On Inheritance And Sustainable Development Of Printing And Dyeing Techniques Of Nantong Blue Calico

Blue calico plays an important role in Chinese traditional folk printing and dying. Since it originated in south of the Yangtze River during Song Dynasty, it was soon spread all over China. As a product that bears close relations to everyday life, it was once honored as "offering the world with ample clothing". The unique geographical environment, folk custom merging South and North, and rich cultural deposit of Nantong tinge it with distinct artistic style and manner of inheritance during its eight centuries of transmission and development. In2006, printing and dyeing techniques of Nantong blue calico was listed in the first batch of the national intangible cultural heritage. Its historical and artistic value and inheritance manner are worth studying.Proceeding from historical development, survival environment, technique inheritance, development status of Nantong blue calico, this paper obtains a general understanding of it:firstly, it explores and records its printing and dyeing techniques as well as the development and application of its manufacturing materials such as native cloth, printing screen, nicking tool, dye-resistant liquid, and dyestuff. It also probes into the changes in dermatoglyphic pattern brought by printing and dying technique and summarizes technique characteristics and core techniques of making blue calico. At the same time, from the perspective of folklore studies and cultural ecology, it analyzes folk survival environment, application in life, and spiritual connotations and the like of Nantong traditional blue calico. Secondly, investigating the protection and inheritance status of it and interviewing its inheritors, this paper makes a thorough inquiry into its inheritance and development mode as well as problems and hindrances. From the angle of protection, it expounds the overall inheritance and protection system of Nantong blue calico. In terms of development, taking its inheritance and development mode as an example, the author tries to explore new ways in sustainable development of blue calico printing and dyeing technique.