03/08/2024
Índigo in China Ancient Roots
Traveling to experience and support the customs of Ancient Minorities around the world most be one of the greatest experiences that fulfill my soul 🤍
Here is a little bit about the story behind this post, hopping many more people go and take a visit to rural China 😍
Natural indigo has such a long history in China that it can be traced back to 221 B.C. During this time, Chinese developed indigo production from a wide range of plants, including the famous indigofera tinctoria but also many others with the ability to produce blue dye.
The dye is first made by mixing together indigo leaves, rice alcohol, wild plants, and lye. This precious blend of fermenting mixture has a sacred quality, and must be kept inside the home by women in a place only with good feng shui – otherwise, they believe the dye will be destroyed.
Like many rural indigo makers, the Chinese became known not just for single toned fabric, but also for producing finely detailed patterns.
Much like the indigenous indigo farms of India, Africa, and Japan, the international manufacture of synthetic indigo made China’s localised production lines obsolete, but a small few still exist today in the ethnic communities of rural China. Those that have survived include the Miao of Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, where traditions for producing indigo have been passed from one generation of women to another for hundreds of years.