautiful white flower! The girl seeks immediately beeswax, described the flower pattern by branch after hot up,then dye in the liquid with the indigo,drop the beeswax with the boiling water finally,and appeared the various white flower on the cloth cover. The girl sings the folk song happily. People hear the singing of the girl,going to her home and listen to her dreamland,watching the whole course of the batik. Then, people all follow the lead of the craft. Herefrom, the craft of the batik goes around Miao Group,Buyi Group and Yao Group ect.

The Drawing of The Batik

　　The fabric that draws the batik commonly is a white hand-woven cloth,but generally the white woven, the fabric made from waste silk and the poplin all used. The resist mainly is beeswax, sometimes mixing into the white wax. The beeswax that is the secretion of the bees' belly doesn't dissolve in the water,but could melt after heating. The used coloring matter is indigo from Guizhou that teems with the blue grass. Puts the leaf of the blue grass in the pit and ferment, then the indigo comes into being.

　　The tool that draws the wax flower isn't a brush but a self-mastery steel knife that is two slices or several same thin coppers.Because the brush dips the wax to cool off the concretion easily, so used the knife heat preservation. According to the demand of painting every kind of lines, there are different copper knives,for example hemicycle,triangle,ax from etc,generally.

The Archaic But Youthful Craft Of The Batik

　　The batik with the concise sculpt and the pute bright color is not only an archaic art but also a youthful art, modern art, which adapt to the demand of the modern living and the modern taste request. According to the textual research, the craft of the batik was mastered in the southwest minority in the period of qin and Han Dynasty, and to Donghan Dynasty,it becomes so mature, while in Xijin Dynasty, the multicolor batik goods appear. And inTang Dynasty, the batik already very widely accepted, to Southsong Dynasty, it called"Yaobanbu". Now , though the printing and dyeing flowers cloth by machine develop well, but the batik still is very popular in the southwest region of our country.

　　The substance of the batik is to pain and to defend dyeb by the wax. The folk batik that the composition is elegant has no mode but painting by fancy.

　　The professional batik is different. Firstly, the detailed design is important, drawing on the white paper, then print down it by the transparent paper. Secondly, the needle pierces the lines of the rough sketch, then put the design on the white cotton pr the poplin, and draws according to the design. Finally, fill the request color and drop, paint and cover the wax.

　　Then, put the painted cloth in the jar with the indigo to dip-dye, passing by 5 or 6 days in old days, but now only 45 minutes. Because the design of the "cover wax" which dips in the jar breach for collapsing, the crack also called"ice lines" make the batik cloth full of lasting appeal.

　　Finally, "take of the wax".Put the canvas in the boiling water to unfreeze the beeswax, and the design recurs. Then washing it through the rinsing, a breadth gorgrous batik produced.
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