As the portal of western Chongqing, Rongchang is a strategic supporting point of Chengdu-Chongqing city agglomeration. It’s 90 kilometers from Chongqing and 240 kilometers from Chengdu.
The specific geographic location cultivates its unique regional culture. Its national intangible cultural heritage, such as folding fans, pottery, and ramie, reflects the richness of Rongchang’s culture.
A pair of vases: the representatives of Rongchang Pottery
Exquisite Rongchang Pottery
As the most precious treasure in the Rongchang Pottery Museum, a pair of large vases with vermilion glaze, 1.4 meters high, stand quietly near the door. Their existence records a glorious history of Rongchang Pottery.
In 1976, the Rongchang Pottery factory was commissioned to make a pair of "large vases with vermilion glaze " for the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. In case any accidents happened in the process of making the pottery, Rongchang Pottery Factory made another two vases. In the end, two vases were sent to Beijing. The other two remained in the Rongchang pottery museum. They can demonstrate Rongchang Pottery’s historical status as the leading pottery in China for being assigned such a significant charge.
Vermilion glazed pottery is a unique specialty of Rongchang pottery. In the process of making vermilion glaze pottery, the requirement of furnace temperature and heat control are very high. Sometimes, only a few out of hundreds of potteries were successfully made during the process. It’s more difficult to produce an exquisite one.
Rongchang Pottery originated from the Han Dynasty, thrived during the Qing Dynasty, then reached its heyday in the 1970s. It has been sold to many countries, across Southeast Asia, the United States, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, and Japan. Now Rongchang is the largest ceramic production base in southwest China.
Rongchang ramie: a living fossil of Chinese textile
An umbrella decorated by Rongchang ramie
Rongchang ramie is a Chinese traditional handcraft with a rich history. It’s a kind of hand-woven grass linen made of ramie and hemp fibers. Rongchang ramie is also named “Xiabu” (Xia in Chinese means summer) because this cloth is soft like silk, keeps the body cool and is usually wore in summer.
As the earliest fabric in China, Rongchang ramie originates from the Han Dynasty and has a production history of over 1,000 years.
It is recorded by Rongchang Annals during Guangxu period (1871-1908), villagers around Rongchang plant ramie widely, and women are diligent to make ramie into clothes. Merchants from Shanxi, Beijing, Shaanxi came to Rongchang to purchase Xiabu every year. Thus, it can be seen that Chongchang ramie has formed a brand and became famous at that time.
In the early 20th century, there were more than 40 businesses operating Rongchang ramie in Rongchang district. Most of these products were exported to Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and abroad.
Rongchang ramie creative fashion show by Zhang Yichao
Through orderly cultural inheritance, this weaving skill has been well preserved and passed on. Moreover, Rongchang ramie from Chongqing was inscribed on the National Intangible Cultural Heritage List in 2008.
A stone tablet: the historical records of thriving Rongchang folding fan
A Rongchang folding fan is a kind of Chinese classical artware with individual style. Since ancient times, Rongchang paper fans have sold well all over the country, and even exported to countries such as India and Burma. In recent decades, the Rongchang paper fan has had rapid development. Today there are versions in leather, sandalwood, silken, feathers and 345 varieties of fan.
The process of making Rongchang folding fan
In 1979, Rongchang unearthed a "Yingfeng Guild" stone tablet. The monument records a splendid history of the folding fan in Rongchang.
Yingfeng Guild is a workshop mainly focussed on cutting bamboo into the framework of fan. The existence of the guild also illustrates that Rongchang folding fan production has transformed from a family business to a professional production at that time.
Making Rongchang folding fans require a total of 16 large workshop sections, 145 operating procedures. Almost every workshop section has its own guild. These guilds realize professional and organized production of Rongchang folding fan from an early age; and this specialized, organizational production also supported the rapid development of the Rongchang folding fan manufacture craft.
In history, the Rongchang folding fan, Suzhou silk fan and Hangzhou calligraphy and painting fans are known as "top three famous fans" in China.