I. In the remote county of Pingnan, bamboo forests can be seen in the vicinity of almost every village. No pains, no gains. People living in the mountainous area know that well. So they always take good care of their own bamboo forests as long as they are free. They love their bamboo forests, and the forests reciprocate them well. From the shoots on our dining table to the leaves and juices that can be used as medicine, even to the house where you live and the usual life tools, there are so many products coming from the upward growing bamboo. Countless items for farmers, including poles, dustpans, baskets, and sun-baking mats, are also made of bamboo. 

Those people having many bamboo forests often wander among the plants, holding their knives in the skilled hands. Year after year, some made themselves masters and created the bamboo wares they needed. Some noticed the farmers' demand for bamboo tools and thought that they, with developed skills, would not only meet their own basic needs, but also support their families by selling products to other farmers. Therefore, for further improvement, they began to learn the craftsmanship from teachers and later became masters themselves. The bamboo weaving process is also called "Zuozhu" in folk. Pairs of rough hands, in the careful knitting of thin bamboo strips, compose an interlaced world after another. About the bamboo knitted word full of ingenuity and love, let me tell you more... 

Since the farmers care more about practicality, the bamboo weaving started with the thick thread craft, while the thin thread craft developed later is mainly for appreciation. Though with thick threads, the craft requires painstaking efforts. It can be concluded as "the craft of cutting bamboo into pieces or threads and weaving them into a variety of utensils and craftworks ". However, the processes involved in such a craft are quite complex, requiring attention and patience and sometimes even devotion. The material preparation of bamboo slicing involves procedures of bamboo selection, joint removing, skin scraping, breaking, width setting, delaminating, knifing and thread scraping. The following procedure of weaving is a skill based on long-term experience. The master holds in heart the circle and size, forward and backward, looping and stopping, where to bind with winding, and where to reinforce with overlapping. 

Look, the big piece weaved on the ground is a mat for millet drying; the semi-finished short round column standing there is a casket for millet carrying; the finished product leaning against the corner is a curtain for sweet potato rice drying; the one in strange shape is a dustpan; the two round and densely weaved are baskets, and the hollowed is a sieve... 

These bamboo products can't be more familiar to the mountain inhabitants. The materials, coming from Qinqin (indicating intimity) bamboo forests, give out a natural and fresh scent. The carefully weaved patterns, whether horizontal, vertical, or arc-shaped, look simple but are well-arranged. They are concise but durable, representing the kind of original and friendly lifestyle, the one favored by the farmers. 

Compared with those bamboo tools commonly used in farmhouses, some produced for special seasons are the best reflection of the hard work and exquisite craftsmanship of bamboo artists. A bamboo fruit box that is only used during festivals indicates people's wishes for a better life, not merely a utensil; A basket serving as a bride's dowry carries her family's blessings, no longer just to store her favorite needleworks. With such messages in their minds, the artists devote all their care and patience to the works. Every motion in weaving, upward or downward, is perfectly accurate and the exquisite lines reveal the charm of bamboo weaving. All the threads are given with ingenuity, making the petals closely linked with each other and the bunches tied up with the right intensity. It is in this way that the Pingnan bamboo weaving techniques are carried on from generation to generation, with the related stories spreading along... 

II. Mr. Li, over fifty years old, told about a marriage related to bamboo weaving. The hero of the story is a Mr. Zhang, living in Qianyang Village, Shuangxi Town. The three generations of his family are all bamboo masters. And Zhang himself became independent at the age of fifteen based on his high level of understanding and diligence. Due to the high frequency of utilization, the bamboo tools for farmers need to be replenished or repaired every two or three years. So the bamboo masters invited by the farmers usually stay a week to a month at each home, resulting in a living of more than half a year in the village producing and repairing bamboo items. The master Zhang, though still young, was very popular, and often invited to the several neighboring villages. At the age of sixteen, he was called to a village named Xiaqifang and settled in a family of Chen. The host was very fond of the young man, who was practical and dependable with meticulous works. One day, the hostess gave birth to a daughter successfully. And master Zhang, after knowing that, congratulated them for that. The host said like a joke, "I will marry my little daughter to you if you are still single by thirty". 

It is said that the marriage is a matter of destiny. And that's true for master Zhang. Sixteen years later, he was invited to the same village again, and ran into the host one day. "You are married, right? How old is your child?", asked the host. "I haven't got married yet", Zhang replied shyly. Busy working in villages year after year, Zhang's marriage was delayed. But the baby born in their first encounter had grown into a 16-year-old girl. Therefore, the 32-year-old master Zhang and the 16-year-old girl of the host got married. Now this nearly 90-year-old bamboo master is the father-in-law of my colleague Li. It's really lucky to meet the renowned master, who seemed very excited when talking about the story: "Everything you do requires attention. This craft not only supported my family, but also brought me my wife". His craftsmanship is as excellent as before and he often sends carefully composed bamboo baskets or pillows to his daughter and son-in-law, arousing an envy from us. As for his daughter, the bamboo basket in her dowries, made by her father, reminds her the love and care from her father. As for the master himself, the bamboo craftsmanship inherited for three generations is not only a means of livelihood, but also a good matchmaker. Naturally he feels very intimate to it. 

III. Several visits to the Qianyang Village. During one of the visits, I went into a peasant's home to take a shelter from the rain. A chat was started when I noticed a set of bamboo tools in the hall. Until then did I realized that this was the famous bamboo weaving village. There is one or two people able to make simple bamboo weaving in every household, and nearly all the tools of each household are made by its own family members. However, only those who can produce fine bamboo baskets, fruit boxes and vanity boxes, which are very demanding for efforts and skills, can be called masters for them. Some families hand down this craft for several generations. The family members usually spend six months making bamboo items in other villages and the other time farming in their own village.

In this new era, many traditional crafts have been lost or endangered. Fortunately, the weaving cost is not much higher due to the abundant bamboo forests growing quickly in the mountainous area. On the other hand, the demand remains as bamboo tools, such as the various baskets, are still commonly used by farmers. Therefore, this craft maintains its popularity in the countryside. Today, there are still a number of skilled bamboo weaving craftsmen in many villages of Pingnan. You may feel plain when they pass by but will be impressed by their skills if you are lucky to see them working. You will find a couple of men or women in their fifties or sixties indulged in the weaving of bamboo products when passing a farmhouse; you will discover one or two decent bamboo workshops in some townships; the exquisite bamboo products left by the ancestors in some ancient villages will feast your eyes; and it is unexpectedly amazing and enviable to enjoy the bamboo scent of a table, chair, or corridor, under the bright moon and amid the mountain breeze in an old village, immersed in the pleasant and romantic natural environment. 

From: Official Website of Baishuiyang - Yuanyang Stream Scenic Area