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The
Miao People
The
Miao tribes are a group of ancient people whose origin
can be traced back to more than 4000 years. They are dispersed from
southern China, across Northern Vietnam, Laos and into Thailand,
varying in dialect, the style of farming and costumes. In history,
these people have been oppressed, exploited and forced into living in
the mountains. In Thailand, they are also called the Hilltribes.
The
Miao ethnic group has its own spoken language which
belongs to the Miao-Yao Austronesian of Chinese-Tibetan Phylum.
Unfortunately their written language is now lost. Because of the lack
of a written language, oral history and tradition was passed on by
songs, dances and pictures on batik.
Making Batiks
The
essence of the batik process is to produce a pattern on
textiles through the use of a dye-resist. The resist, usually wax,
prevents the dye from penetrating the covered areas of the fabric, thus
creating a pattern in negative. Additional wax is added to embellish
the design or preserve areas in the color of the initial dye bath. The
cloth is then dipped in a second dye bath. This process is repeated a
number of times depending on the number of colors you wish to put on a
picture. Producing a high quality piece of batik fabric is time
consuming and requires a high degree of skill.
A Miao girl usually starts to learn the technique at
around 8 or 9 years old from the village elders. The designs they put
on the cotton fabric usually depict their day to day life, their
traditional ways and stories from folklores
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A
Miao Folk Story about the Origin of Batik
A beautiful Miao girl
was sitting in her garden. Behind the tall bamboo tree, a flower fairy
walked out and taking her into another garden full of flowers, birds,
butterflies, and bees. She was so amazed by the beauty; she did
not notice that her skirt was covered with bees.
When
she woke up, she
realized that it was only a dream. She looked down to her skirt, and
saw that she actually had dots of honey and wax on the skirt. Being
quite ugly, she threw her skirt into a dying jar, intending to get it
dyed. After dying, she washed it with boiled water.
When
she took
the skirt out from the boiled water, she was amazed: beautiful white
flowers appeared on the places that were covered by the bee
wax! Immediately she got some bee wax, got it melt,
used a stick to dip some melt wax, drew wax patterns on a white cloth,
and dropped the cloth into the dying jar, then, used boiling water to
get rid of the wax. Various patterns were shown on the cloth. She was
happy and she started to sing. Other women in the village heard her
song and came to see her. Based on her instructions, they began to make
what is now called batik. |
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