Wei County, Hebei soil spinning
The history of cotton fabric use among the Chinese people dates back to the early third century. By the end of the 13th century, handmade cotton textile techniques had spread widely across the country. In rural areas of Hebei Province, particularly in old Wei County, every household engaged in weaving. Cotton was used for clothing worn by elders, bedding, carrying items, and even as dowries for daughters—all made from self-spun fibers.
During the early Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, and the early Republic of China, the unique climate and geography of Wei County supported widespread cotton cultivation and advanced folk textile skills. Every family owned a wooden spinning wheel and a loom, and each household had a skilled weaver, often a mother or grandmother. For centuries, textile knowledge was passed down orally, with women learning from their mothers or mothers-in-law. Over thousands of years, this led to the development of a distinctive Weixian spinning and weaving process, along with various traditional cloth patterns.
Spinning was the first and most crucial step in the textile process. Skilled hands would twist cotton using a combination of right-hand agitation and left-hand stretching. Many women could spin high-quality threads directly by hand without the need for additional tools. The quality of the spun thread determined the final fabric’s quality, and the spinning process took the longest time during the entire textile production. In old Wei County, adult women spent most of the year spinning, sometimes gathering together at night by candlelight to work late into the evening.
Once enough thread was spun, it was dyed, pasted, and prepared for weaving. The thread was placed in a water pot, boiled in different colors, rinsed, and dried. To pulp the thread, wheat gluten was removed, and a thin paste was made. The colored or white thread was then mixed evenly, stretched on a rod, and sun-dried to ensure smoothness and prevent sticking. After that, the colored threads were arranged on a frame for weaving.
At the beginning of the People's Republic of China, Wei County reached its peak in traditional textile production. However, since the 1960s, with the rise of mechanized textile industries, home-spun cloth gradually declined. Most families stopped weaving, and spinning wheels and looms were either unused or destroyed. In the 1990s, traditional textile practices began to resurge in rural areas of Wei County. According to surveys, over 3,000 women in the county were involved in making homemade cloth by 2005, though the process had shifted toward machine-spun yarn.
Since 1983, individuals like Guo Huan-yung from Lijiakoucun in Wei County have been involved in trade, boosting local demand and helping reduce the hardships faced by long-time textile workers. At the same time, this also accelerated the decline of traditional craftsmanship. To protect this intangible cultural heritage, the Weixian County Government formed a survey team in August 2005 to conduct a comprehensive study of traditional textile techniques. They documented the weaving processes, preserved textile machinery, collected traditional cloth samples, and gathered over 5,000 pieces of hand-printed cloth. They recorded the procedures through text, formulas, illustrations, photographs, videos, and computer designs. They also developed new product design methods, created protective strategies, and trained a new generation of textile artists. As a result, Weixian soil textile continues to thrive as a precious cultural legacy.
Soft Fabric,Imitation Super Soft Textile,Single Sided Plush Fabric,Fox Fur Fabric
SHAOXING YIXUAN TEXTILE CO.,LTD. , https://www.yixuantextile.com