Lasting Luxury: Arts and Crafts with Xia Bu 夏布, a Traditional …
91
to Vietnam and Malaysia. These ramie plants are different types of ramie plants with
less fibre counts. There are many regions with traditional Xia Bu production, most
of them are spreading around the main ramie cultivation centre: the Chang Jiang
River. The famous ones are WanZhai (万载) region in Jiangxi Province, Liuyang (浏
阳) region in Hunan Province and RongChang (荣昌) region in Sichuang Province.
Outside China there are also regions that make Xia Bu with different names, such as
Echigo Jofu in Uonuma region in Japan, and Mosi in Hansan region in South Korea.
As early as the spring and autumn period and the Warring States Period (770–
221 BC), the ancestors of Jiangxi had engaged in the cultivation of ramie and mastered
hand-woven fabrics.
8 In Chinese, “Xia” means summer, and “Bu” means cloth.
Ramie fibre is cool to the touch, absorbent and breathable. During the Tang and
Song Dynasties (618–907 AD), Jiangxi made the finest Xia Bu fabric for ancient
Chinese costumes, especially in summer time. It was a gift selected for the emperor
as a sign of allegiance. The well-known poet in Tang Dynasty Li bai (also called Li
Tai Bo) wrote one poem called Bai Zhu Ci (白苎辞
9 ). In the poem, Li Bai described
the ramie clothes worn by the female dancers “Light as clouds, with colour as silver”
“质如轻云色如银”. From this, we could imagine how light those Xia Bu fabrics
were. The elements of white ramie clothing appeared more frequently in poems of
Song Dynasty (960–1279). In the poem from Dai Fu Gu (a famous poet in Song
Dynasty) White Ramie Song (白苎歌)
10 : Dai wrote“…Snow is the weft and jade is
the warp, under speeding hands, woven into a piece of ice”. 雪为纬, 玉为经。 一织
三涤手, 织成一片冰”, Dai described the beautiful scenery during ramie weaving.
Except using for luxury clothing’s at special events for rich people, high-graded
Xia Bu was a very popular fabric for wedding and funeral usage in different areas.
Long time ago, people discovered that ramie is anti-bacterial, rich people had a corpse
wrapped in ramie, hoping to preserve it. Scientists discovered mummies made with
ramie in several places in China.
11 In Egypt, ramie was also discovered in Pharaoh’s
tomb.
12 In some Korean villages, the tradition of burying loved one with ramie still
exists. Each year, tons of handmade raw Xia Bu are exported to South Korea. This
tradition is also kept in some places in southern China. When a woman marries, she
needs to use the red pocket made by Xia Bu. That is a symbol of luck and happiness.
In funeral, people wear the mourning dress and caps made with ramie.
13 Wearing
ramie in funeral is a tradition to respect your past ancestors.
During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1616–1912) Dynasties, Xia Bu from
Jiangxi Provinces were well known in China and abroad. It was exported to North
8 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%A4%8F%E5%B8%83/3477223?fr=aladdin accessed on
18/08/2019.
9 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%99%BD%E7%BA%BB%E8%BE%9E%E4%B8%89%E9%
A6%96 accessed on 18/08/2019.
10 https://hanyu.baidu.com/shici/detail?pid=283557c5860e3d763366b89d5061cf25&from=kg0
accessed on 18/08/2019.
11 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%A4%8F%E5%B8%83/3477223 accessed on 18/08/2019.
12 Seite 149 Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries.
13 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%A4%8F%E5%B8%83/3477223 accessed on 18/08/2019.
91
to Vietnam and Malaysia. These ramie plants are different types of ramie plants with
less fibre counts. There are many regions with traditional Xia Bu production, most
of them are spreading around the main ramie cultivation centre: the Chang Jiang
River. The famous ones are WanZhai (万载) region in Jiangxi Province, Liuyang (浏
阳) region in Hunan Province and RongChang (荣昌) region in Sichuang Province.
Outside China there are also regions that make Xia Bu with different names, such as
Echigo Jofu in Uonuma region in Japan, and Mosi in Hansan region in South Korea.
As early as the spring and autumn period and the Warring States Period (770–
221 BC), the ancestors of Jiangxi had engaged in the cultivation of ramie and mastered
hand-woven fabrics.
8 In Chinese, “Xia” means summer, and “Bu” means cloth.
Ramie fibre is cool to the touch, absorbent and breathable. During the Tang and
Song Dynasties (618–907 AD), Jiangxi made the finest Xia Bu fabric for ancient
Chinese costumes, especially in summer time. It was a gift selected for the emperor
as a sign of allegiance. The well-known poet in Tang Dynasty Li bai (also called Li
Tai Bo) wrote one poem called Bai Zhu Ci (白苎辞
9 ). In the poem, Li Bai described
the ramie clothes worn by the female dancers “Light as clouds, with colour as silver”
“质如轻云色如银”. From this, we could imagine how light those Xia Bu fabrics
were. The elements of white ramie clothing appeared more frequently in poems of
Song Dynasty (960–1279). In the poem from Dai Fu Gu (a famous poet in Song
Dynasty) White Ramie Song (白苎歌)
10 : Dai wrote“…Snow is the weft and jade is
the warp, under speeding hands, woven into a piece of ice”. 雪为纬, 玉为经。 一织
三涤手, 织成一片冰”, Dai described the beautiful scenery during ramie weaving.
Except using for luxury clothing’s at special events for rich people, high-graded
Xia Bu was a very popular fabric for wedding and funeral usage in different areas.
Long time ago, people discovered that ramie is anti-bacterial, rich people had a corpse
wrapped in ramie, hoping to preserve it. Scientists discovered mummies made with
ramie in several places in China.
11 In Egypt, ramie was also discovered in Pharaoh’s
tomb.
12 In some Korean villages, the tradition of burying loved one with ramie still
exists. Each year, tons of handmade raw Xia Bu are exported to South Korea. This
tradition is also kept in some places in southern China. When a woman marries, she
needs to use the red pocket made by Xia Bu. That is a symbol of luck and happiness.
In funeral, people wear the mourning dress and caps made with ramie.
13 Wearing
ramie in funeral is a tradition to respect your past ancestors.
During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1616–1912) Dynasties, Xia Bu from
Jiangxi Provinces were well known in China and abroad. It was exported to North
8 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%A4%8F%E5%B8%83/3477223?fr=aladdin accessed on
18/08/2019.
9 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%99%BD%E7%BA%BB%E8%BE%9E%E4%B8%89%E9%
A6%96 accessed on 18/08/2019.
10 https://hanyu.baidu.com/shici/detail?pid=283557c5860e3d763366b89d5061cf25&from=kg0
accessed on 18/08/2019.
11 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%A4%8F%E5%B8%83/3477223 accessed on 18/08/2019.
12 Seite 149 Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries.
13 https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%A4%8F%E5%B8%83/3477223 accessed on 18/08/2019.