Touched by Indigo - Royal Ontario Museum

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PATTERN-DYED FABRICS: WAX-RESIST
Wax-resist dyeing is popularly known as batik. The technique
relies on wax as a resist agent to protect either the ground or the
pattern from contact with dye so covered areas keep the original
colour of the fabric after dyeing. Its origin is still debatable. While
some think it was invented in Egypt, or India, or Indonesia, others
believe that it was a Chinese creation.1 To date the earliest archaeological
evidence in China for patterned fabric using this technique is
a fragment of a garment recovered from a cave burial at Fengxiang
xia in Sichuan province.2 It was judged to be datable to a time spanning
from the Warring States period to the Qin and Han dynasties (a
period of over 400 years). Based on this discovery and early records,
there now exists a hypothesis that in those early times a number of
ethnic groups living in mountainous southwestern China had already
mastered the technique and over time their wax-dyeing knowledge
spread to the central plain as well as other parts of the country. By
the sixth century, many people wore clothes embellished with waxresist
patterns.
The high point in the development of this technique was reached
in the Tang dynasty. During that period wax-resist patterning was no
longer limited to a monochromatic blue scheme, but had extended
to a multicolour palette.3 After the Tang dynasty, however, interest
in this particular dyeing technique gradually dwindled. The decline
is attributed to the complex and time-consuming production process
and the high cost of wax because of its scarce supply.4 Fortunately
the technique did not die out. It was carried on by many ethnic
groups, including the Miao, Yao, Buyi, Dong, Shui, and Gelao.
In the past several methods were used for applying
wax to a fabric to create patterns. A brush
was one method.5 Another was a hand
tool shaped at one end with a group of
prongs with rounded ends. This tool
was designed for creating dotted
floral patterns.6 A third method
was to clamp a piece of fabric between two identically
cut woodblocks (something like a stencil) and pour molten
wax into the perforations of the design to resist the
parts that were intended to remain in the fabric's original
colour.7 A fourth method was to use wax-knives
(ladao). These simple tools were made of axe-shaped
copper blades attached to slender bamboo holders. A
wax-knife with a small double-layered blade was for drawing
fine lines. One with a larger and multi-layered blade was for drawing
thick lines. The last method is still widely in use today.
Based on today's Miao practice, wax-dyeing starts with thoroughly
cleaning the fabric (cotton or hemp) to be dyed. This involves
repeated soaking, beating, washing, and sun-drying in order to
remove dirt, foreign substances enmeshed in the fibres, and gum.
The next step is to cut the desired shape (sleeve, collar, etc.) from
the fabric. While some people start planning the design on the piece
right away, others prefer to starch and burnish the back of the piece to
stiffen it for easier drawing.8 The design planning stage depends a lot
on the experience and skill of each individual. An adept can just use
fingernails to map out the general layout of a design and then draw
in the details she has already thought out in her mind with wax and
an assortment of wax-knives. A less confident person would mark out
the shapes and positions of motifs by following the outlines of paper
design cutouts she has arranged on the
fabric to obtain an ideal composition.
Acquiring a knack in drawing
with wax takes years of experience.
However, since Miao girls start learning
this skill at the young age of six or
seven, most become quite proficient at
it by the time they reach their teenage
years. When drawing with wax, the
blade of a wax-knife is dipped into a