Traditional crafts found in new museums

When thinking about the traditional image of China, what comes to mind?

A lady with long, jet-black hair walking in the drizzling rain carrying a paper umbrella; a scholar reciting poems from a paper fan; a lonely swordsman on horseback deep in the mountains; a woman hunched over her embroidery while doing needlework or cutting silk thread with scissors?

Throughout history, these images have become powerful cultural symbols. In the city of Hangzhou, famous for its traditional craftsmanship, three new museums now give visitors a greater understanding of traditional Chinese craftwork.

The highlight of the Museum of Umbrellas is the paper umbrella, which has its origins in the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220). Later it was introduced to other Asia countries like Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Thailand, and became popular.

Visitors to the museum can see styles of umbrellas from all parts of China, including silk umbrellas from Hangzhou and jialu umbrellas from Guaxi.

There are also craftsmen demonstrating how to make paper umbrellas - a difficult process involving more than 70 steps - during special times every day.

The Museum of Fans has the world's largest fan. It's 3.8-meters-high and made of parchment. The materials used to make Chinese fans are varied.

In the museum you can see fans made from ivory, hawksbill, bamboo, wheat straw, sandalwood, rice paper, feathers and silk - with each style crafted in a different way.

The cicada wing fan is made from bamboo, each slice of bamboo used in the making of the fan only is about 0.2 millimeters wide. Ancient paper and silk fans often feature works of literature inscribed on them, or ink or watercolor paintings.

The Museum of Swords, Knives and Scissors is divided into two sections. The first section is devoted to swords and knives.

The museum introduces ancient forging methods and the styles of Chinese swords and knives during different historical periods, including the precursor of the Japanese sword, the Tang Dynasty broadsword, which was a combination of knives from central China and Persia.

The scissors section holds ancient implements from the Han Dynasty, when they had no cross-point and were more like tweezers than scissors.

It was not until the Song Dynasty that scissors took on the look similar to what we have today.

Each museum has souvenir outlets that sell authentic and relevant handicrafts.

China Daily

(China Daily 07/23/2010 page39)