Keeping dyeing (染色工艺) tradition alive

Known as “soft gold”, gambiered Canton gauze (香云纱) is the best silk fabric (布料) for cheongsam (旗袍). It feels smooth and comfortable, easy to wash and dry, and is also good for people’s health.

Gambiered Canton gauze is the only silk fabric that’s still hand-dyed using natural plants in the world today. It gets its color from a yam (薯蓣) plant called shuliang. The plant grows in Shunde, Guangdong. It can help fight against bacteria and bad smells.

The skill of dyeing gambiered Cantongauze has a history of more than 500 years. In 2008, it was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage (国家非物质文化遗产).

A master’s story

Ouyang Yongze is an inheritor of the dyeing skill of gambiered Canton gauze from Shunde, Guangdong. The 50-year-old started learning the skill in 2017.

The dyeing includes 30 steps and is all done by hand with natural materials. “Shuliang, river mud, sunshine, and meadows (草地) play key roles in the dyeing,” Ouyang told Teens.

To dye the fabric, workers put it in yam juice and then let it dry on the grass. They do this many times until it turns brownish-yellow. Then, they put river mud on it to help the yam react fully. After washing and drying again, the fabric turns black!

Mastering the dyeing skill is not easy. Ouyang had to try many times before he could get the right density of yam juice. “Too much may cause color loss, and too little may not lead to a dark enough fabric,” he said.

Passing on the craft is also challenging. It can be tiring to work under the sun for eight hours a day. Only a few people work in that line of work, and the skilled masters are getting older.

In light of this, Ouyang has worked hard to tie in other dyeing skills such as tie-dye and batikc (蜡染). He has also worked with famous designers to make both traditional and trendy clothes from gambiered Canton gauze. He believes all these can make the traditional skill more alive and get more young people to learn the skill.

【推荐3】Zhou Pengcheng, a 76-year-old man, has been a writing brush worker for more than sixty years. Zhou comes from Wengang Town in Jiangxi Province. Wengang has a long history of making writing brushes since 1979. Over forty years, the town has grown into one of the country’s biggest writing brush markets. Thousands of buyers come here to buy writing brushes even from abroad.

In Chinese culture, writing brushes are among the “four treasures in the study (文房四宝)”, and Wengang is known as the “hometown of China’s writing brush”. More than 400 writing brush-making companies and over 2,200 writing brush-making workshops are in the town. And almost every family in the town makes their living through the writing brush-making industry.

Zhou has been making writing brushes since he was eight years old, and his family has been working on this for nine generations (代). “In the 1970s, writing brushes made in Jiangxi Province were not so popular with people in China and the rest of the world, which drove me to improve writing brush-making skills according to the needs of customers,” said Zhou. He finally succeeded after about eight years of hard work.

The local writing brushes have managed to make a mark in China. Zhou said to the reporter, “To make a greater progress in the overseas markets, ________________________________”

Even the most confident performers can suffer from stage fright(怯场). Stage fright is common for everyone from Broadway actors to experienced presenters. If you have stage fright, then you may start to feel nervous, shaky, or even completely frightened at the thought of performing in front of an audience. But don’t worry—you can deal with your stage fright by training your body and mind to relax and trying a few tips.

1.Fake (假装) confidence. Even if your heart is racing, just act like the coolest person in the world. Walk with your head high and a big smile on your face, and don’t tell anyone how nervous you are. Keep this posture (姿势) when you get on the stage and you’ll actually start to feel confident.

2.Create a ritual (仪式). Come up with an effective ritual for the day of your performance. This could be a five-kilometer jog on the morning of your performance, the same “last meal” before your performance, or even singing a certain song in the shower or putting on your lucky socks. Do whatever you have to do to lead yourself toward success. A lucky charm is also a great part of a ritual. It could be a necklace that’s important to you, or a silly stuffed animal like a teddy bear that cheers you on from your dressing room.

3.Think positively (积极地). Think about all of the possible amazing results of your presentation or performance instead of everything that could go wrong. Fight every negative thought with five positive ones. Keep a small card with encouraging words in your pocket, or do whatever you need to do to focus on all of the benefits that the performance will give you.

4.Get advice from a professional performer. If you have friends who have experienced performing, ask for their advice. You may learn some new tips and will be comforted by the fact that everyone gets stage fright, no matter how confident he or she may appear on stage.