灰缬--Huixie: SHAPE, PASTE & DYE
1. History Of"灰缬--Huixie", One Of The Fourth Type Of Dyeing Method When People Wanted To Have Fabrics With Pattern
From the Qin Dynasty, people's clothes were become to have some printed/dyed pattern on it, and in the Tang Dynasty (from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705), a kind of alkaline print appeared, called "灰缬-Huixie". Later it was also called "型糊染-Xinghu dye". In the 16th century, the Japanese also started to use this technique, which they called katazome. 灰缬-Huixie, one of four majority method of dyed fabrics with pattern in 染缬-Ranxie.
染缬-Ranxie is a dyeing technique that has been used in ancient China since the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 207 BC). In the later Tang Dynasty, Ma Yai's, Zhonghuagujinzhu (Chinese Ancient and Modern Notes), has a record that Qin Shi Huang used Ranxie. Song dynasty Gao Cheng's, Shiwujiyuan (things of the original), volume 10 cited, Liangyishilu, also said that Ranxie, "Qin dynasty and Han dynasty began to have kingdom Chen and kingdom Liang between the noble and low common service of it."1
For the Ranxie, There are four main types of dyeing techniques, namely, 夹缬-Jiaxie, 蜡缬-Laxie, 绞缬-Jiaoxie and 灰缬-Huixie. People were not satisfied with the monotonous dyeing and started to develop the printing technology. The technique of Huixie was the latest to emerge. The more familiar names for the 夹缬-JIaxie, 绞缬-Jiaoxie are shibori and arashi, while the 蜡缬-Laxie are batik, and the 灰缬-Huixie are also called by Xinghu dye, katazome, paste dye, and so on.
夹缬-JIaxie, a characteristic traditional handicraft technique of printing and dyeing on fabrics in ancient China, originated in the Qin and Han dynasties and flourished in the Tang and Song dynasties, and is the source of Chinese engraving and dyeing and printing.
The most unique feature of the 夹缬-JIaxie is that its colors and patterns are printed with carved plates, which must first be carved with wooden openwork double-sided panels with traditional auspicious patterns or with royal special patterns. When printing and dyeing will be soaked in water wet brocade silk in the fold between the two hollow plates, and then tightened with a string to prevent the fabric from moving, in the hollow injected with natural dyes, and then unraveled the pattern is now. Such as painting anti-white pulp, after drying and dyeing, rubbing away the white pulp can be made of white fabric with a color background. Now most of them have been lost. But in Japan, some of this dyeing method has been inherited.
Image 1.（Tang dynasty）绀地花树双鸟纹夹缬 (Double birds with flowers and trees on a blue ground Jiaxie piece)（Japan, collected by Shosoin Shoso）“故宫博物院院刊 148期.” 故宫博物院院刊, 2010. https://www.dpm.org.cn/Uploads/File/pdf/7b/53/bc/7b53bc67c3b74aa95451d0768346b9e0.pdf.
绞缬-Jiaoxie is a printing and dyeing method that ties the parts of the fabric to prevent partial dyeing and form the expected pattern. The sequence of operation is that some parts of the fabric are first sewn or knotted with needle and thread, so that a pattern with a halo effect appears on the fabric from dark to light after the printing and dyeing process.
Image 2. The northern dynasty twisted valerian silk coat，collection in China national silk museum. www.chinasilkmuseum.com
The northern dynasty twisted valerian silk coat is black-brown, its basic style for the lapel short body, the two lapels slightly intersected, the sleeves are flared wide sleeves, sleeve width 44.5cm, belong to the popular jacket at the time, the lapel has red and brown two lacing. The fabric is all made of twisted val silk dyed brown ground yellow small dot pattern. It is made in accordance with the pre-designed pattern requirements, tied or sewn fabric with thread, wet by water and put into the dyeing tank, tied or sewn part is not dyed, to be dried after removing the thread knot, the pattern will be revealed. Because the knot can not be completely dye-proof, the pattern is borne by the dyeing liquid infiltration and the formation of a natural halo color effect. Silk clothes full of dot patterns less than 1 cm in diameter, and extremely high density, one by one tying, processing is extremely tedious, must be labor-intensive and time-consuming, at that time it should be worth a lot of money.
蜡缬-Laxie which is batik; "Guizhou general" "with wax painting on cloth and dyeing, both wax, the pattern as painted." Use wax to draw a pattern or use a stencil waxed on the fabric, and then into the dye, and finally boiled to remove the wax, then become the color of the fabric before dyeing on the dyeing products.
As the wax condenses and shrinks or is rubbed, many cracks are produced, and the dye seeps into the cracks, the finished pattern often produces a trace of irregular texture, forming a unique decorative effect. There are two kinds of wax dyeing: single color dyeing and compound color dyeing.
Image 3. Blue and white pattern dyed cotton cloth, excavated in Tomb No. 1, Minfeng North Desert, Xinjiang in China （Donghan dynasty 25-220）www.chinasilkmuseum.com
Indigo dyed fabric with pattern is also the most familiar type of the dyed fabric with pattern, because of the low price and the easy of harvest and the easy to prepared the dye bath of indigo plants, while at the same time the paste of Huixie is cheap and easy to make, although a set of stencil is troublesome to make, but can be used repeatedly and for many years. Therefore, those indigo dyed fabrics with patterns made by Huixie have gradually become the mainstream.
During the Tang Dynasty, the method of Huixie was once prevalent, and the earliest Huixie was dyed in both monochrome and colored sets. In modern times, due to the popularity of chemical fuels and the difficulty and high price of extracting vegetable dyes, the traditional Huixie multiple color process was gradually lost.Some of the silks with printed patterns unearthed in the Astana burial complex in Turpan, Xinjiang, China, use the method Huixie.
Image 4. A partial view of Huixie fabric excavated from the Astana burial site in Turpan, Xinjiang, China
2. Katazome In the Textile Resource Center (TRC)
I got a stencil from Japan at TRC and these stencils are used for Xinghu dye. There are intricate patterns in them, and silk is added to make them stronger.
Image 5. Japanese washi screen in TRC donne by Gillian Carrera
Classification ： washi papaer/ persimmon/ resist dyeing
Place of origin ： Japan
Date of production：20th century
Physical Description ： Fragile brown skeletonized square paper that is very smooth to the touch.
Medium Description ： washi paper，persimmon dye and there are traces of lacquer and wax. Some pieces are attached with silk gauze.
Image 6. The back of the stencil, the trace of the silk gauze being lacquer glued to the paper and trace of persimmon juice.
Image 7. The front of the stencil, silk gauze in the hollowed out part of the stencil.
Image 8. The front of the stencil, silk gauze in the hollowed out part of the stencil.The white marks are traces of the wax used to draw the pattern when the stencil was made.
Image 9. Rolled up template with overlapping hollowed out areas. You can see some black traces, which are traces of the template being used.
3. Persimmon
Persimmon, a tree plant of the Persimmon family. Its leaves are elliptical or suborbicular, new leaves are sparse and pilose, old leaves are dark green and shiny above and green, pilose or glabrous below; flowers are androgynous, sparse male plants have few female flowers and female plants have few male flowers; fruit shapes are various, spherical, oblate; fruit flesh is brittle and hard, when ripe the flesh becomes soft and juicy, orange-red or big red, etc. Persimmon flowers in May-June, fruits in September-October.
Image 10. Persimmon photo found in internet
Persimmon is native to China and was introduced to Japan in the 7th century and to Korea in the 14th century. Persimmon trees existed in China as early as 2.5 million years ago. The origin of persimmon in the Yellow River basin is inferred from the cultivation of persimmon trees found in Japan and Korea, but after the glacial period, the cultivated species originated in the Yangtze River basin for unknown reasons.
According to documentary evidence, the cultivation of persimmon has been documented as early as 2000 years ago (Han Dynasty) in Sima Xiangru's WanglinFu (120-118 B.C.), where the phrase, "枇杷燃柿（loquat burning persimmon)," is recorded. This shows that persimmons were cultivated in the early Han Dynasty and have been cultivated for more than 2000 years.
According to the book "LIji'' written by Zi Si in the Warring States period, there is also a record of "persimmon" when it comes to food, so it can be inferred that persimmon trees have been cultivated in China for 2500-3000 years. Records of wild persimmons also have a history of nearly 2000 years. For example, in the NanduFu of Zhang Heng (78-139 AD) of the Han Dynasty, "...there are cherry, plum, and mountain persimmons ...", and in the Qiminyaoshu.
Fossils of the persimmon appeared in China as early as 2.5 million years ago in the Cenozoic era, and it has been cultivated as a fruit tree for at least 2400 years. Persimmon varieties were formed before the Tang Dynasty, and there are nearly a thousand cultivated varieties, which are genetically diverse in terms of botanical or biological characteristics, reflecting a greater biological diversity.2
Persimmon is naturally bestowed with bioactive molecules including phenolic compounds such as proanthocyanidins, tannins, catechins , carotenoids, sinapine, leucoanthocyanidin, kaempferol, quercetin, etc.
3a. About the Chemical Composition in Persimmons
Proanthocyanidins are oligomeric flavonoids.3
Tannins are a class of astringent, polyphenolic bio molecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids.4
The term tannin refers to the use of oak and other bark in tanning animal hides into leather. Tannins are also a type of mordant that naturally occur in plants. If you are dyeing protein (e.g. wool) or cellulose (e.g. cotton) fibers with natural dyes, you need a mordant or fixative to help set the dye on the fiber. The mordant forms a coordination complex with the dye which attaches to the fiber.
Catechin is a flavan-3-ol, a type of secondary metabolite providing antioxidant roles in plants. It belongs to the subgroup of polyphenols called flavonoids. 5
Carotenoids, also called tetraterpenoids, are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments. Carotenoids can be isolated from the grana of chloroplasts in the form of carotenoprotein complexes, which give various colors to the outer surfaces. The visible colors are due to the conjugated double bonds of carotenoids that absorb light.6
Kaempferol is a natural flavonol, a type of flavonoid.7
Quercetin is a plant flavonol from the flavonoid group of polyphenols. The coloring component quercetin, which is also an antioxidant. It has been used as a food dye and has strong antioxidant properties.8
Tannins, flavonoids are considered to be very useful in the dyeing process because of their ability to hold the dye within the fabric. And persimmons contain a large amount of these substances. This is why it is a good material for dyeing and has many benefits.
To dye with persimmons, use astringent persimmons. The persimmon juice used for dyeing today is made by picking green, unripe persimmons, fermenting the pressed liquid - and storing it for two years. The pressed liquid changes from milky white to a clear maltose color and emits a distinctive odor after about a month indoors. The dye is waterproof and anticorrosive, so it has been used on fishing nets, ponchos, umbrellas and even fans since ancient times.
In addition to dyeing cloth, this fuel is also used to dye paper. The stencil can be used repeatedly because it is more hydrophilic and stretchable than other materials, and it is less likely to lose its shape when dyed with a water-based paste.
4. 灰缬-Huixie are also called by 型糊染--Xinghu dye, 型染め（katazome）, paste dye.
灰缬-Huixie is a process of printing and dyeing with alkali raw materials as mordant. Several alkaline raw materials used to prevent dyeing are currently recorded as grass ash, lime, soybean, glutinous rice, etc.
How to use this technique for dyeing if you want to make it from scratch from the most traditional craft:
First, making a stencil.
1. Start with everything that is persimmon juice. First you need some unripe green persimmons. Mash them up, add some water for fermentation, and in the third month, the mashed white emulsion turns into a clear maltose like color. Keep fermenting for two years to obtain persimmon juice.
Image 11. Persimmon juice
2. You will then need some paper, vellum, rice paper, or washi paper (their fibers are much softer and tougher). There are two methods at this point, depending on what kind of paper you have chosen to dye.
Use a piece of paper to dye, dry it, and wait for the reaction between the persimmon juice and the sun to darken the paper.
Use several sheets of paper, brush with persimmon juice to dye and glue several sheets of paper. You can use 2-3 sheets of paper, or 10-12 sheets of paper.
Image 12. Washi paper in Persimmon juice
3. Then, dry the paper and wait for it to become dry.
Image 13. Persimmon juice dyed paper drying on glass
Image 14. Persimmon juice dyed paper dried under indoor sunshine 3 weeks
Image 15. Persimmon juice dyed paper dried under indoor sunshine 5 weeks
4. This is the time to think about the pattern you want to print. You can start by drawing the pattern on a piece of paper and tracing it onto the paper. You can also transfer the pattern onto the paper. You can also use a piece of paper with a pattern on it and fold it over the paper to be engraved.
Image 16. I cut a musical note fish
5. This is followed by engraving, where the paper is carved with a carving knife. A wax disc is usually lit underneath the carving. The wax plate is usually made by filling a wooden plate with molten charcoal of beeswax. There are many different shapes, such as round, curved, flat, and beveled. Round mouths come in many sizes and are mainly used to make round holes. The curved mouth is used to carve various curves, such as crescent, petal, and leaf. Flat cutters are used to carve straight lines and sharp corners. The bevel cutter can carve long lines in one smooth stroke.
At this point, it should be noted that some patterns, such as concentric circles, should leave a portion of the paper as a link between the patterns. Not completely cut off until after the addition of silk afterwards.
6. First, cut a piece of gauze that is slightly larger than the stencil. To secure this piece of gauze, you will need a dot of paint, some lacquer thinner, a small can, a brush, a sprayer for spraying water, and a wooden stirring stick.
Now stretch the yarn in the direction of the warp by grabbing it on the diagonal and pulling firmly. Avoid stretching in the direction of the weft threads Stretch the gauze twice, once at each set of corners. Check to make sure the woven web of gauze remains square as you work; the warp and weft threads must remain perpendicular to each other. Then place the gauze on top of the template and spray an even layer of water on it to keep it in place. Check the gauze to make sure it is straight, and adjust it if necessary. Place a few sheets of newspaper on top of the damp gauze and press a weight over it until the gauze is mostly dry, then remove the weight; the template and gauze should be barely wet. To secure the gauze firmly to the stencil, first put a mixture of two-thirds of the lacquer and one-third of the paint thinner. Dip your brush into the lacquer mixture, then gently shake the brush. to remove any excess liquid. Then work the brush against the stencil first twice diagonally, forming an X shape; then paint over the X shape once vertically and once horizontally, and over the top of the "X" vertically and horizontally. Next, paint over the entire piece, painting over the warp of the gauze. Orient the warp of the gauze, using diagonal strokes and brushing all the way outward. Do not apply a lot of pressure with the brush. Once finished, while the gauze is still damp, remove any blockages from the gauze. Use a fine-tipped brush to quickly move back and forth across the surface of the gauze to remove any clogged areas on the gauze caused by the paint.9
7. Then, as just mentioned, cut the link part of the complex pattern. Be careful not to cut through the gauze when cutting the joint; gently cut through the stencil just above the gauze layer. Then pierce the severed joints with the tip of the knife and lift them up. Be careful that the part of the gauze that is not covered with paper must be completely open. The dye protection will not pass through the lacquer-covered mesh and will end up leaving some marks on your dyed fabric. Examine the gauze carefully to make sure there is no residual lacquer left. If the lacquer has become too hard to remove with a brush, be careful not to disturb or cut the threads of the gauze. Blowing vigorously through the mouth will also help.
Be careful never to use spray paint, it is extremely difficult to remove from the gauze net.10
8. If the carving is simple, the paper will then be sanded, oiled (tung oil). So now that we have the stencil, all we need is to make the anti-dye. Any alkaline agent will do. But it is best to use some delicate materials, otherwise the effect of dyeing will have a certain texture. There are also many ways to make alkaline anti-dye paste.
Among them, I would like to introduce the most versatile method... 40% soybean powder + 60% lime powder. Add water to make a paste. Like the consistency of pancake paste.
The rest of the methods and materials can be broadly classified into three categories.
Starch-based
Wheat starch, suitable for use on dark fabrics, this material-based paste lasts long and does not thin easily, and is often used together with dextrin and dragon gum.
Potato starch, this paste can also be used, but it does not last as long.
Corn starch, a paste that is resistant to alkali, is most suitable for indigo dyeing.
There is also wheat flour, which is most suitable for use with aluminum acetate or iron as an adhesion paste.
Gum-based
Gum tragacanth or dragon gum. It can be used as a sticky agent. Alone or with starch both work well.
Gum Senegal and Gum Arabic are easily soluble in water and are good viscosity agents. Relatively transparent and beautiful paste can be obtained, which is suitable for light-colored fabrics.
British gum, which is a good material for making alkaline paste. The best quality of these can be used as a substitute for gum Arabic. It is suitable for dark or medium colored fabrics, not for light colored fabrics.
Dextrin, there are two types of dextrin, yellow dextrin and white dextrin. Suitable for making paste for alkaline printing.
Cowhide glue or bone glue, used occasionally in anti-dye paste.
Oil based and other
Cottonseed oil, for lubrication when making the paste.
Olive oil, for lubrication when making the paste.
Turkey Red oil, for lubrication when making the paste.
Turpentine, used for lubrication when making the paste, and can prevent foaming.
Clay, which prevents the paste from spreading.
Bran
Glycerin, which can be used as a lubricant to prevent paste cracking.
9. Now, soak the stencil in water and cover the top of the fabric with a towel or paper towel to absorb the water. Just like screen printing, go over the paste a bit and then scrape the paste to make it stick to the fabric through the stencil hollow. Take away the stencil and wait for the paste to dry.
Image 16. My sample of fresh soybean paste applied to cotton fabric.
Image 17. My trial sample of dried soybean paste on cotton fabric
Image 18. My trial sample of the back of the Dried Soybean Paste on nylon fabric
10. Put it into a dye bath/vet!
11. Remove the paste and dried fabric then you will got your fabric!
Image 20. Indigo dyed fabric
Image 21. Indigo dyed fabric back
Image 22. soybean trace--dried soybean for one month, washed out without dyed
12. Personal experience with persimmon dyed stencils
I chose a relatively simple method because the persimmon juice has a very strong flavor which makes for a quicker solution. I got 80g of washi paper and I soaked the paper in persimmon juice and then dried it naturally in the shade.
I then carefully placed them indoors to receive sunlight because the wind was too strong outdoors and they would have been blown away even if I had held them in place (one group was already lost). At the same time, because they are too fragile, easily blown and crumpled.
Photo by 75x-300x Carson microscope camera for details of persimmon dyed washi paper
Image 23. washi paper fiber
Image 24. The fractured persimmon dyed washi paper is viewed with the naked eye and photographed by placing it in the air and letting the sunlight shine through.
Image 25. Fiber mesh detail at a torn persimmon-dyed washi paper edge
Image 26. Broken persimmon dyed washi paper fiber details
Image 27. Broken persimmon dyed washi paper fiber details
Image 28. Persimmon dyed washi paper details，The brown part is due to the depression of the paper fiber in this part, where part of the persimmon juice dries and solidifies.
Bibliography
Murashima, Kumiko. Katazome : Japanese Paste-Resist Dyeing for Contemporary Use. Asheville, NC, U.S.A: Lark Books, 1993.
This book specifically describes the technique of Huixie/Xinghu dyeing. (Katazome) This technique uses a paste, such as soybean, or glutinous rice, to support. The paste is then resist dyed like batik, but the paste is applied with a stencil like screen printing. Generally, the paper is dyed with the fermented juice of unripe persimmons. The book also has detailed instructions on how to make stencil, and how to make dye paste.
Huang, Ronghua. Zhongguo Zhi Wu Ran Ji Fa. Zhongguo fang zhi chu ban she, 2018.
This book provides an introduction to most of the Chinese plant dyes. There is a section on ‘缬染’（xie dyeing） that mentions Hui xie, which originated in China during the Tang Dynasty, as well as the way to do Huixie and the dyeing techniques.
灰缬 - 《中国大百科全书》第三版网络版. Accessed April 20, 2023. https://www.zgbk.com/ecph/words?SiteID=1&ID=25944&Type=bkzyb.
This website briefly introduces Huixie and mentions excavated artifacts as well as pictures.
Du, Yansun. Guochanzhiwuranliaoransefa. Edited by Yansun Du. Shanghai: The Commercial Press, 1938.
This book contains detailed recipes for a variety of pastes.
“Persimmon (Diospyros Kaki) Fruit: Hidden Phytochemicals and Health Claims.” ECCLI.J, May 4, 2015. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2015-159.
This article explains the chemical composition inside persimmons.
Cardon, Dominique. Natural dyes: Sources, tradition, technology and science. London: Archetype, 2007.
Through this site I searched for images of all chemical formulas.
中国丝绸博物馆. Accessed April 29, 2023. https://www.chinasilkmuseum.com/zggd/info_21.aspx?itemid=1815.
I found the collection of Image 2 and 3 in this museum.
“故宫博物院院刊 148期.” 故宫博物院院刊, 2010. https://www.dpm.org.cn/Uploads/File/pdf/7b/53/bc/7b53bc67c3b74aa95451d0768346b9e0.pdf.
I found the collection of Image 1 in this museum’s journal.
Huang, Ronghua. Zhongguo Zhi Wu Ran Ji Fa. Zhongguo fang zhi chu ban she, 2018.
Huang, Ronghua. Zhongguo Zhi Wu Ran Ji Fa. Zhongguo fang zhi chu ban she, 2018.
Cardon, Dominique. Natural dyes: Sources, tradition, technology and science. London: Archetype, 2007.
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Murashima, Kumiko. Katazome : Japanese Paste-Resist Dyeing for Contemporary Use. Asheville, NC, U.S.A: Lark Books, 1993.
Ibid
Cindy [Yanqing] Pan
Micro/Macro 2023 | BFA 2025
Cindy Pan, born in Beijing, China. In 2021 entered MICA in Fiber and illustration double major. She transferred to SAIC after one and half years of study in MICA to continue her BFA program in both Fiber and Sculpture. Cindy plays the role of a narrator in her artistic creations.
More info: Ig: @yanqing_cindy