Arts and Crafts of Zhangjiajie
Zhangjiajie crafts mainly include brocade, embroidery, bamboo weaving, and stone carving. Brocade, also called "Xilankapu" or "Tujia flower bedcover," is one of the traditional Tujia handicrafts and a major product of the forest park craft factory. It is woven on a special wooden loom with brocade yarn as warp, colorful silk threads as weft, and hand-lifted patterns. It is thick, durable, and colorful.
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
Zhangjiajie crafts mainly include brocade, embroidery, bamboo weaving, and stone carving.
Brocade. Also called "Xilankapu" or "Tujia flower bedcover," it is one of the traditional handicrafts of the Tujia people and the main product of the Forest Park Handicraft Factory. The brocade is woven on a specially made wooden loom using brocade yarn as the warp, colorful silk threads as the weft, and manual pattern lifting. It is famous for its thick and tough texture, bright colors, simple style, and smooth and vivid appearance. Patterns include flowers and plants, birds and beasts, production, daily life, geometry, and characters. In the old days, it was one of the essential dowries for Tujia girls. According to research, as early as the Han Dynasty, Tujia brocade was presented as a local product to the Han imperial court. After the 20th century, Tujia brocade traveled across the seas to be exhibited in Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries, and as gifts, it was presented by national leaders to foreign heads of state and government officials. Today, brocade is sold all over the world in many forms, such as wall hangings, pillow towels, sofa cushions, table surrounds, tote bags, and clothing.
Embroidery. Tujia girls embroider patterns on straight-grain plain cloth according to the warp and weft of the cloth and pre-drawn designs, using silk threads of colors different from the background. In the old days, the embroidered clothes worn by girls had embroidered garment borders, chest flowers, and hat flowers. In addition, embroidered pillows and embroidered purses were also exquisite handmade crafts. Tujia embroidery has its own particularities and habits in color matching. Generally, dark-colored fabrics such as black, blue, and bright red are chosen as the base cloth, and light-colored embroidery threads are used to make patterns, or the opposite. The results of the two methods make the embroidery appear simple and vivid, with bright colors and strong contrast. Traditional patterns include "Flowers Blooming in Wealth and Honor," "Dragon and Phoenix Bringing Auspiciousness," "Mandarin Ducks Playing in Water," "Magpies Frolicking Among Plum Blossoms," and "Pine and Crane Sharing Longevity," and are divided into many categories such as indoor, clothing, tool, and luggage decoration. In the scenic area, the exquisite insoles that Tujia women embroider while selling are deeply loved by tourists from home and abroad.
Stone carvings (stone sculptures). There are many kinds of stone carvings and sculptures within Zhangjiajie. According to statistics, scenic-area landmark stone carvings and sculptures, as well as stone inscriptions of comments and calligraphy written by leaders and celebrities for the scenic areas, number more than 6,000; there are also the production and daily-life utensils that Tujia people could not do without for even a moment in olden times, such as stone mills, stone pestles, stone rollers, grinding bowls, and pig troughs; and carved tombstones. The Tujia people are very particular about the carving of tombstones. In addition to epitaphs (inscriptions), they also carve one or more groups of figures and stories, with themes such as the "Twenty-Four Filial Exemplars" and the "Eight Great Deities." The story scenes are complex, the figures take various forms, and the carving skills are superb; the Ming Dynasty stone carvings on the cliff of Baizhang Gorge and the Qing Dynasty stele inscriptions in Longfeng Nunnery are both key cultural relics under protection; stone lions are usually placed at the gates of wealthy households, enterprises (government offices), ancestral halls, and temples, while stone dragons are mostly carved on large stone masts, stone pillars, and stone plaques; there are also carved handicrafts made from Tianzi Mountain tortoise-shell-pattern stone, rice-flower stone, and Suoxiyu chicken-blood stone, which can be called representative works of stone-carving craft.
Bamboo weaving. The main items are production and daily-life utensils such as sleeping mats, drying mats, sieves, winnowing baskets, carrying baskets, panniers, and back baskets. There are many folk bamboo craftsmen who can weave all kinds of bamboo strips products. Back baskets alone include the "beauty back basket" used for visiting relatives, the "firewood back basket" used for carrying heavy loads, the "salt back basket" used for going to market, and the "hip-skin back basket" used for holding things.
In addition, there are also wood carvings and carved flowers, straw-woven cattail cushions, hemp-woven straw sandals, and so on, all of which are traditional Tujia handicrafts.
Although there were no art masters of major influence within Zhangjiajie, art activities spread and developed very quickly.
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