Xiangxi bamboo weaving: A method strong enough to hold water

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CGTN

As an old Chinese saying goes, "Futile as drawing water with a sieve." In Hunan Province's Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, however, the work is feasible as someone makes bamboo baskets that can hold water. It is Hu Tingxian, inheritor of Xiangxi bamboo weaving.

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Xiangxi region has a humid climate that is suitable for growing bamboo. As the roads are mostly narrow in the mountainous area, baskets became the locals' favorite tool rather than the carrying pole. It is indispensable in the fields and the markets – presumably everywhere.

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The baskets are made of bamboo, which is the most common material in the area. As time passes, making bamboo baskets has become an important local custom. Up to now, the delicate bamboo basket is still considered an essential dowry.

Hu Xianting /by CGTN

"You can say that the local people are raised in the basket. We call ourselves 'the Xiangxi basket people'," says Hu. "When I was little, grandma used to take me to the country fairs in her basket. And when she was bargaining with the vendor, I sneaked some snacks from the stall. She didn't know it until she saw me eating in the basket. The elders have been telling this story for years."

The process for making a bamboo basket starts with the selection of bamboo. "The ideal bamboos should have long sections, flat joints and good elasticity," says Hu. The selected bamboo must be dehydrated naturally before being sliced into fine strips. The thickness and elasticity of the strips greatly affect the quality of the final product. A well-woven bamboo basket can last for over a decade.

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As the best weaver in the village, Hu can peel strips that go through the eye of a needle. A master of the technique, Hu is considered to be the person who helped apply the method to artistic crafts.

"The finest bamboo strips are mainly used for making art collections," he says. His original idea of the water-holding basket is actually to make something different, something innovative.

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Hu tried for more than half a year before it stopped leaking. "At first, all the water leaked out in less than a minute. After some improvement, it stayed more than three minutes. You see exactly where it's leaking, and you improve the design. Problems were gradually solved."

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Among the many techniques, the most important one is that the very thin strips must be woven as tightly as possible. Also, the three facets of the basket must be woven at the same time to ensure the same thickness.

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Other than the water-holding baskets, Hu also focuses on making grander and more complicated bamboo works. He once led the project of an ink and wash painting, "Beautiful Xizhou Area," which was actually woven with bamboo and broke the Guinness World Record. The painting was eight meters long and two meters high, consisting of 4,100,000 bamboo strips.

The bamboo weaving works of "Beautiful Xizhou Area" by Hu Xianting

Highly praised for his craftsmanship, Hu is often invited to give lectures at art schools, and to supervise major bamboo weaving projects. "As the inheritors of the Xiangxi bamboo weaving, we did make a difference, and people respect us for that. Yet for me, it's far from a glory, but a recognition of your lifework."

Hu has more greater plans: "I'm going to promote it to first-tier cities. I want to collaborate with the professional designers and combine the ethnic element with their decorative works in star-rated hotels and restaurants." At the China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair, the bamboo lampshade in the shape of a bird's nest earned him quite a lot of orders.

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"I'm willing to teach anyone who wants to learn. It'll be a shame that we wouldn't pass it on. And I'm not afraid of competing with other peers, because I'm always innovating, always improving. I always think ahead and do things that nobody has ever done before."

Director：Cheng Shengnan

Editor：Cheng Shengnan, Gao Xingzi

Filmed by: Zhang Han

Designer：Qu Bo

Article Written by: Zhu Siqi

Copy Editor： Xuyen Nguyen

Producer：Wen Yaru

Chief Editor：Zhao Jianfu

Supervisor：Pang Xinhua

The story is one in The 1.3 Billion series exploring the diverse lives that make up China.