The Dong People(侗族人) and Their Indigo cloth(靛蓝色布)
Yang Xiuying, 74, sits at wooden loom (织布机). As her fingers pass the shuttle (梭子) back and forth through the cotton threads, the old machine comes to life.
Ever since she was a young girl, Yang has been making indigo cloth. "This type of handmade cloth is extremely rare. You h buy it at the market," she said.
For the Dong people in Guizhou, making indigo cloth has a long tradition. The s has been passed down from mother to daughter over generations. Nearly every family makes its own cloth.
This traditional way of making indigo cloth, unfortunately, is now in danger. It will disappear slowly in the modern industry society. Young people show little interest in it. Some of them have m to big cities to find better jobs.
Local officials want to save the tradition. They are trying to change young people's a towards it. One program has set up several cloth-making factories in Guizhou. After learning how to make indigo cloth, young Dong people can find jobs easily. They can also work closer to home.
The Dong people consider indigo cloth as i as rice. Many Dong women spend countless hours making the cloth. They rise and start working very early in the morning. To make the cloth shiny, it must be rubbed (搓) and beaten hard. The noise of cloth being beaten often w the whole village up.
Almost every Dong women over 40 has a tub for indigo dye (染料). The cloth has to be put in the dye for many rounds to gain the rich color. The p of coloring usually takes two weeks.
Yang holds out her purple and wrinkled (有皱纹的) hands. "They say she who has the darkest hands makes the best cloth," she says proudly.
