As the weather turns cool, Chengdu is in a mantle of golden ginkgo leaves. Every year around this time, Hu Ming, the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage—traditional tie-dyeing art of Chengdu, would head to a ginkgo forest around the city to collect ginkgo leaves, a kind of natural dyes.

 

Tie-dyeing is an age-old Chinese dyeing craft with a history of more than 2,000 years. The dyes are obtained from plants including pomegranate peel, osmanthus leaves, hibiscus flowers, banlangen or Isatis indigotica roots, and ginkgo leaves. 

 

Among them, the roots of Isatis indigotica have become a classic choice due to its long-lasting color fixation effect. When the elegant turquoise extracted from the roots meets with the soft light yellow extracted from ginkgo leaves on an oil-paper umbrella, something beautiful is going to happen.

 

Ancient Chinese believed that natural dyes are gifts from nature, and this strong reverence continues to this day in Chengdu.

 

 

Edited by Feng Ling