Qixi tubu

The production of homespun in Qimen began in Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty (1821-1850), and it was a kind of cloth woven by peasant women themselves. This kind of homespun takes Likou as the trading distribution center, and many villages near Likou produce it, among which Penglong Village is the most. This area belongs to Qimen Xixiang, so it is called "Qixi homespun". Qixi homespun, the door buckle is about 500 to 600 yarns, the door is about 1 foot 8 inches, and the length is 3 feet 6 feet to 4 feet. The varieties are drunken red, narrow green, purple blue, ten-Wen blue, three-Wen blue, blue-and-white white, etc., which can be used as clothes, printed quilts, bags and headscarves. Because it is particularly thick and warm, durable and ground, it is very suitable for making underwear and quilt linings in winter. In the past, many peasant women in Qixi area could weave homespun. From cotton to cloth, they generally had to go through the processes of ginning, bouncing, rubbing, spinning, reeling, boiling, unwinding, warp, carding and weaving. All the parts used are made of bamboo and wood, which are operated by one person and completed by hand. What is important is ingenuity. Now, in the "Huizhou Folk Goods Exhibition Hall" in Lixi Village, there is a set of weaving tools of that year, which is well preserved, so that people can imagine the weaving scene at that time. It is said that due to poor tools, a diligent woman can only weave a homespun one day. In the process of weaving, there are still some stresses, most of which are colored yarns for weft yarns, which are woven bit by bit like ants, called "ant cloth". It is also made of color-separated yarn with equal distance, which is called striped cloth and dice cloth. This kind of homespun is unique in color matching, which is mainly interwoven with blue and white yarns. It looks simple and elegant, dense and orderly. There are three dyeing methods: boiling, vat dyeing and printing and dyeing, which have bright colors and are not easy to fade. Through the printing process, some simple and vivid patterns can be printed and dyed. Gu Zhuo is simple and rich in local flavor, giving people a special aesthetic feeling. Qixi homespun has been circulated in Qimen for more than a hundred years. During the period of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, the supply of "foreign cloth" dried up, and homespun also solved the big problem of people's clothing in Qimen. Due to the development of the times, homespun has withdrawn from people's sight and gradually become unknown. Today, if this kind of quaint and unique homespun can be developed and used to make tourist handicrafts with local characteristics, it may be very popular.
Reprinted with attribution： https://cnlocality.com/(Chinese Specialty Products)