Nantong Traditional Blue Calico 南通藍印花布

First video: segment from the CCTV 3 documentary, the journey of Mr. Wu Yuan Xin.

Second video, highlights of Mr. Wu’s works. Traditional blue calico takes nine steps to be created. The motif patterns usually feature auspicious flowers, fruits or animals for special occasions, such as wedding, birthday or celebration. It is believed these goodwill gestures will bring the receivers good fortune as well as good health. The practice dated back over a thousand years.

Mr. Wu Yuan Xin 吳元新 has spent forty years engaging in the trade of the blue calico. He set up the first museum of its kind in 1996, with the collections of more than 32,000 old blue calicos. It is also where he conducts research, workshops cultivating the next generation.

He remembered growing up in the household where his grandmother, mother were making the fabric, while his father made patterns and dyed the fabric. In the 70s & 80s, with the imported chemical dyes, the traditional way was deemed laborious and time-consuming, hence was out of fashion. He got a regular job in a factory but felt an emptiness inside him. When he decided to quit the job and started making the blue calico the traditional way, everyone thought he was out of his mind, since there was no money to be made.

According to Mr. Wu’s daughter, her father is the happiest when he goes out to find old pieces, as well as when he is making the pattern templates. Mr. Wu has high hope for his daughter 吳灵姝, since she is artistic. However, after she went to Beijing for college, she was enticed by the new things around her, and later told her dad that she didn’t wish to return home. Mr.Wu took her to visit his old friends, and their collective passion for the blue calico finally convinced her that she should at least give her dad’s trade a try.

Needless to say, the different perspectives as well as life experience between the father and the daughter created many arguments and sparks. Mr. Wu found it hard to let go his aesthetic taste and what he held dear as traditional. But gradually, he came to the acceptance of the bold new ideas from his daughter, especially when her creations were well received by the younger customers.

When Mr.Wu heard his granddaughter said the word blue calico loud and clear for the first time, he was burst with pride and joy. Now with his ninety-year-old mother, daughter and son-in-law and the granddaughter are all together, his dream of carrying on the torch of blue calico seems bright and hopeful.

Mr. Wu is now fully embracing the philosophy of art reflecting life and vice versa. He is recognized by UNESCO as the Intangible Cultural Heritage ( ICH ) master.

Video, courtesy of Ms. Ren Qian, Academy of Arts and Design at Tsinghua University