Brilliant velvet flowers blooming in glory
2024-02-18
"Ronghua, Ronghua, blooms in the capital during festivals." Ronghua sounds like "Ronghua", full of wealth, prosperity, and beautiful prosperity. It originates from the ancient Chinese tradition of hairpin flowers, and is still widely loved by people to this day. Velvet flowers not only showcase the ingenuity of skilled craftsmen, but also have profound historical accumulation and cultural value. Since the Qin Dynasty, China has had the appearance of hairpin flowers - made of materials such as gold, silver, silk, silk, yarn, silk, velvet, grass, and colored paper. It is said that Yang Guifei often uses velvet flowers to cover her temples and blemishes. In addition, the texture of the velvet flowers is soft and the colors are bright, which is highly favored by the imperial concubines in the palace, and they are all familiar with each other. As time passed, the custom of wearing velvet flowers continued and became quite popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The construction office of the Heart Nourishing Hall in the Palace of Qing undertakes woolen products as usual every Spring Festival, Yuanxiao (Filled round balls made of glutinous rice-flour for Lantern Festival) Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and other festival celebrations. In the "Qing Bai Lei Chao", it is also recorded that when the emperor and empress got married, the empress would "wear double happiness and add a flat hairpin for wealth and prosperity.". The "palace flowers" that Aunt Xue gave to the ladies in "Dream of the Red Chamber" are velvet flowers. At that time, specialized velvet flower workshops appeared in Beijing, Jiangsu and other places. For example, "Huazuo" in Nanjing's "Seven Houses and Two Houses" was responsible for the production of palace velvet flower accessories. The area from Sanshan Street to Changle Road in the city was called "Huashi Street"; And the Flower Market Street outside Chongwen Gate in Beijing also gathers nearly ten shops and businesses specializing in making velvet flowers, including Dongshengyong, Ruiheyong, Hongxingde, and Chunhuaqing. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, various arts and crafts enterprises such as Beijing Rongniao Factory, Nanjing Artificial Flower Factory, and Yangzhou Flower Making Craft Factory were successively established, and the production techniques of velvet flowers were continued in the form of collective production. Pinched peonies, velvet flowers, Murong Yi, copper wire as bone, silk as meat, with intricate threads and a thousand year charm. Compared to other handicrafts, the materials used in velvet flowers are not expensive. Some ancient velvet flowers use silk or even scraps of other fabrics, but this does not affect the precision of their craftsmanship and the beauty of their style. The production process of velvet flowers is very complicated, and a piece of work needs to go through more than ten processes such as velvet refining, bleaching, dyeing, spinning, tapping, tying, cutting, matching, rolling, shaping, ironing, and assembly to complete. Unlike other velvet products in terms of flat effect, skilled velvet artists transform the flat velvet surface into rich three-dimensional forms through methods such as filings and shapeshifting. The velvet strips radiating outward from the center create a unique texture and luster, which are then reshaped and assembled using ironing, folding, twisting, and other methods to complete complex "accumulating work". As Cai Zhiwei, the inheritor of Beijing Ronghua Intangible Cultural Heritage, said, "Making Ronghua relies on the skill of fingers and meticulous work.". Craftsmen use exquisite craftsmanship and gorgeous materials to create a decorative aesthetic that is both rich and elegant. The style of the "Rock Elf" series velvet earrings by Cai Zhiwei is also quite particular, with women and children being the most popular among them. Traditional velvet flowers often use design patterns such as dragons, phoenixes, bats, and longevity peaches, which symbolize good luck and longevity; In the form of sideburns, hats, breasts, covers, feet, fireworks, as well as children's flowers and drama
Edit:GuoGuo Responsible editor:FangZhiYou
Source:gmw.cn
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