Zhoucheng Village

Zhoucheng is a village within Xizhou town. Its tie-dye histories connect stitched resist patterns, household learning and changing materials or markets.

Tie-dye materials at the Yan family courtyard in Xizhou, Dali; used here as a regional comparison.

Zhoucheng Village

Zhoucheng Tie-Dye Begins with a Needle

Before a Zhoucheng cloth reaches the indigo vat, its maker has already shaped the pattern with thread, folds and knots.

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Bai tie-dyed textiles in museum collections in Kunming, rather than a Zhoucheng workshop.

Where Zhoucheng’s Tie-Dye Patterns Come From

Butterflies share Zhoucheng cloth with flowers, landscapes and commissioned designs; their meanings are multiple rather than fixed.

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A worker stands beside a large dye vat and handles cloth in an outdoor Dali work area.

Tie-Dye Workshops and Changing Household Economies in Zhoucheng

Household teaching, new materials and village workshops show how Zhoucheng’s tie-dye economy has changed without reducing craft to a single story of tradition or commerce.

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Photo credits and rights

Tie-dye materials at the Yan family courtyard in Xizhou, Dali; used here as a regional comparison.Kcx36 · 2022-08-01 14:50:49 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.
Bai tie-dye in the Dali region; the display at Xixiufang is in Xizhou and the second dyeing view is identified as Dali town.Richard Weil · 2008-09-24 04:57:29 · CC BY-SA 2.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗ Resized without cropping or upscaling; converted to WebP.